Truly Wild - Nevada's Jarbidge Wilderness

A photo from WV's 2011 project in the Jarbidge Wilderness

In the far northeastern section of Nevada, just below the Idaho border, lies the remote and rugged beauty of more than 110,000 acres of Jarbidge Wilderness. With soaring 10,000’ peaks looming more than 4,000’ above the Great Basin, this is an impressive wilderness area to visit. You are sure to find solitude, as this area is amongst the least visited wilderness areas in the lower 48 states, due solely to the remote location.

Jarbidge boasts many different plant species and lots of wild flowers

The aura of wilderness is in the fresh mountain air here. Indeed, the unicorporated community of Jarbidge is officially rated as having amongst the least polluted air in the country. There is an opportunity for tremendous bird watching, as the clear air and geography allow for sweeping, impressive views.  The geography is impressive, ranging from hoodoos reminiscent of Bryce Canyon to large granite peaks that feel like the Alps. A large range of ecosystems are present, from high desert to alpine. Large herds of deer and elk roam the area, as do the mountain lions that hunt them. Fish are abundant in the many lakes and streams that reside in this unusually wet area of Nevada.

A previous WV basecamp in the Jarbidge

The area receives substantial regular snowfall and the rough winters ensure the need for constant trailwork! Our project will be assisting the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest staff in maintaining trail in the striking Mary’s River Basin from August 22 - 29th. We’ll have pack support and will pack in around seven miles to camp, where we’ll make daily trips to work sites close by, so we can keep the trails accessible in this far out there place.

Join WV as we give back in the beautiful Jarbidge Wilderness

If a truly wilderness experience is what you crave, you can do no better than joining the service adventure in the Jarbidge Wilderness! Come breath the freshest air and  join us as we give something back in this remote, striking area. Learn more and signup here.

New National Monuments Declared

Chalk Cliffs of Browns Canyon, Colorado. Photo by John Fielder / Friends of Browns Canyon

Last week, President Obama declared three new National Monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act.  The three areas offer a range of of educational, historical and wilderness values.  This announcement will bring the creation of the Pullman National Monument in Chicago, Ill., a site where African-American railway workers won a historic labor agreement, and the Honoliuli National Monument, the largest internment camp for Japanese-Americans and prisoners of war in Hawaii during World War II.  Also included in this announcement is a 21,000 acre parcel of wild land along the Arkansas River in Colorado, Browns Canyon.

For outdoor recreationalists, the victory in the campaign for Monument status for Browns Canyon is the culmination of more than two decades of work to gain permanent protection for this area. Originally proposed as 35,000 acres, the proposal, which includes defined wilderness, was scaled back to ensure feasible management as a BLM National Monument. The Friends of Browns Canyon has been spearheading the effort since chartered in 2003.

This area is not only notable for its renowned whitewater rafting, but also the pristine forests, unspoiled wildlife habitat, excellent rock climbing, mountain biking, hunting and fishing that engage visitors year-round. The land has been managed as a BLM Wilderness Study Area and National Forest Roadless Area for many years.

What do you think about the new National Monuments? Any interest is helping the BLM steward this land on a service project in the coming years? Let us know in the comments section below.

And here's a way cool graphic of all the new National Monuments over the last few years.

Image courtesy of ThinkProgress

Project Spotlight: San Rafael Swell - April 19-25, 2015

Photo of the San Rafael Swell, from photographer Vera de Kok,  

Spaces are available on a spring WV service project in one of the most striking areas of the Colorado Plateau - the San Rafael Swell.  Geologically referred to as a massive domal anticline (a convex fold of the earth), the Swell is marked by slot-canyons, valleys, gorges, mesas, desert streams, geologic formations and buttes.  Despite being only several hours from Salt Lake City, the San Rafael Swell offers an incredible wilderness experience with a multitude of recreation opportunities and an abundance of solitude.

Randy Kahn took this 2014 photo contest winning shot of volunteers heading to work on the WV project in the San Rafael Swell last year.

Endangered Winklers Cactus (Pediocactus winkleri),
Photo by Daniela Roth, USFWS

The San Rafael Swell offers fascinating geologic formations, a history of ancient peoples, active wildlife and many endemic plants. Evidence of Native American cultures, including the Fremont, Paiute, and Ute, is common throughout the San Rafael Swell in the form of pictograph and petroglyph panels, many of which are accessible. The geology is so uniquely picturesque, it has served as a stand-in for alien worlds in many Hollywood productions, such as Star Trek  and Galaxy Quest. Unique geological conditions in combination with the arid climate have created microhabitats that support more than 40 rare and endemic plant species. Many of these plants are federally listed as endangered, such as the San Rafael cactus (Pediocactus despainii), Ute ladies-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis), Barneby's reed-mustard (Schoencrambe barnebyi), and many more.

