Of the 22.8 million acres of land the Bureau of Land Management oversees in Utah, there is a small area of about 10 acres in Grand County known as the Fruit Bowl. Over the years, the area has received recognition for its unique recreation opportunities in the air space hundreds of feet above the canyon floor such as highlining, BASE jumping, silks, and lyra. The Fruit Bowl is also home to the annual Gobble Gobble Bitches Yeah! highlining event, more commonly known as GGBY.
The two lead organizers of GGBY, Jackson Helgevold and Jesse Faircloth, are now spearheading a newly formed nonprofit, Friends of the Fruit Bowl. The organization is dedicated to land stewardship, sustainable recreation, and building relationships with the various stakeholders in the specific area to maintain public access.
“One of the biggest things that we’re working on right now is establishing an official relationship with the BLM through either their friendship program, or a cooperative management agreement, financial assistance agreement, or volunteer service agreement,” Faircloth explained.
The land the Fruit Bowl sits on is owned by the Utah Trust Lands Administration, but is managed by the BLM through a cooperative management agreement as part of their land parcel.
“This will give us the opportunity to work in tandem with them and help develop steps going forward…We want to combine resources to achieve the same goals of conservation,” Faircloth added.
Helgevold pointed to some immediate tangible goals of Friends of the Fruit Bowl, such as updating and repositioning the information kiosk at the trailhead and creating an education website, as well as the much larger project of defining a clear map outlining the Fruit Bowl perimeters.
On Dec. 15, 2023, the BLM announced a rule prohibiting roped and aerial activities in Mineral and Hell Roaring Canyons, covering over 10,044 acres, with the goal of protecting wildlife. While the Fruit Bowl is excluded from the new regulations, Faircloth and Helgevold want to proactively work with the BLM to ensure continued access to the area and the safety of the wildlife.
“We’re still working with the BLM to establish more details surrounding these maps, the boundaries, and what we can do within those,” Faircloth said, adding that the current total acreage and outline of the Fruit Bowl still needs defining. It’s currently unclear if it would include all or part of the access road, parking lot, campground, airspace across the canyon, or solely the bolted anchors.
Helgevold and Faircloth both hope that Friends of the Fruit Bowl can highlight the success of the collaboration for other user groups across the country.
“We are uniquely positioned to work with not only the local agencies like the City of Moab, but also at the county level, state level, and federal level,” Helgevold said. “If other highlining areas in the country are looking to model an advocacy group, Friends of the Fruit Bowl can potentially provide advice depending on their location.”
Helgevold and Faircloth also hope that their initiative will lead to the creation of future highlining areas scattered throughout Moab, similar to the way rock climbing crags have been established around Grand County.
“The Fruit Bowl area is only one of very few official highlining recreation locations for that user group in the country,” Faircloth said. “Locally in Moab, we hope to replicate this type of recreation area in other locations once we establish what is approved, aesthetically pleasing for everybody, and takes into consideration the desert ecology.”
Going forward, Helgevold and Faircloth plan to continue facilitating a space that welcomes public input through their community involvement outreach incubator.
“We’re a small team, so we all kind of wear many hats—and also share the hats,” Helgevold said, adding that their strong suits compliment one another, though the sustainability of the Fruit Bowl and GGBY will be heavily dependent upon community involvement.
While the official website for Friends of the Fruit Bowl is under construction, answers to commonly asked questions are available at ggby.org/faq. To get involved, email fruitbowlfriends@slackline.us and to follow for additional updates, check out their Instagram, @fruitbowlfriends.
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