Friends of the Badlands and BLM partner for Badlands WSA

TRADITIONAL MOUNTAINEERING ™
www.TraditionalMountaineering.org ™ and also www.AlpineMountaineering.org ™

From our Calendar of interesting events:
Wednesday, April 18, 2007, join "Friends of the Badlands" for an introduction to the BLM Badlands WSA Stewardship Program
"Friends of the Badlands" has entered into a Partnership with the BLM to act as Stewards for the Badlands WSA. Join us for an introduction to this new opportunity to volunteer. We will meet at the Theater parking lot at the SEC of Highway 20 and 27th Street in Bend, and car pool to the several Badlands Trail Heads for discussion of the new program.
For information call Bob Speik at 541-385-0445.

Badlands Site Stewardship - A Task List of Potential Projects

● Monitoring
    ● BLM's eyes and ears on the ground
    ● Establish and maintain photo points for monitoring change over time

● Route closures and closure maintenance
    ● Emplacement of physical and visual barriers on BLM-identified illegal and extraneous routes; ensuring their long-term closure by conducting periodic site visits
    and as-needed maintenance.

● Adopt-A- Trailhead
    ● Trailheads:
        ● Periodic (monthly) walkthrough of trailhead areas - not just the trailheads, themselves. observing and reporting vandalism, offensive littering, shot up trees,
        long-term vehicle parking, etc.
        ● Learning where signs and information belong on trailhead kiosks and committing this to memory/notes
        ● Responsible for re-stocking maps and/or brochures, sign cleaning, maintenance and notifying BlM of the need for replacement;-replacement as needed;-
        keeping trailheads tidy and presentable
        ● Looking for safety hazards and reporting on them
    ● Trails:
        ● Walk, ride, run trails, noting trail conditions, location of internal
        ●Signing, condition of signs and reporting on problems
        ●Observing hazards such as wire on trails (hazard to equestrians), abandoned vehicles, property, etc.
        ●Reporting (and mapping if trained in mapping methodology) on undocumented phenomena such as abandoned stock tanks and other improvements;
        cross-fencing, especially if down, location of illegal routes, particularly if they look fresh; reporting on evidence of trail use by motorized vehicles.
        (n.b. Some administrative and in-holding use does occur).
        ●Future: BLM identifies non-administrative trails and volunteers convert two-track to single track

● Boundaries
    ● Foot or vehicle patrol (depending on which boundary) looking for OHV trespass, observing and recording locations of signs and barriers and maintaining same
    ● Patching boundary fence

●Signs
    ● Sign Inventory
        ●Prepare photographic and GPS data for inclusion in BLM’s geographic information system (GIS)
    ● Interior sign fabrication (most minimum possible)
        ●Stenciling, routing and burning rustic signs to be mounted on used juniper fence posts

●Public Contact
● Presence on the ground for small number of specialized working at hwy 20 trailheads performing meet and greet

●Native Plant Restoration
    ● Development of Badlands Restoration plan
        ●To include Restoration site identification and prioritization
        ●To include weed location and extent information
    ● Seed collection, cleaning, storage preparation and broadcasting; cuttings?
    ● Plant propagation, field out-planting (future)
    ● Weed mapping and removal using approved methods where applicable

●Record keeping and reporting to David
● Recording number of vehicles/trailers, etc parked at trailheads, people contacted
● Recording volunteer hours worked

VOLUNTEER WILDERNESS INVENTORIES
Photos of a Wilderness inventory near Juntura, in eastern Oregon
ONDA survey of Owyhee Canyon
Owyhee Canyon Wilderness study area
Oregon's Owyhee River inventory delivered to BLM
About the Owyhee River wilderness inventory with ONDA

EASTERN OREGON ADVENTURES
Pulling barbed wire fence at the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge with ONDA
Scenes from an ODFW - STEP volunteer 1,000 mile drive around eastern Oregon
Backpacking Big Indian Gorge in The Steens
NOLS group on an Owyhee River Canyon adventure
Owyhee River desert lands - Jordan Valley Rodeo
Steens Mountain wedding in Eastern Oregon

