Catch up on what we've done in the canyon by reading this archive of past work party reports
Update on recent activity - May 4, 2018
We have been doing regular trail work and it looks really good but this morning's walk brought some heartbreak. Someone rode a bicycle into the canyon (not permitted) and did not stay on the trail. They went off and over flowers and other vegetation. I naturalized the tracks as best as I could, but it was frustrating to say the least, when hours and hours of work can be undone so easily by one person.
We have been placing more "slash", (big branches and other brush), so folks are encouraged to stay on the trail. Because of those efforts, the wildflowers are blooming like crazy in places that used to get compacted by footsteps.
I am going to try to restart volunteer work parties. There is a lot of weeding that needs to be done around the parking lot and the trail and steps adjacent to the lot. So stay tuned.
Update on recent activity - February 2018
A lot has happened since the last update. We have had regular work days with trail workers and volunteers, working to remove weeds, (bringing in lots of slash to protect off-trail land), undoing one poorly placed trail, and making another in its place, and keeping the trash, recycling, and dog waste off the land.
We have about a month or so to really step it up and try to have the trail from the parking area to the waterfall clear as a bell so people don't get lost looking for it and creating a bunch of user-made trails. We are going to be removing as much of the poison ivy along the trail as possible mid-February, and we hope to try to get it out by the root so it won't keep coming back. Wish us luck that we don't get itchy!
Everybody in town is kind of holding their breathe, waiting to see how we survive the coming spring. Spring brings the most number of people to the canyons, national parks, and public lands surrounding Moab, all at once, in a big wave, and that is when a lot of damage can occur.
November 2017 updates:
We have been doing daily maintenance and, in addition, work with professional trail workers to try to get things in good shape before the springtime brings thousands of people to this fragile area. To that end we have been loading up my truck with "slash", branches and other tree debris that can be placed in areas to prevent people from walking on those areas. It will allow the plants to grow and stop some of the scores of user made trails. More info to come soon!
August 21, 2017 Update:
We had a small work party on the 19th. Got lots of tumbleweed and goat-heads out from around the parking lot, but there are loads more. Let me know if you want to go out and work a bit on removing those.
The really bad news is that someone set a fire near the parking area on July 14/15 (around midnight) and then someone intentionally damaged the 11 healthy and beautifully functioning beaver dams stretching from near the powerdam to the confluence. A flood came through shortly thereafter, and all the dams were washed out. This is a tragic loss for the entire living system.
We had an eyewitness see the person putting a notch in one dam, another person who saw the same notches on a bunch of the dams, some photos showing the person doing the damage, and an email sent to me from "a concerned citizen" which came through my website and was anonymous, for the most part, expressing concern about all the damage the beaver dams were doing. In fact, they do just the opposite.
Check out this great short PBS video about beavers to learn more about their powerful benefits to our living earth:
http://www.pbs.org/video/beavers-the-smartest-things-in-fur-pants-kpozlv/
July 5, 2017 Update:
Check out this amazing Beaver Restoration Guidebook. It is all about the power beavers have to restore streams, wetlands, and floodplains. The awesome power of unmolested natural cycles to heal the world never ceases to floor me. Check it out:
beaver_restoration_guidebook.pdf
Download File
We are continuing with daily cleanups, weeding, trail repair and maintenance. The heat makes it all very challenging at the moment, but we will do a lot in the cooler weather and throughout the winter, so that the trails to the falls will be clear as a bell. Our main trail worker has escaped the heat of Moab for cooler climes, but will be back soon and we'll try to get as busy as beavers.
We need to do some trimming of overgrown brush soon. If you'd like to join us, let me know!
Check out this amazing Beaver Restoration Guidebook. It is all about the power beavers have to restore streams, wetlands, and floodplains. The awesome power of unmolested natural cycles to heal the world never ceases to floor me. Check it out:
beaver_restoration_guidebook.pdf
Download File
We are continuing with daily cleanups, weeding, trail repair and maintenance. The heat makes it all very challenging at the moment, but we will do a lot in the cooler weather and throughout the winter, so that the trails to the falls will be clear as a bell. Our main trail worker has escaped the heat of Moab for cooler climes, but will be back soon and we'll try to get as busy as beavers.
