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Protecting the Past

Interview with Derris Jones Regional Supervisor, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Ken Verdoia: Derris, let's begin with the whole notion of Range Creek passing from private ownership to public ownership. Tell me a little bit about the people that were interested in the canyon and what their interest was. What were they trying to preserve?

Derris Jones: There's a group of sportsmen, they're called The Sportsmen for Habitat, they've also got an arm of the group called The Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, but they've always looked at this country as real desirable because of all the private land involved in it. Locked gates that that actually prevent access into some public land that has just virtually been inaccessible due to the smart moves of some homesteads that kind of block some access to a lot of public land. They approached Congressman Hansen and convinced him that he needed to scrounge some land/water conservation dollars, and they had a willing seller that was willing to sell some property in the canyon here. So Congressman Hansen was successful in securing the, funding and a lot of people worked a lot of hours; Trust for Public Lands, sportsman's groups, counties--
there's just a lot of effort by a lot of different people. And they secured this piece of property, and it was actually also tied to a piece up on top at Tavaputs. Waldo Wilcox had his ranch kind of split into two different pieces; the lower part that we're on here today and an upper piece. So the sportsman, they got a good chunk of land about…almost 4000 acres worth of prime wildlife habitat. The archaeology was just kind of a bonus deal out of the whole trade, the whole sale.

Verdoia: Now as a person who's committed to making sure the habitat is managed to the benefit of wildlife, what are the challenges of Range Creek as you see them, as we look at a big picture of long term management of the habitat down here? What gives you the greatest concern?

Jones: The thing that strikes me as the biggest concern is the archeologists came into this canyon and says, "Oh, look what a pristine, untouched archeological find we have here." The wildlife habitat is almost the reverse. What we've got is, due to some past uses, some flood histories, some things brought over from Europe that have escaped, and in the way of flora, we've got some noxious weeds in this canyon that are going to be tough to overcome. So, as pristine as it was for the archaeology, the reverse is almost true for habitat.

It's going to take some work and the challenge that's going to come to us is this work is going to require immense cooperation with the cultural resources, 'cause the kind of things we need to do is we need to turn some dirt. We need to plant some seeds. All of that in the past has been in conflict with cultural resources, and I see this partnership that we have in the canyon with the archaeologists as a real opportunity for an outdoor laboratory where we can look at techniques and methods that'll accomplish good things for wildlife, but yet protect the cultural resources as well. And we can take what we learn in this canyon and use it all over the west and figure out ways that we can turn some dirt, but still protect the cultural resources in the west.

Verdoia: I was at a meeting with you, and I know you've been at many more than I've been, but I was stunned when all the stakeholders gather around a table to start expressing their opinions and their concerns and their priorities. This is a huge group of very diverse interests that comes together on Range Creek-- that in and of itself must be an incredible challenge.

Jones: It is. We've got a diverse ownership in the canyon. We now own what Waldo used to own. There's two other private land owners in the canyon that own pieces. BLM owns a vast majority of the canyon, and it's managed, it's wilderness study area which is a unique challenge all on itself. When it comes to management. SITLA [School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration] is actually the next largest landowner in the canyon. They have quite a bit in holdings in here, and their mandate is to make money for the school trust. And sometimes the direction to create funds for the school kids can be in direct conflict with some of the other management things that we'd like to see in the canyon. So, you're right, it is a very diverse group of people, and it's been a real challenge. But on the other hand, I'm just truly amazed at the cooperative spirit that everybody's had. And number one thing on everybody's mind is, number one let's protect the cultural resources and number two let's do what the intent language of the legislation that provided for the purchase of this was for and that was for wildlife and for public access in the canyon. So you're right, it's been a real challenge.

Verdoia: In the 60's and early 70's, I've been privileged to read some accounts in hunting magazines about Range Creek, and this area has almost considered a mythical place. The size of the deer, the size of the elk, the nature of the herds that could be viewed-- and it was a very hard ticket to get in back then. I mention mythic. Help me understand the past of Range Creek in the realm of game hunting and what it is and what it can be in the future.

Jones: What it was in the past was primarily a mule deer area where in the fall the mule deer would migrate down off the high country and come down into here. Today our mule deer herds are a lot smaller. We don't have near as many deer as we had back in the 40's and 50's, and to be honest with you, that's probably a good thing. We, we definitely could use a few more deer than we have right now. We're kind of at the low end of our management objective and we're trying to increase mule deer in this area. A couple of additions that have come to the canyon since the mule deer heyday of the 40's, 50's and 60's is, we now have an elk herd in here that it's less than, it's about a 20 year old elk herd. It was transplanted in here in the late 80's, early 90's and also we've released Rocky Mountain big horn sheep down in the lower end of the canyon, closer to Desolation Canyon and they're just now starting to take off. We've got a good nucleus going. It's actually a hunted population now. We issue a limited number of permits, 3 or 4 tags a year are issued for this area. The other wildlife in this canyon, the side canyons, is just perfect Mexican spotted owl-nesting habitat. With this riparian running up and down the canyon it's just perfect forage habitat for not only the Mexican spotted owl, but peregrine falcons will come and use this. We have peregrine falcons over on Desolation Canyon and I'm sure this canyon's well within their reach to come do some foraging.

Verdoia: You talked about how this is a great opportunity. If we do it right, we can set an example that could be a model for the entire American West in terms of cooperative management of the land for many benefits. Is there something that gnaws at you, maybe at night, where you say that's the best case scenario, but I'm concerned about…..what?

Jones: Sure. You know, being responsible for the wildlife in the State of Utah, it always nags at you how much can you compromise? When do you say enough compromise is enough and when do you start being the advocate for the resource that you're responsible for managing? And so far, I don't feel like I've compromised the wildlife resource one bit. This is a delicate canyon. It's, it's got a lot of interest from a lot of different people. Not everybody has the access to the canyon that they want, but there is some access for about anybody of some kind or another and to me that's the most important thing is the letting the public get into some areas that they've never been into before. The wildlife can, we'll do what we can for wildlife, maybe we can't do everything we want, but I think we can do enough to increase numbers, and when we get enough animals in here that we need to do something more with the habitat, then we'll reevaluate. But until we get to that point, I think there's room for a lot of different uses in this canyon.

Verdoia: Last question. Just a stone's throw, a pretty good stone's throw away, is Nine Mile Canyon. And there's been oil and gas exploration and testing going on up there, and it seems to me that advocates of wildlife and advocates of cultural resources all have a shared concern that national priorities could shift and put increased resource development pressures on Range Creek canyon. Is that also on the table as one of those potential challenges in the future?

Jones: There are definite challenges. And sittin' right at the threshold -- mineral rights supersede surface rights, so, basically we're at the mercy of, of the, the mineral lease holders--oil and gas. We're not very far from some real rich tar sands, oil shale reserves, that when the price of oil gets high enough, they're gonna develop the techniques to extract it. And I'm sure that in my lifetime, we'll be dealing with those issues in this canyon.