horseshoe canyon

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SOPA, NEPA, and more — your government at work

Monday, December 14th, 2020

In an otherwise rather boring month, we had a bit of activity here around a proposed change to the road into the national forest near our house.

This had come up a few years ago when there was some local discussion about an easement being purchased and thoughts that it was exorbitantly priced and some kind of boondoggle. (For those unfamiliar, an easement is a non-possessory right to cross or otherwise use someone else’s land for a specified purpose.) As a frame of reference, it was said that an easement on a three acre piece of land was being purchased for $80,000. The going rate for undeveloped land here is about $1,000 per acre. At the time, we weren’t that connected to what was going on and there was no public comment period that I was aware of. Afterward, we didn’t really hear much about it, and there was no activity on it that we were aware of.

Then last month, we heard that there was a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) proposal out for constructing a new road into Horseshoe Canyon.

As background, Horseshoe Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains is directly to the west of us. We are about three miles from the forest service border, and we hike there regularly. Between the highway and the forest service border is mostly private land like ours. At the mouth of the canyon, there is a fence and cattle corrals which are used by a local rancher, who free ranges cattle on this side part of the year and has a lease to range them in the forest part of the year. There are currently two ways to access the forest land by vehicle: Sunrise Road (where we live) and Zent Road (one mile north of us). Both of the roads then go into Horseshoe Canyon Road through the corrals and into the canyon

The USFS proposal said that the new construction was being undertaken to “construct small sections of road to connect existing system roads to system roads that currently do not have public access due to intervening private land.” Further they said that Horseshoe Canyon ” lacks legal access.”

(Note the labeling of “Future Public Easement.” Unclear the status of this.)

This surprised me since for the twelve years we’ve lived here, there have been two roads that access the canyon and no problems with motorized access. I understand that other areas, notable the Peloncillo Mountains to the east of us, have had large amounts of public land rendered inaccessible by private land owners who have locked off access roads. However this was not the case here.

By the time we heard about this, there was a very short window for asking questions or submitting public comments. In talking with our neighbors, no one had heard about this. (The USFS says that they posted the project publicly on their web site and in some far away newspaper no one here gets, but did not contact any of the affected landowners. Like many other things, they said this was not their responsibility.) We asked for a public meeting to discuss this. We were told that would not be done. Another neighbor requested the same and got the same answer. In the meantime, we submitted comments based on the information we had. (Other public comments were typically in two categories: hunters, etc. supported the proposal and said motorized access is essential and conservationists, etc. who opposed the proposal and said no more roads were needed.) When a third (or maybe more) person asked for a public meeting, one was finally granted.

We had that meeting last week, standing outside the mouth of the canyon. There was a good sized group of people, including the most affected land owners.

 

The meeting was…unsatisfying. Here were some highlights:

  • The forest service District Ranger made it clear that this was all his decision and said several times said this was a done deal. (Not very helpful given that this was a meeting to discuss this with local landowners who were previously unaware of it and that the project is still in early stages of evaluation.)
  • There was considerable opaqueness and misdirection on the part of USFS.
  • There was a lot of talk about the process, why people weren’t contacted, etc. There was also a lot of confusion because the current NEPA only applies to the small piece of proposal road in the forest; the other access road will apparently be treated differently. 
  • According the District Ranger, there is no plan in place for how the new road will be paid for. (I suspect outside funding may be used as was done for the easement.)
  • Border Patrol is a significant user of this access and has said that they would not pay for maintenance of the forest road unless there was a clear public easement from the highway. (Consensus was that they would be unlikely to fund that in any event. I  agree.)
  • The easements were bought (unclear if this is all done or not) by Arizona Fish and Game in part because “it’s … frequently looked upon badly when the federal government is buying up big tracks of land.”
  • There are not only issues on the easement for the small area proposed for the new road, but also all the way down Sunrise to the highway. The District Ranger claimed that the easement did not previously exist but was recently purchased (news to us). Others claim that there is no easement. (This is something I’ll need to research.)
  • Forest Service’s plan after building the new piece of road is to make Sunrise a forest service road (one that they will have no commitment to maintain, but no one but landowners maintain it now anyway). From our perspective, this is likely to increase traffic into the canyon.
  • The key landowner is the cattle rancher who owns the corrals. (Note: He is a new owner and the easement was purchased before his ownership.) I had talked to him before the meeting and then also asked him his feelings at the meeting. He was very careful and conciliatory to say that he didn’t want to make waves and wouldn’t take a position one way or the other. However, based on his comments and the District Ranger’s mention of discussions they had prior, it was clear that he would not oppose the new road and would lock his gate when this was done. (After the meeting, I jokingly asked him if he would have sold the easement for $80k, and he said, of course.)