We need to do some trimming of overgrown brush soon. If you'd like to join us, let me know!
March 24, 2017 Update:
There is a lot going on in the canyon so I want to catch you up. I got funding to hire professional trail workers and it has made a huge difference. Over the last few months, Shannon has done a lot of work in the area before the Power Dam. She redid the trail going down to the creek, which had gotten very damaged, naturalized many user made trails and placed brush in areas to show where user made trails are closed. Working with a couple of Trail Mix workers, one set of steps from the parking lot down to the lower trail was repaired. Thanks to Shannon for all of her hard work.
Today, I spent two and a half hours working with Jane, an experienced trail worker. She is going to work on her own, with her partners, with me, and with volunteers to protect and make clear the trails past the Power Dam to the left hand waterfall and more. It was energizing to get out there and see the difference some trail work and maintenance can make.
The BLM hired a crew to start with the Russian Olive removals. They recently completed 5 weeks of work and the place looks so beautifully different with many of these non-natives removed. The Ravenna Grass was cut and treated and that will add to the general health of our beloved canyon.
There are several very healthy beaver dams and we are so pleased to see them. We hope that the spring melt off won't wash out the dams. If there are enough of them, it shouldn't! Here is a great article about the benefits of the beaver on the environment.
In the meantime, Sandy Freethey has been advising me on various projects, and helping paint out graffiti as it appears. She is working on a major change - installing "No Parking Any Time - This Side" signs on the side of the road that does not have them. After talking with the Sheriff and the BLM, and taking into account safety issues, it was decided that making both sides of Powerhouse Lane no parking will improve safety and help with impacts on the land. We will see how it goes!
If you want to volunteer with us on trail work and maintenance, give me a call! 435-401-4685. Thanks!
Linda Whitham and I held a two-woman work party on August 28, 2016. We removed just about every weed in the parking area, including the rapidly spreading Tribulus terrestris otherwise known as goat's head, among other colorful names! We did not see another soul the whole two hours we were there perhaps because the weather seemed a bit threatening.
On the first of September, we met with some BLM folks, including a botanist. She helped me identify other invasive plants and took a good look at the Ravenna Grass to help us know if we had to bag them and cart them out (once we cut the seed-heads), or if we could leave them in place. We have a couple more weeks until the seeds are viable.
There is a lot going on in the canyon so I want to catch you up. I got funding to hire professional trail workers and it has made a huge difference. Over the last few months, Shannon has done a lot of work in the area before the Power Dam. She redid the trail going down to the creek, which had gotten very damaged, naturalized many user made trails and placed brush in areas to show where user made trails are closed. Working with a couple of Trail Mix workers, one set of steps from the parking lot down to the lower trail was repaired. Thanks to Shannon for all of her hard work.
Today, I spent two and a half hours working with Jane, an experienced trail worker. She is going to work on her own, with her partners, with me, and with volunteers to protect and make clear the trails past the Power Dam to the left hand waterfall and more. It was energizing to get out there and see the difference some trail work and maintenance can make.
The BLM hired a crew to start with the Russian Olive removals. They recently completed 5 weeks of work and the place looks so beautifully different with many of these non-natives removed. The Ravenna Grass was cut and treated and that will add to the general health of our beloved canyon.
There are several very healthy beaver dams and we are so pleased to see them. We hope that the spring melt off won't wash out the dams. If there are enough of them, it shouldn't! Here is a great article about the benefits of the beaver on the environment.
In the meantime, Sandy Freethey has been advising me on various projects, and helping paint out graffiti as it appears. She is working on a major change - installing "No Parking Any Time - This Side" signs on the side of the road that does not have them. After talking with the Sheriff and the BLM, and taking into account safety issues, it was decided that making both sides of Powerhouse Lane no parking will improve safety and help with impacts on the land. We will see how it goes!
