Jade Mill Workday, April 22, 2006
In the March Clear Creek Bulletin, the BLM announced another volunteer workday at the Jade Mill campground on April 8th. Because the Timekeepers Wild Weekend has been rescheduled to April 8/9, Brian White has rescheduled the workday and BBQ to April 22. Here is Brian White's original e-mail note:
Please note the volunteer day beginning at 9am April 8 at the Upper Jade Mill site. We plan to do just a couple of hours of work and then break by 11 am or so for a BBQ. This is to show appreciation for all the hard work volunteers have invested since my arrival in July of 2004. Feel free to bring some snacks, side dish, or dessert, or just yourselves. BLM will be providing everything for a lunch that day regardless. Again, this is in appreciation for the well over 300 hours of labor donated to the CCMA cause since 2004. This has had a very positive impact and helped us through times of tight budget and staffing levels.
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Jade Mill Volunteers Help Again
February 4, 2006
A big thanks the the OHVers who showed up last Saturday to help with phase 2 of the Jade Mill project. Here are comments from Brian White and Mike Zesiger of the Timekeepers MC
Brian: Thanks again to you both for your help and support last Sat. Will plan a wrap-up day for Late March/April including the BBQ on site for all volunteers. Estimate 50 hours of volunteer labor. Hope I got all the spellings right...
Volunteers Sat. and a couple photos: Phil Larson, Kyle Larson, Blair Pine, Mike Zesiger, Terry Pederson, Chuck Mattila, Seph Wilkiemeyer, Jim Boardman, Erik Zaborsky, Ray Iddings, Chris Schmidt, Ed Tobin, Jenna ?, Bruce Argyle, and Michael Madlem.
Brian White
Clear Creek Project Coordinator
BLM - Hollister Field Office
(831) 630-5044
Mike Z: We had a good OHV turn out for this work party. There were at least 10 OHV volunteers this Saturday at Clear Creek. They included Seph and Chuck (these guys both have done a lot for Clear Creek!), a father and son team and 5 Timekeepers, Terry Pederson, Bruce Argyle, Blair Pine, Jim Boardman and myself.
We spent the day hanging fence around the southern perimeter of the area. With such a good turn out, we were done by noon and still had time for a trail ride! There was some good news from Brian White. He has an OK to complete the kid's area that the OHV community asked for on the north side of Jade Mill. This was in the plan but unapproved until very recently. There are also plans to gravel the road from R001 up to Jade Mill, so hopefully we can get our RVs out of there if it rains. There was also quite a bit of low hanging branches trimmed along the road to help get tall/wide RVs to upper Jade Mill. Brian talked about one more work party in a month or two, then maybe one in the fall to put in the kids area.
Thanks a bunch to all those who helped.
Mike Zesiger
Timekeepers MC
Some additional pictures by Ed Tobin:
Finally a link to pictures taken by Seph.
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Jade Mill Workday, Feb. 4, 2006
January 17, 2006
The following is a message from Brian White, the Clear Creek Project Coordinator for the BLM
Another day of field work is scheduled for volunteers at the Jade Mill site on Saturday, February 4. Please meet in the upper part of the site near the new restrooms for a briefing at 10 am. Severe weather could cause cancellation, I'll give as much notice as practical in that case. Additional fencing, site cleanup, and restoration work are on the agenda for the day.
A sincere thanks to all who participated during the previous workday, it was a big success.
Brian White
Clear Creek Project Coordinator
BLM - Hollister Field Office
(831) 630-5044
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OHVers assist BLM with Jade Mill Project
January 7, 2006
The BLM held a workday today to construct fencing around the perimeter of the upper Jade Mill camp site, install vehicle barriers around one of the bathrooms and erect an information kiosk. About a dozen OHVer's showed up to help with the project with many investing the entire day to the project. Turnout would have been greater but a number of volunteers stayed home because of the flu.
If you haven't checked out the upper Jade Mill recently, you should. It offers a great camping area especially if you bring the family. As a part of the project, the BLM plans to develop a mini-bike area adjacent to the campgrounds so that kids will have a formal place to play close to camp. They just took possession of their SWECO trail machine paid for with green sticker funds and one of the first projects will be the development of the mini-bike area.
The club received a note from Brian White regarding the workday. In part it reads: As requested, a list of Sat. volunteers. We will shoot for Feb 4 for another effort; will confirm at later date. Estimate 50 hours of volunteer labor. Thanks for your help. I feel the day was a big success, and have heard others say the same.
