We broke up into groups of four or five volunteers and walked a few meters to the two designated main trails which branched from the parking area.
Flagging had been hung from trees at several locations for the volunteer work scheduled until about noon, due to the three-digit heat that day.

Four of us chose the section pictured above. We studied the area which appeared to be unused but which offered what could be a
trail leading to the parking lot (where the sky line meets the horizon in the picture). We used three or four pieces of larger woody debris
to disguise the subtle invitation of the trail-opening and to visually direct folks along the main trail.
We spent quite a bit of time and thought trying to accomplish the goal with the minimum disturbance to the WSA.

Proud of our accomplishment, we showed our Leader who then instructed us to scavenge the area and put down about "four times as much material".
We were dismayed but complied with instructions as minimally as possible using very small natural stuff.

Shortly later we were shocked and dismayed to see what the BLM had in mind for the WSA!

This is the work of our other volunteers who followed directions and scavenged a large area to place all this material in a well defined user trail
to the west side of the Trail Head parking lot. Experience tells us that there are better ways to shape the experience of visitors to the wilderness.
Three of us volunteers "resigned" after taking the photos shown here.

Years ago, new Managers at Smith Rock State Park placed chain link fence to corral visiting climbers to a specific trail down from the parking lot.
Leaders of the Smith Rock Group who had raised the money for Park improvements, promptly resigned. The "cattle chute fence" soon disappeared
to be replaced by a better trail, carefully placed obstacles and small signs ("Trail Closed").

This is how the main trail has evolved nearby over the past several years since vehicle use was stopped in this location.

Wilderness management of this trail should consist of subtle guidance along the edges to gradually encourage a narrower foot path.
(Mountain bikers do not favor riding this area due to the deep volcanic ash in un-compacted areas.)
"Hand rails" of wood paralleling the sides, sometimes used by un-informed land managers, violate wilderness ethics
and modern practice as defined by the USFS and the Student Conservation Association (see below).
See also photos of a fine IMBA-COTA trail project linked below.

The high desert is a very fragile place. Seeds of native grass, sage and flowers can sometimes find a bit of shade from a half-buried piece of sage brush.
If this bit of sage brush or fragment of Juniper is moved, the micro climate is changed and the plant may die.
The gathering of woody to scatter about on user trails significantly alters the landscape for years! It is a very bad practice in dry climates.

This tire track was made by a truck used to steal 1,500 year old Juniper trees from ancient rock outcroppings in the Badlands WSA.
The track (made on a winter day) will blow away in a year or two, but the compacted ground will be bare for many years.

Wandering off the trail is part of the wilderness experience. The Badlands is not a "Park"
where people expect to be admonished to stay on the trail and look, but don't touch.
Leave No Trace ethics will protect the delicate desert.

Unspoiled Wilderness.

A fine "single track" user trail near an amazing place in The Badlands WSA.

A natural meadow on the high desert in The Badlands.

Read more about the right way to close un-needed trails in Chapter 16, of "Lightly on the Land", by
the Student Conservation Association's "Trail Building and Maintenance Manual", published in 1996 by The Mountaineers Press.

MORE ABOUT INAPPROPRIATE TRAIL CLOSURE METHODS IN THE BADLANDS!

We visited The Badlands a few days ago. We were dismayed to see that Badlands volunteers had been hard at work pulling ancient downed and snag wood from surrounding natural deserts
where it had been lying undisturbed for perhaps 100 years and piling this debris on areas perceived to be bare and worn old user trails.
A BLM Manager's suggestion that the wood used was "woodcutter slash" is simply not true.

THE BLM SEEMS TO BE SHOUTING AT FOLKS WHO WOULD LIKE TO ENJOY A BADLANDS NATURAL WILDERNESS WALK! 

Photos Copyright© 2006-2009 by Robert Speik. All Rights Reserved.

"The intent of restoration  --  repairing damage to the landscape caused by humans  --  is most admirable. Rather than leaving evidence of ourselves, restoration is a removal of human effects. . . . It is a gentle art, an act of compassion toward the environment."

"Borrowing Lightly from the Land:
Never unduly disturb one area in order to improve another.. . . do not remove more than a small amount (10% or less) of a given material from any one location. Taking more may compromise or destroy ecological niches."