If you want to volunteer with us on trail work and maintenance, give me a call! 435-401-4685. Thanks!
Linda Whitham and I held a two-woman work party on August 28, 2016. We removed just about every weed in the parking area, including the rapidly spreading Tribulus terrestris otherwise known as goat's head, among other colorful names! We did not see another soul the whole two hours we were there perhaps because the weather seemed a bit threatening.
On the first of September, we met with some BLM folks, including a botanist. She helped me identify other invasive plants and took a good look at the Ravenna Grass to help us know if we had to bag them and cart them out (once we cut the seed-heads), or if we could leave them in place. We have a couple more weeks until the seeds are viable.
Our first work party of 2016 was held on March 16 at 10:30. We worked for a couple of hours installing a log fence opposite the new bathroom, performing minor trail maintenance near the parking area, and removing a huge tractor-trailer tire that was buried in the sand, across the beach area near the parking area, for many, many years. Here are some photos of BLM staff and Mill Creek Partnership volunteers working together: See photos on Work Party Page.
Our Second work party of 2016 was held on Wednesday May 11. We got a great start on pulling weeds from around the parking area and, about a week later, pulled all the weeds from the two sets of steps that go down to the lower trail off the parking area. We placed some rocks along the no-parking side of the road before the big Memorial Day weekend, to try to protect some native plants. It worked. The native plants are still standing even though cars filled the lot and were parked all the way down the road almost to Mill Creek Drive! It is our honor to keep this beautiful canyon looking good!
Our Second work party of 2016 was held on Wednesday May 11. We got a great start on pulling weeds from around the parking area and, about a week later, pulled all the weeds from the two sets of steps that go down to the lower trail off the parking area. We placed some rocks along the no-parking side of the road before the big Memorial Day weekend, to try to protect some native plants. It worked. The native plants are still standing even though cars filled the lot and were parked all the way down the road almost to Mill Creek Drive! It is our honor to keep this beautiful canyon looking good!
A recap of 2015 We did our normal daily work in the canyon, and, with a grant for just such purposes, expanded on it by hiring a landscaper to do weekly weeding and other trail work. They removed Ravenna Grass seed stalks, blocked user created trails, pulled thousands of tumbleweeds, and cut back vast amounts of poison ivy along the trail. We worked with them, but also did trash and recyclables removal all around the parking area, down by the beach, around the Tea Cup, the rocky areas along the creek in front of the Power Dam, and areas all along the trail to the waterfall. Oh, and did I mention removing mountains of dog waste? Yes, my trash men love me, especially in the summer!
September to December 2014: We have been holding work parties every month. We made a dent in the tumbleweeds and goat heads around the parking area and the adjacent lands. We also cut the seed stalks off of every Ravenna Grass plant we could find! We will continue almost daily maintenance by cleaning up littered trash and recycling, repairing trails where damaged, and removing weeds. We are excited to see the results of next year's work removing invasive trees and really giving the natives room to grow. When I was in the canyon on November 8, I spotted another beaver dam, which brings to three the total from the parking area to the confluence....but there may be more I'm not seeing. Yeah beavers! Join in our next work party. Sign up for the email alert through the "Contact Us" page. Thanks!
We held a work party on July 29, 2014. Six people volunteered and we removed loads of tumbleweed from around the parking area. Removals continue on a daily basis, but one person removing vs. six is a lot slower. Luckily we have a new volunteer who will be doing removals several times a week. Come join in at the next two work parties, August 28 and August 30, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. both days. (You are always welcome to stay on and work on your own if the spirit moves you!)
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Major changes! Over the winter the BLM worked on the parking area. There is now a gravel parking area with 28 parking spots. Because of the changes, we had to do a trail reroute of the trail going from the parking area to the beach area. That trail was badly eroded and had deep crevices from last year's heavy rains.