Terry Pederson
Seph Wilkiemeyer
John Alafonzos
Farzon Almaneih
Matt Kopriva
Rudy Spajic
Mario Salice
Ross Ross
Ed Tobin
Alex Douglas
David Tharp
The OHV community thanks the above individuals for their contribution to help improve the Clear Creek Management Area.
Volunteers at work
Kids just love construction equipment!
Brian White sitting down on the job. Actually it was about the only break
he took all day!
Here are some additional pictures taken by PlantGuy, David Tharp
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Jade Mill Workday, Jan. 7, 2006
December 14, 2005
The following is a message from Brian White, the Clear Creek Project Coordinator for the BLM
I would like to invite volunteers and staff to participate in a work party at the Jade Mill site on Saturday January 7. It will involve primarily fence installation and the kiosk for the site. Some restoration and finishing work on the restrooms may also be included. Please bring warm clothes, gloves, and eye protection. There will be BLM staff on hand to form various work parties at 10am (and participate!).
For those unfamiliar, the site is about 1/3 mile above Oak flat on Clear Creek Road. Turn left at the top of the hill at the dumpster, and follow R002 past a switchback to the upper site near the new toilets. We will break for lunch around noon, and participants are welcome to stay for another hour or to or be on their way at that time.
Any help will be appreciated. I'm excited to see this project happen, and hope you all spread the word after the work party. From some recent weekend visits, BLM staff have noticed numerous groups accustomed to riding in and around the area and they may be surprised bythe changes this winter. Efforts will be made to contact them over the coming weeks about the project.
Thanks for any help, and feel free to contact me prior to the work party.
Brian White
Clear Creek Project Coordinator
BLM - Hollister Field Office
(831) 630-5044
People interested in helping with thei project should contact Mike Zesiger (Timekeepers Motorcycle Club) who is helping to coordinate the OHV volunteers. Here is Mike's e-mail.
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Jade Mill Environmental Assessment
April 2, 2005
Jade Mill Recreation Site Development Meeting Report
By: Mike Zesiger, Timekeepers MC.
The meeting began shortly after 10:00am on Saturday, April 2nd. Brian White from the Hollister BLM office and William were there along with eight OHV enthusiasts.
Brian sees changes at Jade Mill completed in phases. The first is to fence off denuded areas and unofficial trails and begin the regeneration process. This phase would also include installing toilets at both upper and lower Jade Mill. The proposed fence line essentially encloses the current areas being used at both upper and lower Jade Mill with no loss of current parking areas. Brian also agrees that R002 between upper and lower Jade Mill needs improvement for better RV access, especially in wet weather.
Step two would include installation of wood barriers that are approximately 18” high around various sections of upper and lower Jade Mill. These are the same barriers that are in use at Oak Flat. We expressed our desire to leave upper Jade Mill as an “open parking area” with very little area behind wood Barriers and Brian was agreeable to the idea.
The second step would also include a trail south of Jade Mill and the creation of a family/kids area. An existing trail that starts right where R002 leaves Clear Creek canyon, circles south of Jade Mill and intersects back on R002 just past upper Jade Mill would be made official and given a trail number. In addition, a family/kid area would be designated on the north side of R002 across from upper Jade Mill.
There are numerous steep trails that branch up the hill north and west from Jade Mill that Brian intends to close during the fence project. He is open to permitting one designated trail that would link to R002 at the top of the hill. Brian would look to the OHV community to select, upgrade and maintain the trail.
The next steps are for Brian to get engineers to approve the suggested locations for the rest rooms. He has the fencing materials available now and is planning to schedule a work day to start the fencing later this spring. The expectation is that the OHV community will provide volunteers to complete much of the work.
March 18, 2005
The BLM has postponed the meeting at Jade Mill because of rain. The new date for the meeting is Saturday, April 2, 2005.
March 4, 2005
The BLM will hold a meeting on Saturday, March 19th at the Jade Mill starting at 10AM to discuss the plans for the development. If you would like to provide input, this is the time. Mike Zesiger, a member of the Timekeepers, has graciously agreed to take the lead on this project. If you would like to join his team, send him an e-mail.
Jan 5, 2005
The BLM has released an Environmental Assessment for public review. They propose to install two toilets and a bunch of fencing to cut down on route proliferation and erosion. If you like to camp in the Jade Mill area, now is the time to get involved. Review the document linked below and the picture of the proposed fencing and send comments to Brian White at Brian_White@blm.gov
Proposed Fencing, click to enlarge
