While many might see the recent economic recession as a reason to cut services, several government agencies in Idaho saw it as a reason to work cooperatively and provide training to land managers wanting to learn more about building and maintaining off-highway vehicle trails for public use.
The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR), United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management recognized the need to provide on-the-ground training to western state land management trail staff this past spring.
The three agencies worked with the National Off-highway Vehicle Conservation Council to provide a three-day workshop in Boise, ID, during the first week of May. Fifty-three students from four western states including Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming attended the workshop.
The first day was held in the classroom with classes being taught by Dick Dufourd of RecConnect, a private consulting business that focuses on teaching folks how to build and maintain sustainable trails that are fun to ride. Topics included what makes a great trail great, OHV planning and management overview, engineering 101, managing water, water bars vs. rolling dips, switchbacks vs. climbing turns and much more. While many workshop attendees had extensive motorized trail career backgrounds, others were relatively new to managing trails for motorized enthusiasts.
Once the classroom portion was completed, the group moved into the field. The Mountain Home Ranger District of the Boise National Forest was gracious enough to host the event on the nearby popular riding area known as Danskin Mountain Off-Highway Vehicle Area. Despite the Danskin OHV Area being temporarily closed to the public due to recent fires, the opportunity to help train field staff and get some much-needed fire rehabilitation completed on the ground prompted the decision to permit the field training.
Discussing Needs
Attendees gathered in the parking area where a lengthy discussion took place regarding parking lot size, the need for informational kiosks and signing, restroom needs and the appropriate use of barriers to discourage off-trail use to protect natural resources. Most federal land managers are required to limit ATV trail width to the 50 inches or less standard. Fifty inches accommodates ATVs and some models of UTVs. One of the Polaris RZRs had modified doors which got hung up as it tried to negotiate the width-limiting posts. This sparked discussion about designing a side-by-side friendly approach leading to the gate. Guidelines were given to set width-limiting posts with ample clearance to restrict oversize vehicles without damaging a visitor’s expensive 50-inch machine.
There was mechanized trail building equipment on site provided by the IDPR Trails Program. A Sutter Trail Dozer and two different mini-excavators were positioned at different locations where trail work needed to be done. Attendees were able to see the capabilities of the equipment and its operators. Sections of user-created trail were obliterated and rehabilitated on site for all to see.
Attendees could see the techniques being used by equipment operators to displace water by building rolling dips and reversing the grade. The proper construction of climbing turns (fun to ride/require little maintenance) was also demonstrated to the group. Field staff participated in an exercise to create a flag-line for the equipment operator to follow when re-aligning an existing segment of trail that followed the fall line and created erosion issues.
The IDPR Trail Program provides its heavy equipment and operators to public land management agencies to conduct motorized trail maintenance on popular multiple use trail systems used by UTV, ATV and dirt bike enthusiasts throughout Idaho. The Trail Cat Program is provided free to the land manager in exchange for housing during an eight-day work shift. Funding for this program comes directly from the $12 OHV registration sticker required for any OHV to be legally operated in Idaho. Trail Ranger crews are deployed annually to clear downfall, cut brush and clean out water bars. The Trail Rangers clear approximately 1,800 miles of trail open to motorized use each year. A brief overview of the program was provided to the workshop attendees as an example of how federal land managers with shrinking recreation budgets can get more work completed on the ground.
Several enthusiasts who attended the workshop expressed appreciation of the work being done to improve recreation in Idaho. The workshop offered a great opportunity for everyone in attendance to learn about techniques for managing and maintaining trails. It was also a platform for open discussion regarding future recreation needs and public concerns.
It’s always good to have the people who manage our trails out riding an ATV with a smile on their face. It’s a great reminder to those of us working in the public sector about what the ultimate goal is in public service … providing a quality recreation experience to our customers.
