By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent
Work on the pond at Jenkins Flat, just after the turn-off from SR 132 to the Forest Service road leading to Ponderosa Campground, will proceed this fall. Luke Decker, is the new District Ranger for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, District Four, and met with Juab County Commissioners for the first time on Monday. Decker replaces George Garcia in the ranger position. “I met with Lynn Ingram, county road superintendent, and discussed the project,” said Decker. He said that Title II funds had been set for the project at Jenkins Flat. Though the pond dredging had been agreed to and designed under the jurisdiction of Garcia, said Decker, it was being honored and was still going forward. “I have been a resident of this county for 37 years,” said Byron Woodland, commission chairman. In that time, he had seen forest rangers come and go and did not have much respect for most of them. They were not good to do things for the area on the south side of Mount Nebo. “We finally got a good ranger, George Garcia, and we were concerned when he was removed,” said Woodland. He worked with the cattlemen and, as a much needed project, was working to get drinking water back in Bear Canyon and Ponderosa Campgrounds. That was a project that was long overdue and one that was needed, said Woodland. He said the commission was hoping that the water project would be continued and that Decker would work with the commission as well as Garcia had done. “We are working with the water systems engineer and are looking for ways to keep that active,” said Decker. Richard Hansen, who grew up in Nephi and has a great love for Mount Nebo, said he had talked with Sarah Flinders who is also based out of the Spanish Fork Office. “As a kid, we spent a lot of time in Dad and Sons, now known as Bear Canyon,” he said. One thing he would like to see, and had been discussing with Flinders, was keeping Ponderosa open until the end of October or until the first deep snow. This year the campground hosts had mistakenly closed the road as they left but, after it was protested, the road was opened again. Hansen said he had heard that the Forest Service was concerned about vandalism of the toilets but that there were ways to protect them. “Please communicate with us,” said Clinton Painter, commissioner. “Let us know what you are doing. I grew up here and that is our canyon.” It was the people from the area who actually first developed camping in the canyon. Painter said that the first the commission knew that a road was being closed on Mount Nebo was when they read a posting on Facebook. The commission is against closing roads unless there is a good reason and then the road closure should just be temporary until a problem is fixed. “The people in Juab County are protective on the canyon,” said Woodland. “We went to court to keep open Mona Pole.” If the Forest Service put in gates on roads that were part of the RS-2477 roads, he said, the county would take the gate out. “We will take it out,” he said. “If it is a county road,” said Decker, “we do not want to gate it.” Decker said that he grew up in North Carolina. He then had worked for the Forest Service in Wyoming and Alaska. He and his wife had decided to come to Utah because they had family in the area. When he was with the Bighorn National Forest, he worked as the wildlife biologist. Decker was the Fish, Wildlife, Watershed and Subsistence Ranger for the U.S. Forest Service in Craig, Alaska. He said he also worked with tribes and enjoyed making partnerships. “The Santaquin road is still closed,” he said. “The road is closed above Trumbolt day-use site east approximately one and a half miles to Tinney Flat Campground.” All pedestrian, equestrian, bicycle and any type of motorized vehicles are prohibited because of the extreme safety hazards in the area. “The Andrews Canyon Trail is nearly impassable,” said Hansen. “The trail is rough.” Boy Scout troops used to like to use the Basin Trail to Lightening Ridge. That trail was impassable and, in places, the trail had almost disappeared. There was deadfall, rock slides and overgrowth. Hansen said he had hiked the Summit Trail just the day before and, in some places, there was already a foot of snow. Earlier he had seen some Forest Service workers using a trail dozer in one area on Mount Nebo. “We are balancing the risk on the Santaquin road,” said Decker. Woodland suggested that Decker meet with the commission on a quarterly basis and that those meetings be regular. “We meet with Utah County every other month,” said Decker. “We could do that here. I want to be involved.” He said that he had given his contact information to John Crippen, county administrator. “If there is anything you would like to talk about,” he said, “just call.” |