January - June, 2014 We have continued with work but haven't held formal and announced work parties yet this year. But that is coming. We got some funding to hire a volunteer coordinator. Arran Barnum will be working with me to set dates for work parties, recruit more volunteers, and get to work on the removals and trail maintenance issues that are on-going. We haven't been idle though. Daily cleanups and repairs to trails, clipping back overgrowth, and even a major work party with 20 members of the Great Old Broads a couple of months ago. We worked to gather up as much tumbleweed as possible, and the BLM burned it, along with the tumbleweed we had stored in an alcove. We look forward to having formal work parties resume in July 2014. Come join us!
Big news on Poison Ivy - Arran and I cut back a long stretch of poison ivy along the trail near the confluence. We plan a second cutting and then we're going to go for the roots. Many community members have told me they are thrilled that they don't have to go around that section now. |
In a mid-March, two person work party, we removed every trace of tumbleweeds from this area. We only have a few thousand more tumbleweeds to go!
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 Tree and flowers near Mill Creek
November 3, 2013 found several of us back at removing tumbleweeds. We have made quite a difference In a few small areas and it is inspiring to see the beautiful native plants emerge from the weeds.
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The below freezing temperatures in December 2013 made it impossible to do any trail work, so we continued with the minimal cleanups winter brings and worked with the BLM on the new plan for the parking area. There will be a limit to the number of cars that will fit in allotted spots. We will plan a major spruce up for the areas new the parking area because of the amount of disturbance necessary to create this. Stay tuned!
We need your help to remove tumbleweeds in many places in the canyon. Removals at the proper time give space to the native plants so they can grow.
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August, September and October 2013 found us continuing with clean ups and getting serious with the non-native plants that have made their home in the canyon. We had a work party in October with 5 volunteers. We removed a ton of tumble weeds, revealing the flowers hidden among them. Seeing the natural beauty that is waiting for a little bit of help to flourish has inspired me to do even more in the canyon. Special thanks to Sarah Topp, botanist, who started to teach me about the native plants of the canyon. There is a whole magical world I feel I am getting to know thanks to her. Big thanks to George Weil who bought a dog poop station for the canyon. The BLM installed it and we have gone through almost 600 bags to date. We have to buy the bags, so if you want to donate to that, let me know! Regular call outs for work parties will resume soon.
Throughout July 2013 we have been working on tumbleweed removals, but need to make a big push soon - that will be the August work party. Removing the weeds now keeps the seeds from spreading and gives the native plants some breathing room.
On June 11, 2013 we worked with the BLM and volunteers to continue making the main trail easy to follow, and easy to use. We placed vegetation from invasive trees in user created paths to nowhere. It's looking great now!
May 21, 2013 found 9 of us in the canyon restoring user created trails back to their natural state. We made one side trail easy to follow, and installed signs letting folks know about the restoration sites.
Earth Day month April 2013 found us doing daily clean ups and fixing the rock outlined trails so that the warm weather tourists and locals could find their way to their favorite canyon destination without harming the emerging spring flowers.
March 2013 was mostly spent working across the creek on the Potato Salad Hill side in advance of Jeep Week. We spent hours rock outlining the road and working with the BLM and Grand County Sheriff's Office to try to strike a balance between folks having fun and land being protected. We made great progress! Daily cleanups of the Powerdam side continued with great volunteers like Holly Dinsmore.
Saturday, February 16th, 2013 We held our first post-freezing work party. Two of us worked on improving the rock outlines on the main trail from the parking area to the powerdam. It was beautiful. We look forward to a wonderful spring in the canyon. Seeding will be starting soon.
The winter of 2012-13 was very cold, with temperatures never getting above freezing for a couple of months. We had to suspend work parties for a time. I love the canyon in the winter. Here are photos taken over the years in the winter canyon. Hope you enjoy them!
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The planned September 2012 work party was cancelled due to rain.
But ongoing maintenance work continues several times a week...cleaning up trash and recycling, keeping the rock outlined areas fresh, and minor trail work. Check out these photos to see ongoing work. |
October Work Party - This story in the Times-Independent says it all!
