San Juan Resource Area Recreation Impact Inventory/Monitoring Indian Creek Climbing Area Overview & Summary of Findings 2007 Pam Foti, Professor Aaron Divine, Lecturer Janet Lynn, Program Coordinator Northern Arizona University Parks and Recreation Management Ecological Monitoring & Assessment Program
I. Introduction and Project Description Indian Creek Climbing Area, approximately 150,000 acres, is an internationally recognized destination climbing location. Recreation use at Indian Creek has increased in the past 5 years and with the increased use has come increased recreation impacts. The primary recreation impacts are related to (1) camping site proliferation and (2) improper sanitary waste disposal. In early 2006, the San Juan Resource Area (BLM) implemented a pilot management process related specifically to sanitary waste disposal with the voluntary use of Wag Bags (sanitary waste disposal bags). Furthermore, there are currently no regulations related to campsite proliferation and/or designated campsite development. Thus, monitoring tasks need to be established to evaluate the impacts on camping use patterns to determine if camping is being displaced to areas which were not previously used. Indian Creek Climbing Area has a non-profit support group (Friends of Indian Creek) who are spreading the word and providing funding for both Wag Bags and actions to prevent development at Indian Creek. The BLM has agreed to allow the Friends of Indian Creek to test the sanitary waste program over the next 3 years, before making a final decision related to necessary development. Part of the agreement was that BLM would monitor the sanitary waste conditions to determine whether or not the Wag Bags were improving site conditions. At this point, there is no monitoring system established. This project goal was to establish a sanitary waste disposal monitoring system to determine the effectiveness of the Wag Bag policy over the next 3 years. In addition, the project developed a dispersed campsite monitoring system to assess the current number of dispersed campsites and the proliferation of campsites over the next 3 years. This project is based on the planning approach of the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC). This approach allows wildland recreation site managers to make decisions about recreational use and changing recreational impacts over time. While LAC has nine steps, there are four distinct questions which form the basis of the planning approach: 1. What do you want on site? (Recreation Management Plan) 2. What do you have on site? (Inventory of Recreation Impact Areas) 3. How will you get from where you are to where you d like to be? (Wildland Recreation Site Management Prescriptions) 4. How will you know when change occurs on-site? (Recreation Impact Monitoring) Currently there is a variety of private sector entities advocating for the Wag Bag program and supporting the BLM in their efforts both financially and physically to keep Indian Creek free of dispersed recreation development. Local climbers, The Access Fund
and some climbing equipment manufacturing companies have banded together to form a Friends of Indian Creek organization. They are very interested in maintaining climbing in Indian Creek as well as assisting the BLM in the management of the area and together their financial contributions to the conservation and management of the Indian Creek Corridor have been substantial. II. Goals of the Project 1. To assess the current status of human sanitary waste disposal within the Indian Creek Climbing Area and determine changes in waste disposal amounts (increases/decreases) over the 3 year BLM Wag Bag test project. 2. To complete a dispersed campsite inventory of the Indian Creek Climbing Area in year #1 of the project and then again in year #3 of the project to determine short term site proliferation in the area. This part of the project will also incorporate any historical dispersed campsite data available through the BLM. III. Summary of Findings: Climbing Impact Assessment Based on the sample climbing areas studied: 1). Routes are visible from the road, usually >100 feet from the road, other sites are very frequently visible from the climbing route. In a majority of cases, non-recreational sites are visible from the route (road, ranch buildings, etc.). The distance from the road to the climbing routes is usually >250 feet. 2). The climbing routes are typically in short desert shrub communities with a rocky/talus soil. Vegetative cover is usually 0-25% at the base of the climbs and variably distributed off-site. Cryptobiotic soil is not common and is usually not impacted if present. Soil erosion is often present at the base of the climbing routes. 3). Barren cores are present at the base of the climbs and there are frequently significant numbers of the barren cores, usually at the various routes. Barren cores sizes are usually multiple party size/number (indicating a size/number appropriate to accommodate several climbing groups). 4). Climbing impacts were found at the base of the climbs (including bolts and chalk) and on the rock surface of the climbs (including chalk and polished surfaces). However, no campfires were observed at the base of the climbs, as well as no livestock or packstock impacts. There was also no indication of mountain biking at the base of the climbs; however, there was one incident of OHV use.
5). There are access roads and social trails to most climbs. In some incidence, social trails are quite extensive with upwards of 13+ trails noted. 6). The vast majority of climbing areas had micro and, less often, macro litter present. While the number of pieces of litter was often small, nearly half of the incidents included over 11 pieces of litter on-site. 7). The incidence of non-cultural vandalism/graffiti at the base of climbs was quite high and attributed, in most cases, to the naming of routes. 8). Fifty percent of the climbing areas studied showed incidence of human sanitary waste. In most cases, there was more than 2 incidence of waste and in 25% of the areas there was more than 4 incidents. The major indicator was toilet paper. Beyond the incidence of human waste, 37.5% of the areas had dog fecal matter on-site. 9). There were significant incidents of vegetative and rock impacts at the base of the climbing areas. In particular, shrub damage, cactus damage, and rock impacts were prevalent on-site. Impacts to Watch: Number of barren cores developed Social trails Litter Continuing graffiti Human sanitary waste Dog fecal matter IV. Summary of Findings: Dispersed Camping Impact Assessment Based on the dispersed campsites studied: 1). Campsites are usually visible from the road and located next to the road. Other sites are visible about half the time and non-recreational sites are visible approximately 30% of the time (road, ranch buildings). 2). The campsites do not usually have water access, although slightly over 30% are located next to streams. Most of the campsites are located in Pinyon/Juniper (with a fair number in short desert shrub or native riparian). Most sites are located on loam or sandy soils and there is often soil erosion on-site. Vegetative cover is usually 0-25% onsite and usually 26%+ off-site. Cryptobiotic soil is often present and usually impacted if present.
3). Barren cores are present at the campsites in most cases, however, the number of barren cores is low at 1-3/site. Barren cores sizes are usually single party with some multiple party sites. Campsite arrangements were observed on about one third of the sites. 4). There were minimal climbing impacts noted at the campsites. Livestock impacts were significant at the campsites, however, packstock impacts were minimal. Nearly a third of the dispersed campsites showed evidence of OHV use on-site. 5). Dispersed campsites had both access roads and social trailing on-site. In most cases, the social trailing was minimal (1-3 trails). 6). Most campsites had both active and residual campfires on-site. In terms of active fires, the majority of sites had 1-3; in terms of residual fires, most sites had 1-6. There were more incidents of residual fire presence than active fire presence. 7). The vast majority of campsites had micro and, less often, macro litter present. The distribution of litter by total pieces was quite variable ranging from 1-5 through 11-20. 8). The incidence of non-cultural vandalism/graffiti at the dispersed campsites was minimal. 9). The majority of campsites (63.4%) showed incidence of human sanitary waste. In most cases, there was more than 2 incidence of waste and in 25% of the areas there was more than 4 incidents. The major indicator was toilet paper and cathole construction. Beyond the incidence of human waste, 20.8% of the campsites had dog fecal matter onsite. 10). There were moderate incidents of vegetative impacts and significant incidents of rock impacts at the campsites. In particular, tree damage (fires), shrub damage (site expansion), and rock impacts (burning, breaking, scratching) were prevalent on-site. Impacts to Watch: Cryptobiotic soil impacts Livestock impacts OHV impacts Active and residual fire development Litter Human sanitary waste (more than the climbing areas) Dog fecal matter