Photo by Randy Kahn from last year's WV San Rafael Swell project

Our project will focus on a non-native plant that is abundant across the western US - the invasive and destructive tamarisk (tamarix). Tamarisk disrupts the structure and stability of native plant communities and degrades native wildlife habitat in extremely sensitive southwestern riparian areas by outcompeting and replacing native plant species (such as Cottonwoods and Willows), salinizing soils, monopolizing limited water, and increasing the frequency, intensity and effect of fires and floods. Tamarisk, as well as the other woody invasive plant common in the southwest, Russian olive, are nasty non-native plants that need to be removed to help restore wildlife habitat.

We'll camp by our vehicles at a remote site in the Sids Mountain Wilderness Study Area, picked out by our agency partners out of the BLM office in Price, Utah. From there we'll make daily hikes to work sites and explore the vast and wild San Rafael Swell. Learn more and come join us on a spring service project adventure in this remarkable place! And don't fret too much if the April dates don't line up with your calendar - we have a fall trip in the San Rafael Swell as well.

Another great shot from Randy Kahn from last year's project

See more great photos from the 2014 WV San Rafael service projects over at the WV Photo Gallery.

2014 Photo Contest Winners

We're pleased to announce the winning entries from the 2014 WV Photo Contest, sponsored by Mountainsmith, Sea to Summit, Crazy Creek and Ribz. We received more than 100 submissions, representing the majority of projects we had in the field in 2014. There were so many fantastic photos, picking a winner was very difficult for the sponsoring companies and WV staff.

The grand prize winner was Ulrich Boegli, who has won a place on a 2015 Wilderness Volunteers service project and a Mountainsmith Camera Bag. Ulrich took this photo on the Glacier National Park service project (we'll be back in 2015).

2014 Photo Contest Winner - Taken by Ulrich Boegli in Glacier National Park

Eric Mak was our first runner-up and he receives a prize pack from Sea to Summit and a Longback chair from Crazy Creek. Eric took this trip on his 2014 service project in the Superior National Forest's Boundary Waters Canoe Area.  While both BWCA projects are full this year, you can always join us in  2016.

Eric Mak's beautiful photo from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in 2014.

Our second runner-up, Randy Kahn, will receive a Ribz Front Pack thanks to his really lovely shot from the San Rafael Reef Wilderness Study Area. We'll be back to the San Rafael Swell area this spring with a a project within the Sids Mountain Wilderness Study Area. Spaces remain available, so come on out and bring your camera!

Randy Kahn's lovely photo from the 2014 San Rafael Reef WSA in Utah

You can see these photos and the other selected 2014 Photo Contest finalists on the WV gallery. There are also photo galleries for just about every service project we ran in 2014.  Take a look around and see what amazing wild lands you want to visit next. And take your camera - we will once again host a photo contest, featuring great prizes from terrific sponsors, in 2015.

Rethinking the Wild

In a recent NYTimes editorial, Christopher Solomon states that the Wilderness Act, at 50 years, is facing a midlife crisis. Solomon cites some environmentalists that believe human intervention may be required in order to save or restore the original wilderness qualities in many of our wilderness areas.

Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness

Due to climate change, areas like Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows is drying out and being replaced by lodgepole pine forest. Should the Park Service keep the meadow intact by cutting these trees and irrigating the meadow? Sequoia and Joshua Tree national parks are considering interventions to help these titular species survive rising temperatures and drought, either relocating trees or irrigating groves. In Bandelier National Monument, the Park Service has already stepped in to remove the increasing pinon-juniper forest to stave off erosion of thousands of archaeological sites and restore the grassland character of the area.

It's an interesting question -- is Wilderness truly wild? Is any place on the planet not shaped by human impact? Can we really experience land "untrammeled by man?" Grazing is still an allowed use of Wilderness, and the impacts of over-grazing are evident everywhere in the American west (compacted soils, cutbanks, disappearance of native grasses and other species, and the invasion of nonnatives). Popular areas are overrun by recreationalists, like the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness where hundreds of people and their dogs pound the trails everyday.

What do you think? Is Wilderness worth keeping? Do we relax the rules to allow more intervention by land agencies or contracted concessions? Is it time to rewrite the Wilderness Act?