SUWA Participates in National Public Lands Day

To mark National Public Lands Day (Sept. 26) SUWA teamed up with the Bureau of Land Management to implement the new Red Butte Wilderness Area designation in southwestern Utah’s Washington County. 

Eight volunteers, including two SUWA staff members, and the Outdoor Recreation Planner for the BLM’s St. George field office, spent several hours erecting signs along the eastern boundary of the new wilderness area, removing old WSA (wilderness study area) signs, eliminating vehicle tracks that entered the wilderness, rehabilitating and removing unsightly fire rings, and generally cleaning up trash.

This project was particularly meaningful for SUWA because it marked the first time that SUWA has participated in on-the-ground implementation of a wilderness-area designation on land managed by the BLM.  There is something very satisfying about pounding into the ground a sign that declares “Wilderness!”

Throughout Utah, the BLM and volunteers from other groups participated in a variety of service projects in recognition of National Public Lands Day.  Volunteers on Cedar Mesa restored areas impacted by vehicle tracks entering wilderness study areas, removed unauthorized fire rings, set signs to identify WSA boundaries, monitored archaeological sites for illegal digging and vandalism, and removed graffiti.  In the Westwater Canyon WSA, volunteers removed trash and non-native species and cleaned up campsites along the Colorado River.

Read about this service project on the Utah BLM website: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/st__george/more/in_the_spotlight/wilderness_volunteers.html