2012 Spring Jim Creek Cleanup May 19th

[Mike Echo]

Announcing the 2012 Spring Jim Creek Cleanup will be on May 19th this year.
If you've been there before, come on back for the fun. We are adding a fund raiser for Breast Cancer Focus and adding a little extra to the door prize drawing.
If you haven't come out before, we are basing out of the Pavilion parking area (From Palmer take the Old Glenn Rd through Butte to Sullivan Rd - From the Glenn Hwy, take the Knik River Road exit approx 8 miles, cross the bridge, to Sullivan Rd. Sullivan Rd is marked by the Alaska Raceway signs, drive 1.25 miles past the Raceway and the parking area will be on the right) We will have people managing the parking that day, please follow their directions!
The Cleanup will start at 10 AM, sign in, get some bags and head out to get some trash! When your bags are full we have a dumpster at the Pavilion. Drop off the trash, get some more bags and repeat! We will start serving a hamburger/hot dog/chips lunch at noon. In the afternoon we will have drawings for door prizes, all donated by area businesses.
It makes a great way to check out your machinery after the winter, get together with family and friends, teach the little ones not to litter - and makes the main ATV riding area in Alaska look GREAT!
This year is the 10th Spring Jim Creek Cleanup, every year we get more people and less trash, maybe someday we won't have to do it - But it is a fun event anyway!
Come on out. If you've stopped coming to Jim Creek in the past - Come see what it is like now.
Mike

[RockHound]

It appears that the Frontiersman has mentioned the cleanup in an article in today's paper. Sadly, they posted the wrong date of May 10th. It is still on for the 19th of May.

[ARGONUT]

The youth academy will be out there again.

[RockHound]

I read in the Frontiersman's Newspaper today in the "Police Beat" section that somebody got cited for dumping hazmat material and trash at Knik. A little less to clean up this Saturday.

[68 Bronco]

I read in the Frontiersman's Newspaper today in the "Police Beat" section that somebody got cited for dumping hazmat material and trash at Knik. A little less to clean up this Saturday.

Link - http://www.frontiersman.com/for_the_...a4bcf887a.html

Scroll down ........

(Obviously every single burned/trashed/shot up vehicle, appliance, electronics, etc. out there contributes to this problem, too. Nice to see occasional citations.)

[Mike Echo]

All in all, there is a LOT less of the trash and "imported" targets than in the past. The shooting ban took away some of the recreational value of the area but with addition of the range area on Maud Rd, those folks aren't shut out. The increased trooper presense and the rules under the Public Use Area plan seem to be working quite well.
If you haven't been to Jim Creek for a few years come on out (for the Cleanup hopefully!) and check it out.
Mike

[RockHound]

The food has been secured, (large truckfull) come on out and enjoy the BBQ. Brauts, hotdogs, hamburgers, soft drinks and more.

[RockHound]

Three more citations were written last week for dumping trash at Knik according to the Frontiersman Newspaper. I hope they made them clean it up! See everybody at the cleanup.

[ARGONUT]

did we get a total on the amount of trash we collected this year? AlsoI did not see that many vehicles abandonded before the clean up. Did we get any at all this year?

[68 Bronco]

All in all, there is a LOT less of the trash and "imported" targets than in the past. The shooting ban took away some of the recreational value of the area but with addition of the range area on Maud Rd, those folks aren't shut out. The increased trooper presense and the rules under the Public Use Area plan seem to be working quite well.
If you haven't been to Jim Creek for a few years come on out (for the Cleanup hopefully!) and check it out.
Mike

Let's gather the family and take a little trip out to unsupervised Maud Rd. range in the KRAPPA (KRPUA) and take a gander at how these folks that 'aren't shut out' are recreating adjacent to wetlands , migrating and nesting birds, and habitat named critical by F&G and DNR in the 80's - and precisely what is considered 'working quite well' ....... (don't forget to put boots on your dog). Thank baby cheeses that the fine image of us responsible shooters is in good hands. How about a nice quiet canoe paddle later, while the sound of high power weaponry is bouncing off the cliffs?


http://web.me.com/rvhoward/Site/Phot...y_29_2012.html

(Be sure to read the quote from the late, great Austin Helmers on the 'Navigation' pg. of the same site.)

