I talked with USFS Enforcement Ranger Brad Burns this morning, and gave him the details on this new graffiti. He checked out the photos I took of the graffiti. He said the USFS has sandblasting equipment, but that they couldn't get it to that remote location. He expressed that he didn't wish to paint over the graffiti either. He said he will talk to some of thier personel to see if they might have some type of paint remover that could be used. He asked about whether a wire brush could be used, but I told him I had essentially no luck on the green arrows that were painted on rocks down at DCHS. Next time I visit DCHS I am going to bring a wire brush with me, then I will hike upstream to check out the graffiti, and see if the wire brush does anything to it. As Mark mentioned, sandblasting would be the most affective option I can think of, but I would imagine that the size of the equipment needed would make this option unfeasible. I may check around to see if any of the city graffiti clean up crews may have any suggestions. There is graffiti all over the place down stream around the Mojave Forks Dam. Also earlier this year I hiked up Deep Creek from the dam, down on the streambed, and even found numerous graffiti on rocks down there. About 2 miles upstream from the Dam there is a large waterfall that falls down into a very big deep pool. Its a very scenic spot, but unfortunately that place also has been badly degraded by all the graffiti. I've been worried for many years about the prospect of that kind of graffiti finally making its way up to the DCHS area. There has been a handful of minor incidents of graffiti at DCHS, but this very large new graffiti represents the first major incident that I have ever seen around the springs. I have walked the creekbed from the bridge a couple miles downstream from DCHS all the way up to the point where Willow Creek intersects with Deep Creek, about 2 miles upstream from DCHS. In all my travels in these areas, I have never seen any graffiti, except for right at DCHS. There is so much beautiful stream polished granite along the creek. This large graffiti is like a billboard, advertising to all the idiots who do graffiti to come and add there own. Hopefully the USFS can find some way to get it removed.
