In October 2006 the team began a program to assure that the site begins everyday(365 days a year litter free. A sweep is conducted every morning to collect any litter left over
from the previous day's activities. The team had learned over the years that litter encourages litter. Like graffiti, once it becomes established somewhere, it grows like a cancer. The program has been a huge success and remains a daily ritual in any weather. In the fall of 2007 the Missouri Department of Conservation conducted a study for the City of Joplin at the site. The results of the study offered 4 proposals: (1) Barriers restricting vehicle access to the area currently used for limited parking by visitors, as well as barriers to restrict visitor parking along the roadway. (2) In turn, a hard surface parking lot would be constructed on donated land on the east side of the roadway. (3) An effort would be made to extend current walking trails to the site, if landowner easements could be obtained. (4) An observation deck would be constructed at the location. The observation deck(it turns out) was a trojan horse designed to restrict access to the only safe foot path down to the lower area enjoyed by the vast majority of visitors. The location depicted would offer little or no observation value, and would only serve as a liability to the site's visitors. That proposal has been eliminated for now, while the other proposals remain under consideration by the Joplin City Council at this time.
During the Spring of 2009, visitor numbers had grown significantly and visitor parking became an issue. At the request of a city council member, Stream Team #48 began a
daily vehicle survey beginning in mid-April and continuing through the tourist season, ending in mid-August. The survey was conducted daily between the hours of 3:00PM and 6:00PM. The number of vehicles recorded reflected the exact number of visitor vehicles present at the moment. The exact time of the count for each day was recorded as well as the temperature and comments that might become useful, such as organized group photographs, reunions, or other gatherings that could influence the survey. Weather played a role as well and was recorded when appropriate. Results of the survey might well influence the final capacity of the proposed parking lot mentioned previously. Sunday afternoon counts were consistently highest for the week. Sunday, June 7 at 4:30PM, Temperature 90, 58 cars and trucks were counted. That assured a visitor population of well over 100 people, but was not the heaviest day of the survey. Sunday, May 31 at 4:30PM, Temp 87, 72 cars/trucks and 3 motorcycles were counted with visitor numbers easily threatening 200. Visitor parking was more than an issue that day prompting a visit by the Joplin Police Department and the New ton County Sheriff's Department to bring order to the chaos.