Based on this last point, it’s hard for me to object to the proposal formally. (I’m still thinking this through though.) It’s his land, and if he wants to lock his gate, that’s his right.

But I suspect he’s persuadable to other view points, and the real decision was made by forest service who has made a real shit show of this process.

I think building this new road is a complete waste of taxpayer money, as was the purchase of the easement. (Longer story on that which I’m not going to detail here.) There are ways to achieve everyone’s goals at a lower cost. However, like many others, the USFS seems unfamiliar with ideas of sunk costs, transparency, and consensus. Further, I think that the building the new road will be harmful to animal and plant life. In addition, it seems likely that Sunrise Road will have damage from additional water runoff.

The good news is that it seems unlikely that any construction is going to happen in the near term. My guess is that it will years. And in that time, who knows what will happen? :)

Springtime

Saturday, April 4th, 2020

The poppies are in full bloom, and the creek out of Horseshoe is running strong.

There is not usually water in this creek. (This is taken from inside the canyon.) We’ve had a lot of rain in the last month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was taken from outside of the canyon. The hillside is covered with poppies.

 

This nest is behind our greenhouse in the blackberry bush enclosure.

Water

Friday, January 31st, 2020

Last weekend, after too many consecutive days of work, Brad and I took a hike in the canyon. Imagine our surprise to see water flowing there.

It’s rare that there is water flowing in Horseshoe Canyon, but we’ve had a good amount rain and snow this winter (well, for here at least). 

With all the water, we are hopeful for a good spring bloom. 

Backpacking in the canyon

Thursday, April 13th, 2017

The canyon behind our house is a part of a large area of national forest that goes from north of the national monument to south of Rucker Canyon (about 15 miles north of Douglas). We’ve always wanted to do a backpacking trip in the forest that ended at our house, and this weekend we did.

On Friday night, we camped at the Sunny Flat campground a few miles from Portal. Then early Saturday, we set out toward Horseshoe Canyon.

Here are the overall stats for the hike:

Overall distance: 21.6 miles (8.6 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday)

Starting elevation: 5079 ft

Highest elevation: 7220 ft

Final elevation: 4300 ft

Overall, it was a harder hike than we had anticipated. There was a good amount of elevation change, but the real challenge was the trail or lack thereof. Much of the trail had been washed away by Hurricane Odile and consisted of stream beds with large boulders strewn everywhere and large downed trees. In many cases, we ended up walking twice as far as would normally be required in order to avoid obstacles. Climbing over and around boulders and trees added difficulty as well. I was glad we had a GPS because I’m not sure we could have reliably found the way otherwise.

typical “trail”

This was also a trial run for overnight backpacking and our equipment for the upcoming Grand Canyon trip. On that front, all went well.

It was fun to end up at our house, though by the end of Sunday, we were super tired.

We are planning to do another backpacking trip soon, but probably won’t do this one again. Maybe next time will be from Rucker Canyon to our house.

Changes

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

Many of you who have visited have enjoyed a drive back into Horseshoe Canyon directly west of our house. It is national forest service land and has many hiking trails and camping spots off the dirt road.

Since Odile though, the road has been closed at the mouth of the canyon (at the old corrals for those who’ve seen it).

Last weekend, we decided to take a hike back to see what the damage was like. In a word, it was unbelievable.

Much of the valley floor has been washed away. There are stretches where you can see that the raging water must have been more than a hundred feet wide, and there is nothing left but rock.

lots of rocks where there used to be dirt

lots of rocks where there used to be dirt

The road is completely gone in many places, and in some there are holes that go ten feet below what used to be the road level. While navigable by foot or on horseback, it would be impossible now for any motorized vehicle to get through.

where I'm standing used to be the road

where I’m standing used to be the road

It is hard to imagine what would need to be done to repair or more likely build a new road. And with all the other more used canyons here, like Rucker, Price, and Cave Creek, this would be at the end of a long list.

So for the foreseeable future, if you want to see the interior of Horseshoe Canyon, bring your hiking boots.