Clean-up Begins Now!
Gathering Restoration and Recovery Rap (Grrr)
The ideal is to walk into an area, see it as it is, encamp for a period
of
time, BE as lightly on the land as possible, then pack up and leave
the area
as close to natural as possible...
[*note: The term "encamp or encampment' is used to denote an "assembly
for
expression" is "substantively" different (a reference to First Amendment
activity) than one of merely camping - similar to a pew in a church
and/or a
seat at a political convention. Note: walking into an area is a way
to
re-assemble, remember, connect with an ancient relationship of people
and
natural Earth.]
Set-up:
First, get to know the place..
identify areas or life forms that need
protection or pose dangers... think about where, how to encamp with
the
least impact:
Walk into an area, look
around, see, hear, feel for what is already there:
...where are the trees, bushes, small plants, flowers, water, insects,
spiders..?
Do you hear any birds, see
any nests, how about holes in the ground that
maybe groundhog or snake holes, homes for small animals etc.. is there
a
stream, pond or wet meadow is nearby... these are delicate and
easily
damaged... Do you see archeological artifacts (pre-1935)? or any historical
structures that need to be preserved and protected? ...(encamp elsewhere).
Look completely all around,
check for human neighbors... walk the area in
every direction for a short ways.. is there a shitter (latrine) area
or
water source nearby? ... is there a community kitchen nearby? ... does
the
"neighborhood" seem compatable to you ...do you have special needs?...
Having looked around, select
an encamping site... for tent, tipi or
temporary structure, take into consideration the idea of doing the
least
destruction...
Having found an area, take
a moment to reflect and appreciate what
lives there... if you are spiritually inclined, perhaps offer a prayer,
for
whatever life is interrupted or taken (accidently or on purpose) -
such as
any plants or bushes you must cut or remove, in order to set-up your
area
for living... for the secular too, listen and become aware of the other
life-forms all around you -- perhaps offer a simple thank you and
acknowledgement to any life you may interrupt or destroy during the
process
of setting up and inhabiting this place...
For those who do not understand
this 'giving thanks' concept; it works
out as a simple action of respect, respect for all other aspects of
life,
and self-respect, because 'giving respect' to life, nature, some spiritual
belief, or other humans, engenders a measure of 'giving respect'
to yourself.
Now is time to encamp...
set-up in a way that will be easy to
undo... don't dig holes that aren't needed... if you dig, keep the
sod
watered in a shady place and replace it when you're done... be sure
that
compost, grey water and shitter pits are at least 250 feet from water
and
wetlands... tents can be a little closer (100 ft)... always respect
fire and
water... encampment fires are in community areas, not personal camps...
there are many things to learn about encamping with many other people....
----------------------------------------------------------
Clean-up: Begins on the Day you Arrive.....in other words clean-up
daily.
Once someone has come to the last few days of encamping in an area...
the
process of clean-up, restoration and recovery intensifies...once an
area is
"naturalized" one of the last tasks is the scattering of the seeds.
Step 1: trash pickup.
Beginning with a generalized
clean-up of the area where your encampment is
located as well as the nearby area, including around local shitters,
water
sources, or other installations set-up for use of assemblees. Pickup
all
trash! - don't forget the little stuff like cigarette filters, candy
wrappers, etc... (compost orange peels).
Sort re-cycling at campsite
or kitchen areas, recover all re-cyclable
materials: Aluminum with aluminum, tin with tin, steel with steel,
glass
with glass (brown with brown, green with green, clear with clear etc.),
plastics (pop bottles, milk jugs, misc.), other materials - check with
regional recycling centers for current list.
Burnable materials - paper,
cardboard, unpainted lumber, and other burnable
materials are burned (unless fire danger is high)... when cold, the
wood ash
(natural lime) is placed in shitters and compost pits... This helps
to break
down and de-contaminate waste and compost.