Read this great story in the Times-Independent about the work party where we installed this trail marker. Times-Independent work party story. 
Helping get folks from point A to point B.
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I did a cleanup at the Tea Cup this morning for the July 2012 work party. There were about 21 beer cans, a few glass bottles, a couple dozen cigarette butts, little firecrackers, a few articles of clothing, miscellaneous trash and broken glass. Oh - and a beer can converted to a pipe to smoke ? These items was scattered in the water and on the rocks on either side of the Tea Cup. The broken glass is a real challenge to remove, especially as it gets in cracks and other hard-to-reach places, but I can usually find a way to get it out.
Someone put several plastic sheets across a rock dam, and I decided to remove it because it was impeding the flow of water. Mill Creek has been dry in very long stretches in town, and I wanted every drop to follow its natural course. The waters of the Tea Cup are still deep enough to enjoy, but having a foreign substance like plastic in the water, and stopping the flow in a drought, seemed negative to me. It's against policy to leave these things in place.
I don't like the fact of all the littered trash and recycling anywhere, but this is the reality we live in. I feel honored to be in such a gorgeous area,interacting directly with the elements as I remove these littered things. The good feeling I got removing all the litter and seeing the area looking natural again gave me an idea. There has been a lot of publicity about the mess at left hand waterfall, above and below. I'd like to call out for volunteers who will agree to go to the waterfall and do a cleanup once a week, or once every two weeks, or once a month until the busy season ends. I will start by volunteering to go every Tuesday morning. If we pull together to do this, the land and the water will benefit, which will make us all happy. And when other people see you cleaning up, they may be inspired to join in. I will be going tomorrow morning to see how bad it is (and will clean it up) and will then start going Tuesday mornings starting the 10th. Also, if we have Partnership volunteers out there, problems can be spotted early and corrected fast, when it's easier.
I am going to walk with an expert soon to assess trail damage and come up with a plan for removing user created trails and trying to improve things along the trails, which are most used between the parking area and the waterfalls. A winter project in the planning stage will be to work on the redundant trails beyond the second waterfall.
Someone put several plastic sheets across a rock dam, and I decided to remove it because it was impeding the flow of water. Mill Creek has been dry in very long stretches in town, and I wanted every drop to follow its natural course. The waters of the Tea Cup are still deep enough to enjoy, but having a foreign substance like plastic in the water, and stopping the flow in a drought, seemed negative to me. It's against policy to leave these things in place.
I don't like the fact of all the littered trash and recycling anywhere, but this is the reality we live in. I feel honored to be in such a gorgeous area,interacting directly with the elements as I remove these littered things. The good feeling I got removing all the litter and seeing the area looking natural again gave me an idea. There has been a lot of publicity about the mess at left hand waterfall, above and below. I'd like to call out for volunteers who will agree to go to the waterfall and do a cleanup once a week, or once every two weeks, or once a month until the busy season ends. I will start by volunteering to go every Tuesday morning. If we pull together to do this, the land and the water will benefit, which will make us all happy. And when other people see you cleaning up, they may be inspired to join in. I will be going tomorrow morning to see how bad it is (and will clean it up) and will then start going Tuesday mornings starting the 10th. Also, if we have Partnership volunteers out there, problems can be spotted early and corrected fast, when it's easier.
I am going to walk with an expert soon to assess trail damage and come up with a plan for removing user created trails and trying to improve things along the trails, which are most used between the parking area and the waterfalls. A winter project in the planning stage will be to work on the redundant trails beyond the second waterfall.
