Here is my earlier post to the DPW list on Sunday, June 21, 2009:

Hi There--

I just got off the phone with Larry Irvin, whose family owns Garret Ranch aka Frog Pond. He had been in touch with Friends of Black Rock High Rock to see whether we could take on an increased stewardship/management role, and the recent discussion on the DPW list was a good catalyst to pick up the conversation again. He has concerns that the property is getting overrun, and he probably has some liability concerns, too. He will come out to Gerlach tomorrow or Tuesday and we will see if we can come up with some sort of plan. I told him that DPW feels a deep sense of responsibility and appreciation for the site.

Here's the statute: NRS 503.660 Unlawful manner of camping near water hole. It is unlawful for any person to camp within 100 yards of a water hole in such a manner that wildlife or domestic stock will be denied access to such water hole.

That's the length of a football field. Think of all the times we have taken over Frog Pond with our own cars parked right in the spring area, within 10 feet! I'm not just pointing the finger here, I have done it too. And, for those of you who have been going out there for a while, you may be able to tell that the whole area has been defoliated, that is, there was more plant cover on the ground around the spring. Now there is a huge bald area where the most activity takes place.

I have heard some anecdotal ire at the Earth Guardians for "a huge mess" left at the Frog Pond which was cleaned up by the DPW. The reminiscence of the incident is usually prefaced by words like "You can't tell me anything about the Earth Guardians because I know." While I don't doubt that some people who were Earth Guardians acted poorly or that DPW helped out in this instance, I can tell you that once upon a time, other Earth Guardians did restoration work at Frog Pond, including some barrier to keep people from parking too close to the spring. This was defeated over time by people who decided not to respect that effort. http://earthguardians.burningman.com/frog.html

So what? So, now what may be necessary is to build a fence around the spring area, and define parking and camping in appropriate areas, and to put up signs and so forth. In the long run, it may be necessary to have a caretaker live on site, and to charge a seasonal access fee (diminished for Friends of Black Rock High Rock members, of course). Some of you may be thinking, "That would ruin the primitive nature of the place... That would impact MY feeling of FREEDOM!" Well, freedom ain't free, it takes responsibility and maturity to ensure that its benefits and privileges aren't revoked. I hope we will all work together to keep Frog Pond and all of the special places in the Black Rock Desert accessible by instilling healthy ethics in ourselves and each other. That includes modeling the behaviors that we expect people to adopt, and also not using the fence for firewood.

One final note on the original dirty hippie. His name is Marshall aka Token Hippie-- I kid you not- from Apokalyptika Camp. He has been my guest in Gerlach for the past couple of days. It's his pile of stuff and tent that are at Frog Pond, though he has been out there since to grab some of it. His truck is stuck on the playa, and in classic bonehead fashion, my truck got stuck trying to save him on Friday afternoon. Someone else in town (who will go unnamed) also got their truck stuck, so our three trucks are keeping each other miserable company. I will now eat bacon and then consider another away mission.

Happy Father's Day!

--M

Matthew Ebert aka Metric
Executive Director
Friends of Black Rock High Rock
POB 224 - 380 Main Street
Gerlach, NV 89412
775-557-2900 office
775-557-3063 mobile
http://blackrockdesert.org

The Friends of Black Rock High Rock is a 501(c)3 member organization that helps manage the resources of the Black Rock Desert region and educates the public to foster stewardship and preserve its unique character.

Metric, I did some research on putting a campground at Frog. I'll try to write it up this week. The short version:

indestructible picnic tables appx. $750 each and up!
fire rings appx $125 each
park type barbecue appx $200 each (one for each two campsites, they can share!)
Iron ranger fee box appx $1200

Misc for signs at High Road, entry, & fee station $2000?????

Vault toilet cost $?????????

A little solar power for a caretaker $???????

So rough & ready, $1000 per site Just For Materials. Naybe $20-30,000
total?????

Potable water system, probably not practical. LOTS of bureaucracy.

No serious screams from Pershing county.

