PECOS CONFERENCE 2014 CAMPING INFORMATION

Welcome to the 2014 Pecos Conference Camp! We are located in an area of dispersed ponderosa pines at 7,000 feet in elevation that is used each year by the Blue Mountain Scout Camp. There are no developed facilities for this camp, but there are many small areas accessed by roads and road spurs that can accommodate large numbers of both tent and trailer campers. We’ll have a map (soon) and put up some signs on the ground to help direct you to campsites that are both close to the central event area, as well as a bit more private. There will be pods of portable toilets and wash stations positioned at key locations within the camp. The following information is intended to help you better enjoy your visit. Direct any questions you have about the camp to the folks at the registration table.

FOOD AND DRINK

Restaurant options in Blanding are limited; there is only one sit-down restaurant in town, but there is a grocery and several places where you can get sandwiches, burgers, or pizza. Food vendors will be on site to provide options for breakfast and lunches. However, we recommend you not depend entirely on them, and bring some supplies of your own. There will be a cash bar at the Thursday reception and the Saturday dinner where beer and wine is available.

BE BEER AWARE

Blanding is a dry town, but beer is available at the gas station/convenience store at the junction of Highway 191 and 95, about 2.5 miles south of Blanding. The beer available at that location is 3.2. There is higher-test beer, wine and liquor in Monticello (22 mi. from Blanding, ca. 30 mi. from the conference site) in the miniscule state liquor store (approximately the size of a good clothes closet), at State monopoly (added liquor tax) prices. It is technically illegal to bring 6% or higher liquor into the State of Utah that does not bear the state’s monopoly tax stamp, and it can be confiscated. So some discretion is advised. More reasonably priced real beer is also available in Dove Creek, Colorado.

FOREST SERVICE FIRE RESTRICTIONS

PROHIBITIONS:

Pursuant to Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations 261.50 (a) and (b), the following acts are prohibited on the area, roads, and trails as described in this order within all National Forest Lands within the Intermountain Region until further notice.

1. Possessing, discharging, or using any kind of firework or other pyrotechnic device. 36 CFR 261.52(f).

2. Operating or using any internal or external combustion engine without a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained, and in effective working order meeting either; (1) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Standard 5100-1a: or (2) appropriate Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) recommended practice J335(b) and J350(a). 36 CFR 261.520).

3. Discharging or using any kind of tracer ammunition or other pyrotechnic devices including explosive targets.

PECOS CONFERENCE FIRE RESTRICTIONS

The following restrictions are in place for the safety of everyone attending the Pecos Conference. These restrictions are in response to this year’s dry weather conditions and the large amount of highly flammable fuel on the ground in and around the Pecos Conference Site.

1. No open fires of any kind including campfires or cooking fires. This includes fires set in portable metal fire basins.

2. Barbeques using charcoal briquettes.

Gas or propane grills are welcome, but use them with care. Also set generators in areas free of downed branches or other fine fuels. Smoke in areas that are also free of fuels on the ground.

BE BEAR AWARE

Help keep bears from taking an interest in your camp by putting all food in your vehicles at night. Also keep your camp free of any kind of trash that might attract bears. A dumpster is available for your use at the center of camp.

WHY ARE ALL THESE BITS OF WOOD ON THE GROUND?

This area is part of the 410 acre Johnson Creek Hazardous Fuels Project area, on the Moab/Monticello District of the Manti-La Sal National Forest. The resources at risk here are the Blanding City municipal watershed, the Blue Mountain Boy Scout Camp location (which we are also using for this conference), Nizhoni Campground, and this ponderosa stand. Its primary purpose is to mimic the role that small, naturally occurring wildfires would have in reducing the density of ponderosa pine, pinyon-juniper and oak plant communities. A secondary goal is to remove parasitic mistletoe from about 80 acres of ponderosas within the camp area.

The use of fire as a management tool in areas of heavy fuels within the municipal watershed is risky due to the chance of heavy soil erosion and flooding after a fire event. Such flooding would significantly reduce water quality and damage pipelines and other water system features. So mechanical thinning (tree removal and shredding) and hand cutting with chainsaws are being used to return the ponderosa forest to a more open and natural condition and to thin the density of trees in the pinyon-juniper.

You are experiencing the results of the first phase of the project within the Boy Scout Camp. Last winter, trees were thinned and shredded. The slash (leftovers from the shredding and tree removal) was spread on the ground intentionally. These branches are there to project the surface of the ground from sheet erosion during summer thunderstorm events. They will slowly decompose and add to the forest soil cover. The big piles of trees and branches scattered around the camp were left to dry during the summer season, and will be burned this coming winter, after snow safely covers the ground.

The entire project will provide long-term benefits to both the watershed and the future of this location as a boy scout camp and gathering place for events like ours. In the meantime, think of this area as a work in progress! One of the other project benefits has been closure of 8.4 miles of roads within the project area.

The entire project area was inventoried for cultural resources as part of project planning. All sites that are eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places have been avoided by project activities.

The Johnson Creek Hazardous Fuels Project NEPA documents are posted at:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/projects/mantilasal/landmanagement/projects?sortby=1&archive=1

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, DIAL 911

Location of Event: Blue Mountain Boy Scout Camp, 13 miles north of Blanding on Blue Mountain Road (Forest Road 095). From Blanding, drive north on 100 East. After about ¾ of a mile, 100 East becomes Blue Mountain Road. Drive north on this road for about 12 miles (along the way it will become Forest Road 095). Turn left into the signed conference site 13 miles north of Blanding. The conference site is about one half mile south of Nizhoni Campground and across the road to the west from Dry Wash Reservoir.

First Aid Station: Central camp area, at the Registration Tent. Basic first aid kit and services will be provided. No advanced first aid will be available at the first aid station.

Local Hospital: Located about 15 miles south of the Pecos Conference Event Site in Blanding.

Blue Mountain Hospital

802 South 200 West

Blanding 84511

Telephone: 435-767-0517

Hospital services include: an emergency room, pharmacy, laboratory, dialysis, radiology department and small surgical center.

Access for EMS: Both ground-based and air transportation can be used at the conference site.

Local EMS: Ambulance services are available from Blanding, about 15 miles south of the event.

Ground-based Evacuation: Direct EMS to the conference site using direction above.

Lat/Long: 04 50 29.72445 N 079 29 58.12725 W

Air Evacuation: Direct EMS to a helicopter landing base at:

Lat/Long: 04 50 29.72445 N 079 29 58.12725 W

This is the open parking area at the north end of the camp, just west of Dry Wash Reservoir.