[LuJon]

Eklutna lake or the entire Kepler Bradley lake system are great places for quiet canoe rides that are all easier to get to than KRPUA. Personally I would trade Maude lake for a real 600 yard range if the borough would add one to the Hatcher Pass developement plan. As it is now Maude is the ONLY place left where a guy can drive up and shoot for free. I would love to at least see the Maude range bulldozed and leveled out with a blacktop shooting area.

[68 Bronco]

Eklutna lake or the entire Kepler Bradley lake system are great places for quiet canoe rides that are all easier to get to than KRPUA. Personally I would trade Maude lake for a real 600 yard range if the borough would add one to the Hatcher Pass developement plan. As it is now Maude is the ONLY place left where a guy can drive up and shoot for free. I would love to at least see the Maude range bulldozed and leveled out with a blacktop shooting area.

Apples and Oranges in my book - fish and game values are far denser for the Jim Swan Wetlands and Uplands area. It is an open system and different experience. Some of us like to paddle, hike, fish etc. where the experience is less singular. The common assumption/misconception is that 'greenies' (and I have been called one) only need to run in a squirrel cage to be happy. That ain't me - and I do enjoy and use my firearms. I was pissed after I saw the additional mess and destruction accrued (on top of what was already there before I went to visit my grandchildren for a while). Going out there to shoot in all that crap is depressing and that is not good. i've also had persons point randomly at the map and tell me to move there - grossly misses the point - it is about the habitat. Gonna move the unique Jim Swan?
No Dall sheep at Kepler!
In fact, there is hardly anything there other than stocked fish - OK for an afternoon dog walk or such. Neither Kepler nor Eklutna have the appreciable variety of life or experiences. Far more waterfowl, and so on. (Audubon IBA) There are open waters year around in Jim Swan - it is a rich and wondrous place, which I am certain you know. Totally different experience- one can spend days out there.
Eklutna is nice but still less diverse - the wife and I do use it, especially in winter. Both places you mention are supervised, funded, enforced. Kepler is entirely surrounded by roads, which contributes to its sterility and lack of abundance. Eklutna is a significant drive. I don't want to always have to rely on fuel funding to have some peaceful experiences.

Do you think, after all these years of observed abuse that an unsupervised shooting range will work, given all the idiots constantly disrespecting ??
I had some early hopes it might. Unsupervised, your blacktop will be burned.

I gotta wonder what kind of fools mothers are raising these days - they will ruin it for all. Educating them is obvious fantasy. Bad apples need enforcement/babysitting - everyone said we needed enforcement in Knik and it is not effectively happening, though improved in limited ways (by design for and by special interests). Heck, even Craig Medred stopped going to Knik years ago because "... it is just too depressing". He told me so on the phone when BLM (Kevin Keeler, at the time) advised him to talk with me in pre-legislation days. In fact lots of folks avoid the place. I had two good friends, just this evening at dinner, wanting to go shoot their new firearms. I'm ashamed to take newcomers out Maud - I will find an alternative.

Like others, I've been here a long, long time and care for the place - it makes me sick to see the foolishness and I think the location/plan is doomed to failure. It needs to placed where it can be easily built and supervised at a reasonable cost.

[Mike Echo]

Results of the Cleanup!
Sorry for the delay getting this info up.
417 people came out and helped gather 7.3 tons of trash.
I believe the truck clubs pulled 3 carcasses out Thanks Guys!
We gave 30 helmets to kids who showed up without them (Thank You to the IBEW for helping us with that!). We also collected 165.00 for Breast Cancer Focus.
From what I saw everyone enjoyed the BBQ (Thank You to Alaska Valve and Fitting for the food, they help us out every year with some great fixings!).
Thanks to all of you that showed up to help. I think it makes a statement that what (I believe) is the biggest ATV event/meeting in the state is to clean up a riding area. Hopefully next year the parking lot will be bigger!
I want to thank Rockhound and StockandStuck on this board for their work on the cleanup. Great Job guys!
Mike