VWA Willow Creek Restoration Project
Implementation Plan
Willow Creek Cleanup Project
Implementation Plan
Project Purpose
The purpose of the Willow Creek Cleanup Project is to remove an estimated three tons of trash and debris from the Willow Creek (coastal) drainage that was left by previous human occupants and mining operations. The project is being undertaken by the Ventana Wilderness Alliance and other nonprofit organizations in cooperation with the United States Forest Service.
Location and Access
The project location is along the main stem of Willow Creek (coastal) from the confluence of Dog Vine Creek down stream approximately one half mile. Specific trash locations are the McGranahan Cabin Site and Suspension Bridge, Black Fir Claim, Lapidary Shop and the Hobbit Mine Claim. The Hobbit Mine includes three active jade claims owned and operated by Gary Ozuna of Carmel, California. Volunteer cleanup on the Hobbit Claim will be subject to Mr. Ozuna's approval. Please see the attached map for further detail.
Willow Creek lies within the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest and is managed by United States Forest Service. With the passage of the Big Sur Wilderness and Conservation Act of 2002 the project area was added to the Silver Peak Wilderness area and activities therein are subject to the Wilderness Act of 1964. Access to the project area is via Forest Service Road 5E08 which runs from the Los Burros Road to the wilderness boundary at the Happy Landing trailhead. From the Happy Landing trailhead access to the project area is by foot following the Willow Creek Trail and existing use trails.
Description of the Trash
The trash to be removed by this clean up project is a wide assortment of material ranging from typical household trash to construction fixtures and materials, household appliances and industrial equipment. One small structure, identified as the Lapidary Shop in the attached photos, consists of wood framing and corrugated fiberglass sheeting. Other large items include bed springs, piping, refrigerators, stove, 55 gallon drums, sinks and a large lapidary saw housing.
Attached is a list of trash to be removed and a field estimate of the number of thirty pound backpack loads required to remove the trash. The total estimated number of loads is 183, with 127 loads originating at the McGranahan Cabin site and nearby locations. The Hobbit Mine site is estimated to generate 56 backpack loads.
Trash Packaging and Handling
Much of the trash to be removed consists of small loose items such as glass bottles, metal cans, small pieces of hardware and other scraps of metal, glass and plastic. This type of material will be gathered by volunteers and placed in disposable reinforced plastic bags used by the construction industry for debris disposal. When filled, the bags will be sealed with a locking nylon fastener or duct tape. Filled bags will be attached to external backpack frames with hook end elastic cords for transport to Happy Landing. Larger irregular items will be strapped directly to the backpack frame for transport.
Trash Size Reduction
The size and weight of some of the trash items (home appliances, 55 gallon drums, bed springs, lengths of metal pipe, etc.) requires that it be reduced in size to be accommodated by back pack. Various hand held and portable tools such as bolt cutters, pipe breakers, hack saws, sledge hammers and a portable oxygen acetylene cutting torch will be used to reduce the large items to dimensions suitable for attachment to a back pack frame. All tool use activity that presents a fire hazard, particularly use of the cutting torch, will be undertaken in centralized locations and in accordance with procedures approved and supervised by the Fire Battalion Chief of the Monterey Ranger District. All fire precautions will be followed. It is anticipated that this fire hazardous phase of the project will be performed during the winter months when the site is damp and fuel loads are reduced.
Trash Transport from McGranahan Cabin Site
Because of topographic and trail conditions and to comply with the Wilderness Act, the trash will be transported from its present location to the Happy Landing trailhead by volunteers using backpacks. After the large items have been cut to a packable size, all of the trash to be removed from the Black Fir Claim site and the Lapidary Shop site will be packed to the McGranahan Cabin site and stockpiled. The trash below the McGranahan Cabin site will also be moved to the stockpile location at the cabin site.
When all the material from these three locations are stockpiled at the cabin site, a temporary Tyrolean traverse will be setup from the cabin site across Willow Creek to the landing at the southerly side of the suspension bridge. The traverse will utilize a braided nylon climbing rope secured to existing large trees. The trees will be protected with rope collars that will disburse the rope load and prevent damage to the bark. A light weight gondola will hang below the suspended rope on pulleys and be moved from one end of the traverse to the other with lead lines of braided nylon rope running back to the loading and unloading locations. After all the trash has been removed from the cabin site, the traverse will be removed.
Two teams of volunteers will operate the traverse with one team working at each end. The cabin site team will load the gondola with a pack load and it will be pulled to the opposite side where it will be unloaded and attached to a pack frame to be walked out to Happy Landing by a waiting volunteer. The gondola will then be pulled back to the cabin site to receive another load. This process will be repeated until all the stockpiled trash at the cabin site has been removed from the cabin site.
Packers moving the trash from the suspension bridge landing will hike to Happy Landing with their load which will be either loaded into a waiting truck or stockpiled if a truck is not present. The packer will then return to the bridge landing to pick up another load. The number of packers working this leg of the project will vary depending on availability of volunteers. However it is anticipated that a no more than 10 packers would be working at any given time.
Trash Transport from the Hobbit Claim Site
The trash located at the Hobbit Claim site is similar to the other sites in that it is a mix of household trash and some larger relics that will need to be reduced in size. These materials will be handled as with the other sites. Large items will be cut down to manageable sizes and small items will be bagged for transport. The gravel bar on the north side of the creek upstream from Willow Creek Camp could be used as a staging area to stockpile cut and packaged trash. The trash would then be moved across the creek with the same Tyrolean traverse setup utilized at the suspension bridge. The end of the use trail extension running east from Willow Creek Camp would serve as the opposite end of the traverse and the loading area for backpacks. Volunteer packers would then load their packs and hike the loads out to Happy Landing.
Truck Transport from Happy Landing
Local truckers will be hired by the Ventana Wilderness Alliance to transport the trash from the Happy Landing trailhead to roll off dumpster provided by Waste Management. The dumpster will be located at a turnout along the lower section of the Los Burros Road at a location approved by the Forest Service and Waste Management. When the dumpsters are filled, they will be hauled by Waste Management to the county dump in Marina.
Milled Lumber Disposal
Some of the trash includes milled lumber including the suspension bridge planking, lapidary shop roof framing and benches and the wooden water tank. After the wood is separated from any attached hardware, the wood will be stockpiled in a location identified by the Forest Service to be burned under their supervision.
Stream Crossing
Volunteers will need to cross Willow Creek to access the several sites on the northerly side of the creek. The suspension bridge will not be used because of its questionable safety. All volunteers will be instructed to cross the creek by boulder hopping to avoid disturbance to stream gravels and aquatic life. As far as practical and safe, volunteers will be encouraged to utilize several stream crossing locations and routes to the cabin site to minimize creation of new use trails.
Timeline
Subject to receiving timely authorization to proceed with this project from the Forest Service, the following is a general timeline for field implementation of the project:
| January - March 2004 | Reduce size of large trash items during wet months. |
| March - June 2004 | Package small items and stockpile at loading end of Tyrolean traverse locations. |
| June - September 2004 | Backpack trash to Happy Landing. Truck trash to dumpsters and on to county dump at Marina. |
Environmental Concerns
The overriding objective of the project is to improve the natural environment and wilderness values of the project area. Therefore the overall consideration during field implementation of the project will be to minimize the project's negative impact on the project environment. Every reasonable effort will be taken to minimize impact on soils, plants, wildlife and Willow Creek. All recommendations, guidelines or requirements of the archeological and biological consultants and the Forest Service will be followed.
