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GRAND CANYON TRUST VOLUNTEER SEASON (February-September) 2006
Kane and Two Mile Ranch Maintenance Project
This spring the volunteer program is planning to spend a lot of time working on the Kane and Two Mile Ranches. Volunteers will have the opportunity to stay at the Kane Ranch while working on many different projects such as on fencing, grassland restoration, thistle control and pinion/juniper data collection.
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Grand Canyon Trust volunteer
working at Hay Lake. |
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In order for volunteer and others related to the program to have a comfortable, but rustic place to stay during projects, some small maintenance projects need to be completed in the early spring. Projects such as trash pick up, clearing out springs and storage areas and small house maintenance projects will make these facilities more comfortable. Work will be done on both Kane Ranch and the two line camps, Saddle and Pleasant Valley.
Pinion/Juniper Forest Assessment
Throughout the summer of 2005, Grand Canyon Trust conducted a ‘baseline ecological assessment’ meant to characterize current forest conditions across the ranches. The assessment included review and synthesis of existing literature, and significant collection of field data. In order to complete this assessment similar data must be recorded specifically in pinion/juniper forests. This data will be included to the information collected by volunteers throughout last season to create satellite image-based maps that span the entire Plateau.
Fencing Natural Lakes
Riparian zones are the transition areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Riparian areas give rise to unique plant communities that provide diverse habitats for fish and wildlife, and a highly productive forage supply for livestock. Protecting natural water sources on cattle grazed lands is of high priority. Cattle often trample natural water sources tending to congregate in and along rivers, wetlands and streams. Animals grazing in these areas trample and consume riparian vegetation, inhibiting the regeneration of natural plant communities and alter sedimentation rates, which affects aquatic organisms.
Less than 20% of the western riparian habitat of pre-settlement times still exists today. The problem is, these areas are being lost because many of the desert riparian areas are being overgrazed or not managed for riparian health.
The Grand Canyon Trust, in partnership with the Forest Service, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to help build, reconstruct and monitor fences on cattle grazed lands of the Kaibab National Forest.
Pronghorn Fence Reconstruction in House Rock Valley
Pronghorn are inhabitants of the grasslands of the western United States. They live in the wide-open spaces of flat valley bottoms and mesa tops. Here they find ample forage among the grasses and herbaceous plants, and can detect and avoid predators - sometimes running as fast as 60 miles per hour. With the inability to jump like deer and elk, pronghorn find fences to be a significant barrier. Livestock and road right-of-way fences are one of the factors contributing to the decline of this species throughout Arizona.
Fences fragment pronghorn habitat, isolate populations and sometimes entangle them with fatal results. Research has shown that livestock fencing can be established in a manner conducive to Pronghorn passage. Local land managers have established fencing protocols and will be training volunteer groups proper fence construction techniques.
These fence reconstruction projects vary in strenuousness from surveying existing fenced sites to tumbleweed removal to actual fence construction and all abilities are invited to participate.
Thistle Control in Central Winter Allotment
There are many sensitive areas on the North Kaibab that have been heavily grazed in the past resulting in an invasion by exotic plants. One of the most significant threats to global biodiversity is the invasion of plants into foreign areas. Replacement of native species, disruptions of nutrient and fire cycles, and changes in plant succession are some effects exotic species can have on an ecosystem.
We will be focusing our eradication efforts on musk and scotch thistle in the Central Winter Allotment of Kane Ranch within the North Kaibab Ranger District. We will meet up with local land managers for educational information about the areas and then get to work.
Tamarisk, Russian olive eradication in Colorado River tributaries
This season Grand Canyon Trust volunteer program is teaming up with the BLM and Grand Canyon National Park to continue to eradicate the invasive Tamarisk and Russian Olive from Colorado River tributaries closest to Kane Ranch. We are beginning to collect data on Cathedral Wash, Seven Mile Draw, Badger, Soap Creek, North Canyon, South Canyon and Ryder Canyon in order to understand the amount of work that needs to be completed. These projects will be backpacking trips that involve primitive camping in remote side canyons. During these trips volunteers will remove exotic plant species with mechanical (hand tools) and chemical (herbicide) control methods. All herbicide is applied by employees.
Soil Assessment
With guidance from our Science Advisory Council, we conducted an ambitious assessment of the ranches’ ecosystem in the summer of 2005. We used a stratified random sample approach to identify 42 biophysical habitat types across the project area. Last summer, five two-person crews gathered detailed information describing species composition, ground cover, and soil characteristics at each of these plots.
Soil samples have been collected and now need to be properly analyzed. With the help of Northern Arizona University, volunteers will learn how to test the soil samples collected in order to add to the overall baseline assessment for the Kane and 2 mile ranches. Volunteer opportunities will be held locally at the Grand Canyon Trust office in Flagstaff.
Pronghorn and Grassland Bird Habitat Restoration
Pronghorn are inhabitants of the grasslands of the western United States. One of the factors contributing to declining pronghorn populations include reduced cover from grazing which increases fawn predation by coyotes, and the conversion of grasslands to woodlands and forests as the result of fire suppression.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department will continue a successful program to help the state's struggling antelope population. Arizona's antelope populations have struggled the past several years because of a number of factors, including extended drought and poor habitat conditions. Biologists say other factors impacting pronghorn populations in the state include loss of habitat through development or through encroachment of woody plants, and habitat fragmentation from road building and fences.
To address this problem, the Volunteer Conservationist program is teaming up with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to thin encroaching junipers. Volunteers will cut small junipers with hand tools to reclaim grasslands that have been lost as a result of fire suppression. The project takes place at Lake Anderson Mesa, near Mormon Lake.
GRAND CANYON TRUST VOLUNTEER PROJECTS 2005
California Condor Monitoring
Volunteers will assist Grand Canyon National Park's wildlife biologists by monitoring California condor behavior at a nest site at the South Rim. After training, this will be a self-scheduling project based on your personal availability.
Pronghorn Habitat Improvement
In cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department Trust volunteers will help recover grasslands lost to juniper encroachment as the result of fire suppression. We will cut, slash and haul small trees that compete with the grassland ecosystem and reduce the open spaces that pronghorn require.
Stillman Lake Fish Surveys
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has enlisted our help to prepare for the 2005 draining and eradication of non-native fish in Stillman Lake. We will survey pools upstream of the lake for native and non-native fish, remove the non-natives, and map stream channel configurations in Granite creek. This project is an important first step that will eventually lead to renovation of downstream sections of the Verde River, and Granite Creek.
Bison Impact Monitoring
Volunteer conservationists will assist Grand Canyon National Park wildlife staff by documenting the impacts of non-native bison on the soils, vegetation, ponds and springs at the North Rim. This information will help managers to make informed decisions about the importance of better bison management.
Phantom Ranch Exotic Species Removal
For this project volunteers will hike to Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and assist the National Park Service in removing tamarisk, an exotic plant species that displaces native ecosystems, and other exotics.
Prairie Dog Population Monitoring
In collaboration with the Arizona Game and Fish Department we will map prairie dog colonies and collect information that will help to determine their population size and its change over time. This will be our third season participating in this project.
Long Lake Restoration
Similar to the project that we completed at the adjacent Hay Lake last year, we will carefully dig up and transplant "plugs" of native vegetation from Mormon Lake and replant it at Long Lake and build fences to protect the newly established plantings. We may also plant nursery plants and seed the area with native grasses.
For more information on the Volunteer Conservationist Program contact:
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