Put in maybe 10 or so sites (one needs to be handicapped), one group site, a couple sized for small RV's, room to expand in the future. Charge $10 or $15 a nite, maybe a little more? Pull the sites back from the pools. Everybody takes their garbage out.

What does Jim charge to camp at Soldier Meadows? What about JB & the opal mines?

I think we'd HAVE to have a caretaker. Lots of screams from people who've been using it for years...
And we'd need rules, no wood gathering, no riding ATV's in the campground, no shooting, no nudity?, etc, etc, etc. And a satellite phone? There's playa access about a mile or 2 to the north.

In general, we need to emphasize that it's Private Property----the owner has lost control.... Maybe an article for the next newsletter? If it's on his property, people shouldn't expect ANY freedom! Or they can buy it from
him & let everybody else use it....He'd sell if the price is right.

David

Last year, I was asked to pursue the possibility of working with the owner of the Garret Ranch aka Frog Pond to create a Friends-managed commercial campground. I had a conversation with Larry Irvin, and reported this in an email to the board. I also started a thread on this effort here (this thread).

After this, I was informed in my job performance review that I had overstepped my authority through these actions, and have since ceased any effort on this project.

I wrote the following statement at that time, as a defense of my actions, and to illustrate that my actions were not inappropriate:

[BEGIN STATEMENT]

In the performance review of the Executive Director, one criticism that was offered was that the Executive Director had exceeded proper authority by meeting with Larry Irvin to discuss possible management of Frog Pond, and that proper opportunity for discussion by the board had not been offered. First, to demonstrate the direction given by the Board of the Friends of Black Rock to pursue discussions and planning related to a managed campground. From the strategic plan of Friends of Black Rock [ http://blackrockdesert.org/friends/files/1F_FBRHR_Strategic%20Plan_2009.doc ]:

In three years...
We have established self-sustainable and profitable campground;

Ten Year Outlook:
Jim Kudrna: campground w/Friends visitor center...
Will Roger: .... Campground and visitor center FBR managed....

Weaknesses and challenges:
· projects: need to simplify & prioritize; think through big projects (radio, campground)

In the board meeting of June 18, 2009, in the Conservation Committee report, the following was entered into the minutes [ http://blackrockdesert.org/friends/090618-board-meeting ]:

Dave Book: some work into Frog campground, expensive, research will be shared w. Committee

This information is currently posted in the appropriate Conservation Committee forum. In the time since the strategic plan, in several conversations with the President, the Executive Director was encouraged to set up a meeting with Larry Irvin to discuss possible management at Frog Pond. The meeting was finally convened June 22nd after many attempts to contact Larry, and the Executive Director sent a report detailing the points of discussion the next day (refer to the email below this report). Please note the characterization of the Frog Pond posting as "tentative," and the invitation for the board to join the forum discussion. It is my view that the language of the proposed posting (which never occurred) is in line with the stated goals of the Friends of Black Rock, and no promise of expenditure was made or contracts signed at that time or at any other point. Also, no board member has made any comment to the email on the forum as of September 21, 2009.

After this email was sent, the topic was brought up in the Executive Committee meeting on July 16, 2009. The minutes state the following [ http://blackrockdesert.org/friends/090716-executive-committee-meeting-mi... ]:

Discussion about Frog Pond development

In the meeting, the Committee reports were a little rushed following a divergence from the agenda. In the future, staff will not attend Executive Committee meetings to avoid this confusion. In fact, the subject of Frog Pond was brought up, and committee members were again invited to refer to the forum on the website and make comments.

[END STATEMENT]

If you believe that this is something which should be pursued, you need to bring it to the attention of the Executive Committee &/or the board. In my opinion, we would do better to develop BLM-administered property at Trego Hot Springs, and that would be a relevant topic in an Assistance Agreement review.

--Metric

Matthew Ebert aka Metric
Executive Director, Friends of Black Rock High Rock
metric@blackrockdesert.org / 775-557-2900 * 775-771-1593 mobile