Volunteers clean-up Little Wild Horse Canyon

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The Bureau of Land Management in Price, was contacted with the concern that there were more than 100 new etches and scrawls on the canyon walls in Little Wild Horse Canyon. This damage was new in 2011, and many etches were dated.
“In early June, 2011, I took two of my good friends down to the San Rafael Swell to spend some precious time in the desert, and show them some amazing places,” says Matt Monson, a Salt Lake City resident. His friends were also eager to experience a slot canyon, so Monson suggested an easy day hike through Little Wild Horse Canyon, a beautiful slot canyon with curved and twisted narrow walls, just outside of Goblin Valley State Park.
Although amazed at the natural beauty of the canyon, the three friends could not help but feel disappointment with what they saw; a popular hike with visitors to the area Little Wild Horse Canyon was being loved to death. Scratches, scrawls, and graffiti had been marked on the sandstone walls up and down the canyon, littered with names and careless sketches for over a mile.
With the help of Trish Clabaugh, Price BLM Field Manager, Monson was able to organize a volunteer group of friends, loosely coined “The Goodies” to arrange for a clean-up and restoration of the graffiti in Little Wild Horse Canyon on Oct. 14. In roughly six hours, The Goodies, alongside BLM staff Jaydon Mead and Angela Wadman, were able to restore almost a mile and a half of sandstone canyon walls to their more original nature – removing the graffiti and markings of recent visitors.
An eclectic mix of all types, the Goodies come from all backgrounds, job fields, and philosophies and all with a common love for Utah wilderness, leaving things more awesome than they found it, and making fun happen. In the group’s own words “Goodies never say die.”
This group wants to continue being a partner volunteering with the Price BLM.
The BLM would like to thank Matt Monson, Rachel Smith, ‘Crazy’ Dave Miller, ‘Geo’ Dave Van Wagoner, Josh McGlamery, Colby Lavedar, Darcy Martinez, Sean Carmack, Carolyn Frost, Chase Worthen, Candice Metzler, Sam Metzler and Chase Torkelson for their time and dedication to resource protection.
The BLM manages more land, more than 245 million acres, than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska.
The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.