THE BADLANDS WSA
Badlands wilderness trail closures
Bend Oregon Badlands WSA hiking map available from BLM
Hunters who use ATVs are hurting Oregon's elk population
BLM's final UDRMP opens Bend's Badlands to Geocaching
BLM's final UDRMP closes Bend's Badlands WSA to motorized vehicle use
Wilderness workshop for USDA Forest Service held by University of Idaho
BLM's UDRMP plans for Badlands deal with exploding public use
Map, compass and GPS navigation training Noodle in The Badlands
Deschutes County Commissioners fail to support Badlands Wilderness!
Deschutes County takes no position on Badlands Wilderness
Deschutes County Commissioner DeWolf supports Badlands Wilderness
OpEd - Dirt road through The Badlands must close
Photos of Road 8 damage sent to Commissioners
Badlands Wilderness with a road?
The Badlands have unique interest for the hiker
BLM guidelines for Geocaching on public lands
Geocaching on Federal Forest Lands
OpEd - Geocaching should not be banned in the Badlands
Fee Demo groundwork may save Geocaching on our public lands
Protest of exclusion of Geocaching in Badlands WSA in BLM's UDRMP
BLM's UDRMP puts Bend's Badlands off limits to Geocaching
Deschutes County Commissioners hearing on Badlands Wilderness support
OHV use restricted in Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan
Winter hiking in The Badlands WSA just east of Bend
Tread Lightly OHV USFS tip of the month
OHVs to be held to designated trails by USDA Forest Service!
New pole shows Badlands Wilderness favored by voters
BLM posts Reward for information on Juniper rustlers
BLM weighing public input on management plan
Oregon's Badlands hit by old growth Juniper rustlers Photos
Congressman Greg Walden to visit The Badlands
Badlands Wilderness endorsed by COTA
OpEd - Unregulated OHV use is being reviewed across the western states
OHV use curtailed by new USFS policy decisions
Sierra Club's Juniper Group supports Badlands Wilderness
OHV regulation discussed at BLM meeting in Bend, Oregon
OpEd - Badlands part of BLM's recreation management area
OpEd - We need the Badlands Wilderness
OpEd - Off-roaders have no reason to fear Badlands Wilderness designation
Speak for the Badlands at Town Hall Meeting
Hiking poles are becoming essential gear
Vandals destroy ancient pictographs in the Badlands
Senator Wyden tests support of Badlands Wilderness
Badlands Wilderness endorsed by Bend City Commissioners
The Badlands: proposed for Wilderness status
The Badlands unique geologic forms explained by Chitwood pdf
The Badlands, a brief history
The Badlands pictographs reported 75 year ago

ENVIRONMENTAL
USFS Five Buttes Healthy Forest fire reduction program in Central Oregon
Bob McGown, AAC Section Chair, builds a telescope pad at Pine Mountain Observatory
Becoming an Outdoors Woman classes in LaPine, Oregon with the ODFW
Pulling barbed wire fence at the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge with ONDA
A tour of the aftermath of the B & B forest fire with the Sierra Club
Adopt-a-Road with TraditionalMountaineering
The Bend Bicycle Festival 2004
Wolves introduced to the High Desert Museum
Twenty old growth Juniper stolen from The Badlands WSA More information
A sustainable way to use feathers to adorn my lady
ODFW clinic - Becoming an Outdoors Woman
President Bush holds photo opportunities
Trail Crew builds a log bridge over Spring Creek
Sierra Club holds a Christmas party
Tour fire ravaged Davis Lake
IMBA helps COTA build trails
South Sister climbers trail relocated
President Bush hopes no child will be left behind
Adopt-A-Highway with TraditionalMountaineering
Department of Inferior dumps wilderness protection
An ODFW juvenile steelhead sampling project near John Day, Oregon
The ODFW juvenile steelhead survey in the stream
Owyhee Canyon wilderness study area in south east Oregon
ONDA's Owyhee wilderness inventory camp near Rome, Oregon
Riverfest river cleanup in Bend Oregon
USFS Mud Bog poster
A Pay to Play bust
President Bush reassures us that SUVs do not damage the environment!
President Bush overlooking the environment
Al Gore and his young son summit Mt. Rainier
Fee Demo demonstration in Central Oregon