Sandy ATV trails crisscross this NA in the Jack Pine forest. Unfortunately, this NA is showing signs of abuse. 

Close cropped tree stumps are found in an area just north of the county land. These suggest active logging perhaps 30-50 years ago in the NA. The southern portion of the NA has older growth trees and likely was not logged.

Off-highway vehicles (OHV, quads, etc.) have created trails in the NA. Likely usage is low (based on the depth of the tracks) which has minimized the damage. Tree harvesting on two sites in the southern portion suggests this area is open to abuse.

1. Inspection Report
2. Sound File
3. Images from Inspection

Inspection Report

Question	Q##	Response
		General Information
Date/Site/Submitter:	Q21/22/12	2023-10-01: Nestow (PNT); Phrank P.
Guest Names	Q14	Frank Potter
SAPAA Member	Q16	Yes
		Over all Impression of the Site
What is the Naturalness of the Site? 4=Great, 0=Terrible	Q31	2
How Natural?: comments	Q32	Hidden away from highway 2, the site seems to support a reasonably healthy forest and animal population (based on tracks and scat). Unfortunately, dumping, OHV tracks, and tree cutting suggests abuse.
		How was your visit to the PA?
Trip Duration	Q41	1-2 hours
Why Did you Go?	Q42	Other (see comments)
Visit Details	Q43	Submission to yegville.ca site report.
		What is in the Site?
Ease to Visit	Q51	Parking lot or parking for 2 or more cars
Biological Observations	Q52	The site is divided into roughly 4 unequal quadrants by the range road and the intervening county land. The westerly quadrants are wetter and likely benefit from run off from highway 2. The easterly quadrants are more dry and sandy. The northeast quadrant was logged likely 30+ years ago where as the southeast quadrant has older growth forest. Lots of animal trails and scat suggest healthy coyote and ungulate populations.
Submissions to iNaturalist	Q53	No, did not see anything of note
Geological Observations	Q54	Erosion due to OHV traffic.
Designation as a Protected Area	Q55	None Noted
Comments	Q56	Impossible to know you are in a NA based on a lack of signage. There are private signs indicating no dumping and trespassing.
		Human Activities/Disturbances
Agricultural Activities	Q61	None noted
Resource extraction	Q62	Tree Harvesting
Motorized disturbances (ATV or vehicle activity).	Q63	Off Highway Vehicles (e.g. quads, motorbikes)
Animal or self propelled activities	Q64	None Noted
Gathering and Dumping Activities	Q65	Bush party sites (e.g. bottles), Garbage dumping
Infrastructure encroachment	Q66	Other (see comments)
Comments	Q67	The power line right of way in the southeast quadrant provides easy access to dumping and illegal tree harvesting.
		What Needs to be Done?
Remediation/Protection Activities Needed	Q71	Fencing, Cleanup, Signs, Continued Monitoring, Educating Neighbours about Site Usage
What Have you Done Recently to Help the site?	Q72	Visit and Submitted This Report!
Nearby Stewards?	Q73	A family lives to the south of the NA and the hamlet of Nestow.
Comments	Q74	Opportunities…. Nestow has great opportunities as a day use area (noting the lack of amenities such as washrooms). On dry days, the area can be explored by fat bike following the quad tracks. This would extend the distances including possibly south into the lands owned by the Alberta Conservation Association.
Last Words	Q82	… But Problems. Unfortunately, without nearby neighbours and being close to highway 2 makes Nestow a tempting target for abuse. There is some dumping throughout the site. More worrisome is evidence of very crude tree cutting in the southern portion. The quad tracks are both a blessing and a curse as they provide ready access. Tree cutting harvested in the southern portion noted in two different locations. Sawdust indicates recent activity. Trees taken out to the range road based on bark left on the power line.

Sound File

The Government of Alberta’s Chief Scientist office requests that we collect a sound recording from sites. Not much to hear, which is a good thing! Two samples collected 2023-10-01 at 1136 and 1220h.

Images from Inspection