Wood or lumber without nails
or paint, is also useful to throw in on
top of compost pits and shitters, which are then covered over with
dirt on
top. This makes a barrier to help keep animals from digging up the
compost
and shitters. When compost pits are nearly full, 10-12 inches
from top of
hole, throw wood or rocks over top of compost, etc., before filling
and
mounding with dirt... Then scatter branches, leaves etc... to help
the
impact disappear... [Few animals will dig up shitters; but animals
love
compost -- topping compost with human waste/scent before filling in
with
dirt will help avert interested critters]
Trash and recycling has
to be hauled out, in successive trips if
necessary, to your transportation... suggestion: haul some fully re-cycled
trash with every load-out of your other gear. Also, during the event,
when
one or more of your group heads 'out', encourage each person to haul
some
fully re-cycled trash out with them...this makes the task, when you
are
actually pulling up stakes and "booking", much easier, because you
have kept
up right along during the event.
Step 2: Taking apart your camp...
First, your oven... break
up the rock and mud.. iff'n you have used a
barrel, remove barrel "out"...dig beneath where oven located and dig
in
dirt, check for root fires, or any signs of burning..make sure ground
around
and beneath oven is dead-out.
Scatter rocks and mud...blackened
rocks roll so blackened side is
down to ground... cover with dirt, slightly and/or branches, leaves..scatter
tocks in all directions and/or replace iffn you removed these rocks
from a
specific centered area...scatter if you found scattered, replace some
place,
iffn you found rocks in some place...knock down oven to ground
level...remove all significant traces of oven... throw dirt, branches,
leaves over area where oven has been.
Now that you are leaving,
you want to burn all your burnables.. then
cool-down all wood ash... remove when cold, and dump in shitter or
compost
pit...
If you have built a shelter,
of dead wood and twine etc.. remove all
twine and/or nails (etc) from wood, if possible... if nailed and unable
to
remove.. cut off end with nail in it, burn wood-end in fire, collect
nails
and re-cycle...
Knock down shelter... scatter
branches or wood used for
construction... lay on any bare areas.. then cover with smaller branches,
and cover then with leaves and duff... if poles have been worked
or cut,
turn so cut part is towards the ground or disappeared in brush...
Next, the fireplace, and/or
campfire area is dealt with in a similar
way. When you built this fireplace, campfire and/or ovens, you
dug out a
large hole, at least a foot beyond where your constructed fireplace
stops...
and at least a couple feet deep, removed all roots, duff, and burnable
materials, lined hole with rocks all along in bottom of hole,
then
constructed from rocks, dirt and/or mud... a suitable campfire or
fireplace..where you can cook or get warm or both...with suitable draft..
Next, move all the stones
in bottom of hole and check beneath the
stones, in and all around your pit, or fireplace hole... Check to make
sure
no burning roots, or any other material is still burning or too hot
to
touch.. When everything is cool,
dissappear the hole/pit/rocks... fill
in and cover to ground level with dirt... then cover over with scattered
branches and leaves.. so the area where your fireplace was, is now
'naturalized'...When scattering rocks from campfire or fireplace..
make sure
they are turned over so burned side is down toward ground...
Step 3: Naturalize...
Any holes you have dug should
be filled and disappeared... rocks
scattered or buried... then throw small branches on top and gather
duff,
leaves, etc., from nearby woods and throw this down on top of any barren
areas.
The reason for this is two-fold..
first, duff and leaves hold moisture
and acts as protection for insects or ants to move into the area in
search
of food.. also shade for insects, spiders etc...and any shade cools
the
ground.. worms tend to move to cooler areas, with shade... also the
moisture
helps vegetation recover... roots are often healthy, waiting just below
the
surface even when it looks hard and dry, ...moist duff helps soften
the
suface and rejuvenates latent roots of groundcover plants....
And secondarily, when folks
come through to scatter seeds.. any
ground cover helps the seeds remain behind, so they are not blown in
the
wind.. and the small branches, and leaves act as protection for the
seeds..
moisture gathers in shady areas.. and seeds remain behind branches
etc..
where wind then blows dirt etc.. and this dirt, moisture etc.. is trapped
next to the branches and leaves.. so the seeds are protected and tend
to
sprout more easily...
Any cut branches and poles
should be disappeared... try to throw cut
branches deeper in the woods... or arrange so cut ends are hidden in
brush...or for the dedicated, make a little mud, place on open wounds
or
cuts on trees - this helps protect the injured area and/or makes cuts
look
old, so the next person who visits the area sees little impact and
any
visible impact seems like it was already there, for a long time...
other
inspired techniques are used, this is basic restoration.
Breaking up the ground.
