Hello Everyone,
On Wednesday, October 16, ten FOSM volunteers worked with three USFS employees to install a wildlife rain collector, tank, and drinker at a site near the Old Crest Highway between Doc Long Picnic Area and Tree Spring Trailhead. Esther Nelson, SRD Wildlife Biologist, purchased the components and coordinated their installation. Russell Berman, SRD Trails Foreman, and Paige Handley, Cibola National Forest Supervisor's Office, also worked on the project. The location is just west of an older "flying saucer" style collector/drinker that continues to function.
The fiberglass collector/tank and drinker are shown in photographs in the attached Word document. The collector/tank was 96 inches long, 63 inches wide, and 27 inches deep. The drinker was 53 inches long, 30 inches wide, and 20 inches deep. One end of the collector/tank is an open container where wildlife may access water. The drinker includes a float valve that permits the flow of water from the tank as water is consumed by wildlife and removed by evaporation. The tank and drinker are connected by 1-1/4 inch black plastic pipe. A total of eleven pieces of galvanized pipe fittings and one valve were installed in the facility.
Although Russell Berman did initial digging of the holes and ditch, additional digging was necessary to install the collector/tank and pipe. Numerous rocks were removed during the manual digging on Wednesday. The crew was able to drive pickups from the Crest Highway close to the site on a half-mile segment of the Old Crest Road that is in very good condition.
The volunteers were Jerry Pekarek, Bob Lowder, Sam Beard, Lou Romero, Sim Cook, Dan Benton, Eric Russell, Jerry Carroll, Phil Cromer, and Don Carnicom.
Sam Beard, Projects Chair
Friends of the Sandia Mountains