On Saturday, April 5th, 2014 CAC volunteers assisted the BLM in service projects in Robbers Roost. The projects were planned by the BLM Henry Mountains Field Station with the CAC organizing the volunteer side of the project. The CAC volunteers were from Utah and Colorado.
One project involved cleaning up the Granary Springs campsite, including disassembling and removing two old wooden structures that the BLM regarded as hazardous. In addition, a significant amount of debris had accumulated over the years, which was gathered and hauled to the dump. Finally, an old WSA sign was removed and replaced by new signage at Granary Springs.
The second project was in response to BLM and SAR concerns for canyoneer safety. Multiple rescues have occurred as a result of confusion between the Squeeze Fork and East Fork of Bluejohn Canyon; that is, canyoneers have accidentally entered the much more difficult Squeeze Fork and gotten trapped. Fortunately, no lives have been lost. At the direction of the BLM, a sign was installed and cairns created to help differentiate between the two canyons.
After the projects were complete, the volunteers sat down with Myron Jeffs, from the Hanksville BLM office. Jeffs is in the process of writing a Special Recreation Management Area plan for the Dirty Devil and Robbers Roost region. The CAC volunteers had the opportunity to provide a canyoneer perspective and input on land use and management in the area, which could also be affected by the potential of a greater Canyonlands National Monument.
The CAC thanks all the volunteers putting in time and effort on this project, and thanks the BLM for working with us and planning the event!