Heavily impacted areas such as camps,
kitchens, main trails, info sites, etc, are helped if the compacted
surface
soil is broken up somewhat... and/or breaking up nearby trails is an
essential thing to do.. helps the seeding, helps little places to form
where
moisture and other dirt falls into the tiny holes... breaking only
needs to
be an inch or two.. just enuf to break the surface... also break up
the
surface of trails, where hard pack happens when people walk.. and break
up
hard-pack area around the encampment..
Water barring.. is needed for
trails on steep or gentle slopes or
hills ... these need to be placed every 8 to 12 feet apart...
the steeper,
the closer.... cut a diagonal slice (usually with pick or pulaski),
an inch
or two deep, sometime four inches deep, with the diagonal running in
the
direction of the slope... so that water coming down the trail will
sluice
off to the right or left of the trail, rather than continuing
in a straight
line down the trail... this prevents erosion.... With water bars every
so
often on any trails, with branches laid on the downside of the diagonal
cut,
with a little dirt burm to keep the branch in place (and/or stakes)..
so you
have many little dams that catch runoff water and sluice it off to
the side
of the trail before gullies can form... Any branches, leaves, rocks,
etc
that one can dump on the trail, or any hard-pack areas is a very good
thing
to do.... all of this helps slow down potential run-off.
Scatter slash on trails
and cleared areas. Throwing down large
limbs, branches or rocks into a trail helps to break up the trail so
animals, cows, deer, elk etc., will not use the trail. Cows in particular
do
not like to walk over ground broken up by branches and objects in their
way.. they will return to their original trails, or go wherever the
going is
easy. Wild animals will walk their own selected trails.
Scattering duff and dead
leaves, etc, on trails... helps the soil
retain moisture, speeding recovery of grasses and other vegetation...
This
also helps disappear the trail visually... the trail unscene is less
likely
to be retravelled. If possible, and there is available enough time
and
energy.. it is good to completely branch and duff all trails...this
will
naturalize it even more... and humans will not walk on these trails...
Areas that have been cleared for camps and living scenes should also
be
scattered with branches and duff... as with trails, this helps the
ground
retain moisture, keeps the big mammals from treading there, and 'disappears'
the visual impact....
Roads. Knocking out a road
requires bigger limbs... a lot of bigger
limbs.. plus many smaller branches.. other people traveling into the
area
usually will not get out of their rigs and clear an area.. if they
can drive
around a few large limbs, they will do so, but if there's many branches
and
rocks, which might get caught under their wheels and/or scratch the
paint
etc.. most folks will not drive on such a road.. The more obstacles
the
better.. either the people will find another place to drive and/or
they will
avoid going down that road.. either way.. with a road's hard-pack broken
up.. branches, limbs... logs..leaves/duff and seed.. few people, if
any,
will drive on such a road....
First frost of fall will
break up anything else that has not already
been broken up...
Step 4: Look back...final sweep...
When you walk away from
your encamp site... :
~ shitters have been closed and disappeared, the area naturalized...
~ composts pits have been closed and disappeared, the area naturalized
~ camping spots, including any constructions, are taken down,
broken up,
disappeared and the area naturalized with branches, leaves, etc.. if
you are
also the person doing the scattering of the seeds then you will seed
as you
leave...
~ ovens and fireplaces are all dismantled and disappeared...
burned rocks
are concealed or turned over... the impact area is disappeared with
scattered branches, leaves, duff, etc..
~ All hard-packed areas, trails, shitters, firesites etc. are
broken up,
covered with leaves/duff etc, scattered with large and small branches..
water bars have been put in along hill trails...
~ Any and all trash has been re-cycled... sorted and hauled away..
(not a
filter - filters fibers injure birds - is left on site!)
Give thanks and praise, ask for blessing and healing:
And at the last, when you
walk away; ...for spiritual people... give
thanks and praise for such a place to be, and offer a blessing on the
place
for healing... -- and for the secular... look at the spot where you
encamped, give thanks for such a spot to be, and/or give thanks to
yourself
for respecting nature enuf to clean-up and restore.
And for those who don't understand: it is always better to clean-up
after
your self, not leave a mess, on public lands and everywhere...
If done
correctly and humans leave an area naturalized, humanity will
be better off
for it...
~~~~Restore the Earth! Restore the People! ~~~~
www.wildrockies.org/peacetribes