Initial meeting Tuesday, April 11 2017 – Join Back Country Horsemen’s mapping project in the breathtaking San Pedro Parks Wilderness. Contact Deirdre Monroe before April 7 to indicate your interest or commit to volunteering. (505) 670-4925 Deirdre@swcp.com
A message from Joan Lattner – President, Santa Fe Chapter Back Country Horseman
Our Santa Fe BCH Chapter is moving forward on a project plan for the San Pedro Parks trail mapping and validation. BCH Northwest Chapter members are also planning to participate. Additional organizations and individuals will be contacted as we more fully define the project scope and resource (mapping) needs. This specific project is a field validation effort, not a clearing effort. BCH will be working in the San Pedro but that will be conducted separately from our trail validation effort.
In support of the project, Karen Denison will teach a 2-part GPS class for prospective volunteers aimed specifically at the skills for doing this project. Class size will be limited and priority is for those folks who are committed to volunteering for this project. Participants don’t need to have prior experience with GPS. You don’t need a GPS to take the class; there will be a few “loaner” units for students who don’t have their own yet.
The first session of class will replace our regular meeting on April 11. Do not plan on attending the April 11th meeting if you do not plan on participating in the mapping project. We want to stay focused on the mapping project which will begin at 6:00 p.m. This will be a classroom environment lasting approximately 3 hours. Bring a brown bag realizing that the beginning of the class will be map reading. Karen will ask participants to start working on map challenges within five minutes of starting class. There will be worksheets and handouts and topo maps provided by our instructor, Karen, who will review map-reading, introduce the coordinate system, GPS vocabulary, limitations and functions. The outdoor field session will be the following Saturday morning, April 15 and will include practice on how to record and save “waypoints” and “tracks”. The 2-session class will take about 6 hours including outdoor exercises.
Can you help? Volunteers need to be honest about their availability–plan on at least one weekend camping at trailhead this season, so time is spent on trail. And volunteers must have for their use a hand-held GPS with a USB cable for connecting to a computer (not a cell phone or serial port GPS), know how to read topographic maps, and record a GPS track.
Please check your summer calendars and join us in this worthy project. Contact Deirdre Monroe before April 7 to indicate your interest or commit to volunteering. (505) 670-4925 Deirdre@swcp.com
Mapping San Pedro Parks Wilderness Project
San Pedro Parks lies within the westernmost part of Santa Fe National Forest, just a few miles northeast of Cuba, NM. It occupies approximately 64 sq. mi. as a rough rectangle seven miles (east-west) by ten miles (north-south). The middle Wilderness (about 5 x 6 miles) is a large plateau of rolling trees and meadows, but trails leading up to the plateau can be steep and rough. Elevations range between 8300 feet – 10,200 feet.
San Pedro Parks was declared a Forest Service Primitive Area in 1931 and adopted by Congress as a Wilderness in 1965.
Access points: There are about a dozen access trails from each side of the Wilderness, but by far the easiest entrances are from the south (San Gregorio Trailhead) and east (Resumidero and Rio Puerco Trailheads). Trailheads elsewhere involve steep hikes to reach the Wilderness boundary, and trailhead roads may be very difficult.
There are about 120 miles of official, designated trails within or leading into SPPW. Santa Fe National Forest is required to maintain an accurate inventory of trails, yet they don’t have the resources to do that well. Trails were last verified by a SFNF ranger using GPS about 10 years ago (2005?). Prior to that the official Wilderness map was 25 years old (published in 1976). Deadfall, erosion, and use by wildlife, cattle and humans has lead to possible trail “drift” or blockage of trails to recreation use.
Back Country Horsemen of America-Santa Fe is proposing to spearhead a project to validate the existing, official trails in San Pedro Parks Wilderness using volunteers. This is in coordination and cooperation with Santa Fe National Forest. The proposal has been made to SFNF and has been received very well; steps are being taken to make it a formal agreement.
Because access points are rough and/or limited, equestrians may be best positioned to cover the mileage required for GPS verification. It will still require considerable time and effort. Packing in may be the most efficient approach for some trail areas. For reliability, multiple GPS traces are preferable to single traces. Because of the project’s scope, this will need to be a coalition effort–not only Back Country Horsemen, but members of other groups.
Deirdre Monroe, BCHA project manager, will coordinate volunteer efforts and compile the data collected. As she will have the overview of gaps in the data, she will need to assign trail sections, etc. to be validated. Matching personnel to needs will be a challenge for her. Volunteers can make it easier for her by becoming competent with recording tools, honoring availability commitments, and keeping the mapping goal as top priority (not trail clearing, or recreational riding).
Thank you Karen and Deirdre for your dedication and willingness to see us through this meaningful project.
Remember, it takes a village!
Sincerely,
Joan Lattner
President, Santa Fe Chapter Back Country Horseman
- Looking for volunteers who can use a GPS or are willing to learn and who can follow trail/explore to validate the trail tracks in a particular area.