ST. GEORGE — The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area celebrated its 13th birthday recently, with volunteers tending to its plants and enjoying the stunning vistas of sandstone.

The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, located in south-central Washington County, comprises 45,000 acres of public land and has 130 miles of non-motorized trails, which provide recreation while protecting crucial habitat within the Red Cliffs National Conservation Reserve, according to the Bureau of Land Management website.

Conserve Southwest Utah is a group of community members who strive to protect natural resources and the quality of life in Washington County. The group focuses on the conservation of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Areas (NCA), Beaver Dam Wash, the local watershed, recreation, wildlife and scenic open space. Conserve Southwest Utah hopes to preserve natural resources for present and future generations.

The organization marked the Red Cliffs National Conservation area’s birthday with cake and taking action. Volunteers assisted with planting replacements in the Cottonwood Trail Restoration Plot. This is in response to four human-caused wildfires in 2020 that ravaged the conservation area, burning nearly 25% of the protected Mojave Desert tortoise critical habitat. 

Sarah Thomas-Clayburn, community outreach and partnerships coordinator for Conserve Southwest Utah, said volunteers are working to meet the habitat restoration goals which include producing robust plants that create seedbanks from which native plants can disperse and providing critical food and shelter resources for the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise and other native wildlife species, she said. 

Thomas-Clayburn said volunteers raked native seeds in the plot. These included globemallow, green ephedra, galleta grass and Sandberg bluegrass to prepare for an upcoming plant survivorship count. She said the leaders of Conserve Southwest Utah appreciate the support volunteers give to local land managers to help preserve the Red Cliffs NCA.

The group’s director said the volunteers are an important part of meeting the goals to restore the area

“The Red Cliffs Natural Conservation area is an incredible resource that we all benefit from,” Isabel Adler, Public Lands Program director, said. “Our volunteers go out, plant and help take care of the land so that all people can continue to benefit from this space.”

The outdoors is the appeal of the lifestyle of the St. George area. There is a love of the desert and recreation, she said. There are incredible mountain biking, hiking, and running communities locally.

“I think the joy of this place is related to the landscape that we’re in,”  Adler said.

Conserve Southwest Utah advocates “Smart Growth” which allows quality  economic development, benefits the local environment and quality of life. The group works to also minimizing tax impacts and urban sprawl.

The group is deeply concerned about the proposed Northern Corridor Highway in Washington County. The four lane highway is planned to run through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. The wide open vistas and valleys designated as critical habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise. The road would would cause significant environmental harm to wildlife in the area, according to the organization’s website.

Volunteer Impacts

There have been 125 volunteers who donated 760 hours on habitat restoration projects, specifically in the cottonwood restoration plot, Adler said. Since November 2020, the volunteer efforts have added up to $20,000 in donated staffing. Throughout the year, anyone can volunteer to assist the CSA.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to go out and learn more about the lands that we live next to do and look out on every day. Our volunteers do such incredible work with the local land managers who are really grateful for their work,” she said.

According to Conserve Southwest Utah, additional value the volunteers bring to the area includes:

1. From 2019-2021, CSU volunteers logged more than 2,800 service hours valued at $75,000 on a variety of volunteer stewardship projects in the Red Cliffs NCA including habitat restoration, litter pick-up, and invasive plant species removal. (2019 value of volunteer hour = $26.30)
2. Even before the devastating 2020 wildfire season, CSU supported the restoration of burned ecosystems for the benefit of threatened and endangered wildlife and Washington County residents.
3. From 2018 – 2020, volunteers donated 266 hours of service valued at $6,970 in two other habitat restoration plots in the Red Cliffs NCA.
4. In 2020, four human-caused wildfires burned 14,765 acres, or nearly 25%, of the Red Cliffs NCA/Desert Reserve.
5. Since November 2020, 125 CSU volunteers have donated 760 hours valued at $20,000 on habitat restoration projects right here in the Cottonwood Restoration Plot.
6. Their service has supported the Bureau of Land Management in establishing the 25-acre Cottonwood Trail Fire Restoration Plot.
7. Volunteers have planted, caged (around 400), and watered 2,814 creosote, ephedra and white bursage plants, in addition to raking native seed into the ground.
8. Survivorship of plants after one year was 65.3%. This is remarkable given the extreme drought conditions that persisted from the time of planting.
9. CSU volunteers are helping to meet the habitat restoration goal of producing robust plants that create seed banks from which native plants can disperse—thereby, providing important food and shelter resources for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise and other native wildlife species in the Red Cliffs NCA.

 The group is also seeking ways to educate the public about smart growth in the area. There are other alternatives to the proposed Northern Corridor Highway in Washington County, she said.

“St. George can continue to grow in a way that protects the resources that we all love and benefit from, Adler said. “These are the same resources that drive the influx of population here.”

There are alternative transportation changes to growth instead of the proposed The Northern Corridor highway. She said that widening existing roads and further developing the infrastructure already in place is more cost-effective. And building a new highway is problematic going through a National Conservation Area. The road would be harmful to species recreation.

“We’re advocating for smart growth that protects these resources, ” Adler said.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.