Charlie Hopton celebrates cleanup of snow-fence material from one area of the Pass summit. His wife and IPF Board Secretary Heather Hopton was a major advocate of this ongoing project before she passed away in 2004.
Before the snow-fence material can be collected into stockpiles for future removal, it must first be disassembled.
Inmates from the Buena Vista Correctional Facility have helped in collecting and stockpiling the snowfence material. IPF is planning to remove the piles of debris from the Pass by helicopter during the 2009 work season. |
One of IPF's most exciting but least visible ongoing projects is the removal of metal snow-fence material that has been damaging alpine tundra along the Pass summit. The derelict snow-fence is left over from an uncompleted snow-retention project dating back to the 1960's. When this project was later abandoned, scrap metal was left scattered over a wide area along the ridgelines both north and south of the Pass summit.
 In the interests of safety, aesthetics, and environmental integrity, IPF began the monumental job of cleaning up the debris 10 years ago. In the summer of 2005, Sierra Club volunteers from around the country, their leaders, and community volunteers spent two days collecting five tons of debris scattered over 20 acres and stockpiling it for future removal.
IPF is working closely with the U.S. Forest Service to authorize and plan for the use of helicopters within the designated Wilderness Area so that the collected material can be removed in the near future.
Sierra Club volunteer Sophia Lloyd helps collect snow-fence debris from the Pass summit in 2005.
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