Columnist Susan Snyder: Eagle Scout blazes a new trail

Tuesday, May 29, 2001 | 8:17 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@vegas.com or 259-4082.

No one will ever see Mark Russell's Eagle Scout project.

That's because he did it right.

Russell, a 16-year-old sophomore at the Meadows School, led an army of volunteers out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area May 19 and eradicated an illegal trail.

"We just dug the daylights out of this trail so all the soil would be loose," Russell said. "It was kind of a lot of work."

Yes, it probably was, once they dug up a third of a mile of trail, planted cacti and scattered rocks and dead cacti around to make it look natural. The trail was just beyond the parking area for the Calico I stop. That's the Scenic Loop Road's first pull-out.

Eagle is the highest level for Boy Scouts of America. National figures show only about 3 percent of scouts ever attain it, but Russell says he knew he wanted to get there. His dad is an Eagle Scout, as is an uncle.

So he began looking for a project back in April by asking the Bureau of Land Management for a list of possibilities out at Red Rock.

"I saw 'trail eradication' and thought it sounded interesting. Our troop had never done anything like that before," the teen said.

Many scout projects call for adding a trail or rebuilding something. Planning how to destroy a trail isn't typical Eagle fare.

The plan was to cover the beaten path with vegetation and rocks, then host a barbecue afterward for the volunteers. Russell pulled in 55 helpers, including members of his own Troop 256, friends from school and adults.

But make no mistake. Russell gave the marching orders. He even put his own grandmother to work in the first aid station, which he also arranged.

And he convinced them to show up at 6:30 a.m.

"I told them it was going to be so hot. That's why I made it at 6:30 in the morning," Russell said. Kid's a born leader.

The day's six hours of hard labor included sending two pickup trucks to the James Hardie Gypsum plant to pick up the cacti and other vegetation for planting. The BLM has an agreement that it may take any plants that will be destroyed in the course of the company's operations.

Russell and his crew also learned to use a substance called "Dri-Water." The clear gel is inserted at the plant's roots, and the plant is watered. The gel then begins releasing cellulose, which is the chief substance in plant fiber.

Finding the stuff was harder than using it. Russell eventually had to call the company headquarters in California and find a distributor.

But then, Russell had to call a lot of people. Eagle Scout projects are designed to be investments of time, not money. The goal is to find as many volunteers and donations as possible to keep projects service-oriented.

Everything from Dri-Water to food and coolers for the barbecue was donated or purchased at a special rate. Russell assembled the goods through letters, phone calls and stumping store-to-store.

"I'd call people at lunch from school," he said.

Still, it was worth it. The illegal trail is nowhere to be found, and Russell is on his way to earning the Boy Scouts' highest honor.

But don't go looking for his accomplishment. You won't see it.