State of the Union at URE

[broncosbybart]

Nick H and I spent the day on Sat riding the trails and then attending the 3rd annual rendezvous meeting with the USFS (Deborah Walker).
The trails were in great shape and we had a good ride. We rode Dutch John of course and picked up trash and moved some rocks on the creek crossings as well as thought through some plans for the long creek crossing that we will have to fix this winter.

At the meeting we got a chance to hear about what all has been done this year, some things that we'd like to see done, and finally get some feedback from the Forest Service.

Biggest thing I have to contribute is that the areas deemed 'arch sites' that are sensitive are not the areas I thought they were. It sounds like the rocks that are about a foot tall and kind of stick straight up are the formations that are deemed sensitive. On Kodak, it was the kind of rocks you saw after Kodak toward where it plateau'd. Apparently these rocks are brittle and easy to break slices off of and were what Indians used. The area on Dikey Bell that has these is the area that is kind of like a big parking lot midway through the trail. That area is totally flat and really wide. The rocks I can recall seeing there were the ones in the trail as you get to the area if coming from the hill climb. They are right before the hard right corner leading into the flat area. Apparently the areas of concern there are on the edges of the trail and it can't get any wider. In fact, it sounds like the plan is to guardrail that entire area to the width of a vehicle. It sounded like the hill climb wasn't as big a deal, other than preventing it from getting wider. I hope this info helps explain some of the issues at hand with the 'arch sites'. That is about all that was explained to us. It was kind of a hush-hush thing. She said there are 5 of them but she wouldn't say where they were other than the ones we knew of on ****ey Bell and Kodak. It was a strange meeting in that respect. There weren't many direct answers but at least we found out some of the issues and a small explanation of what was going on.

For Dutch John, she sounded very negative when I tried to ask about the possibility to reroute/bypass the hill climb for motorcycles/ATV's. It sounds like Dutch is not considered a 'long term sustainable' trail like they want to create (think Sawmill trail). We will see where this ends up but at least for now it sounds like will have a place to wheel at least for now. We were encouraged to write a handwritten letter to the Asheville and Atlanta offices expressing enthusiasm for the trail system. Apparently that is somehow 'better' than an email or similar correspondence.

Nick, if you have anything to add or can explain it better, by all means do so.

[nhopman]

That pretty much covers it. There is potentially more both good and bad news that may come about, but no need to rock that boat until decisions are made. Looks like Daniel and D i c ky Bell will get the most work over the winter closure. And heavy work at that, mmostly guard rail installation and spider trail blockage.

There will be more trail meetings next year, I will try to get to some of them to keep up with what they are planning.

Nick

[chuzie]

Thanks for the info guys. We appreciate the efforts you frequently make.

The FS will be taking public comments next year once their site impact research on Kodak is done and they enter the next phase of deciding what to do with the area. We can certainly flood the director's email with a pile of pleas to keep the area open, but she can easily filter or delete them. A physical correspondence to the director's office is a great way to force multiple eyes on the subject.

I have all the contact info for the director and am thinking about handing out prepaid envelopes and form letters in April for folks to send that way. Hopefully, by then, the FS has reached the public comment stage of the process.