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May 2012 work party:
There were two of us for the May 17th work party. We worked from around 6:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. We restored pull-over parking areas, replaced rocks on the pathways, made no parking areas look more obvious, raked out loads of tracks, and picked up trash and recycling. |
Report on June 2012 work party:
The June work party went well. Three of us worked to replace the rocks into a clear trail from the parking area to the Powerdam structure, We naturalized several disturbed areas along the way, replaced rock sections on other paths, and picked up litter. The "Poop" award goes to Deb, who gathered up a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff. |
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12/31/11 work party
Four of us gathered in the canyon to remove seed stalks from the invasive grasses, (Ravenna Grass, also known as Hardy Pampas Grass), that are starting to take over along the banks of the creek in several areas throughout the canyon. (See fact sheet below about these grasses, provided by Kara Dohrenwend.) We did a combined 14 hours of searching for the grasses, cutting the stalks with the seeds on them, and then placing them in the plastic bag lined trash cans we carried with us. We cut hundreds of stalks, containing thousands of seeds. We found stands of the plants and noted some we just didn't have time to get to. This important step is the first in a series of efforts that will be made to remove these grasses, as well as Russian Olive and Russian Thistle (tumbleweed). We are starting to see the results of the work we've been doing in the canyon - weeding, caging cottonwoods, outlining trails, etc. Things are improving, but we have a long way to go. We will be working closely with the BLM on these removals, offering volunteer support for their efforts. Bonus work party! On December 3, a group of us did some caging of cottonwoods on the land above the golf course, known as Hidden Valley, in upper Mill Creek. It was extremely strenuous but we all enjoyed ourselves. The land owners agreed to stop trapping and killing beaver if we worked on protecting the trees and working out other situations caused by the beaver. Sometime this month an expert in mitigating impacts caused by beavers from the Grand Canyon Trust will visit the site to plan actions, so that both humans and beavers can continue enjoying life. We love the partnership between private land owners and volunteers, all aimed at creating a healthier environment. |
Photos from the 12/31/11 work party
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11/12/11 work party
Five of us met in the parking lot on the 12th. We removed chicken wire from two more trees, and caged them using wire someone had put on a nearby River Birch (which doesn't need to be caged) and a Russian Olive! (which is invasive and will be removed soon, we hope). Dave, Deb and Dick did a major pruning job on a bush that was growing into the trail, while Mary and I walked ahead to start removing chicken wire. I am going to be walking the canyon with Kara Dohrenwend on the 23rd. We're going to assess the situation with the invasive trees and plants, then come up with a plan for removal to present to the BLM. We also want to start removing the cheat grass from around the native plants so that the seeds from the natives can spread and grow. That will take some time to do, but I think we'll see good results over time. Mary suggested this because it's worked really well out at her place. We will be caging some cottonwoods in the upper section of Mill Creek on the 3rd, on the land that was just recently reopened to hikers. I'll send out more information about that as we get closer to that date in case you want to come work with us. Deb and Dick have generously offered to donate some of the caging we'll need, and we thank them for that very much. One of the partners sent this great news, which also appears on the front page of the TI this week. |
Draft report on assessment.
This pdf contains the assessment made by Kara Dohrenwend of Rim to Rim Restoration, http://www.revegetation.org/, during a walk we took together in the canyon on November 23, 2011. The pdf gives a good history of what has been done to restore the canyon since it was closed off to vehicles. It also outlines strategies for dealing with the Russian Olive and Ravenna (or Pampas) Grasses. The photos below are from the 12/31/11 work party where we tried to remove as many seed stalks as possible from the Ravenna/Pampas grasses.
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October 22 and 24 2011 work parties. On the 22nd, four of us worked on the area from the parking area to the Powerdam, and further down the trail removed charcoal graffiti from the rocks. On the 24th we worked with students from North Hollywood to remove tight wire from cottonwoods and replace it with new structures to keep the beavers away. Read the pdf for details.
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August 29, 2011 introductory email. This will give you some information about the latest iteration of the Mill Creek Partnership. We owe everything to the first group, and all those who made it possible to close the canyon to off-road vehicles and let the healing begin.
The Powerdam in winter.
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Report on 9/24/11 work party. 27 of us got together to do some major work in the canyon, including the entire senior class of a Salt Lake City School. Paradox Pizza feed all the hungry volunteers after a lot of hard work. Thanks Paradox. See the pdf for more details!
Making a trail to protect the land.
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