# Building new trails in the national forest- need some help



## Haus Boss (Jun 4, 2010)

I'm looking for any type of help or advice regarding the proposition and construction of new trails in the US National Forest. The area that I'm looking at is in one of California's least visited national forests. There are two wilderness areas, but both are over 10 miles away and extremely underused. There is an extensive network of OHV trails in the forest. These trails are among some of the most popular in California- making for not such a pleasant mountain bike experience (unless you don't mind dirt bikes whizzing by you every 3 minutes). There is a limited number of non-OHV trails throughout the forest, almost all of them are point to point and of limited length. The only real network of interconnected trails are those designated as OHV trails. Management of the National Forest recognizes their forest is extremely under-utilized and have even done several studies on how they can increase recreation opportunities in the forest. From the many downloadable PDFs I've gone over, mountain biking is seldom mentioned by forest management. The closest population centers are 1 - 2 hour away, and mountain bikers in these areas tend to visit better established trail systems. Large scale marijuana cultivation is a fact of life and is rampant within the forest. 

I am interested in proposing a non-motorized network of trails in one of the least visited parts of the forest. The way I see it, an extensive trail-network achieves the goal of getting more people into the forest, and as more people visit the back country, the amount of land available for marijuana cultivation diminishes (albeit by fractions of a percent). I have a number of questions, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My Questions:
- Who would I propose the idea to in the national forest?
- Are there potential local stakeholders I should speak with?
- What should be presented to forest management? (maps, powerpoint, studies?)
- Does the NF request Environmental Impact Reviews or any other type of study before a new trail can be built?
- Things to avoid?


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Is reduction of the cultivation of pot in the IMBA guidelines?


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## Fattirewilly (Dec 10, 2001)

Haus Boss said:


> I have a number of questions, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> My Questions:
> - Who would I propose the idea to in the national forest?
> ...


What is the local mt bike advocacy/IMBA club for that area? You might not be the first to come up with the idea. Make contact with the local club(s) and find out what if anything has already been tried.

?? Access4Bikes ??


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Meet with the FS District Recreation Facilitator, explain what you want to do, follow their prompts. Could be the most direct route to what you want, especially in a small out of the way place with no organized effort going on.


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## Haus Boss (Jun 4, 2010)

bsieb said:


> Meet with the FS District Recreation Facilitator, explain what you want to do, follow their prompts. Could be the most direct route to what you want, especially in a small out of the way place with no organized effort going on.


Thanks for the advice. Any ideas on what should be presented to the Rec Facilitator? I also thought getting the local sherrif dept or Cal Fire behind the idea might help as well. They're a pretty small county that is dealing with grows that can exceed 100,000 plants. These large scale grows are extremely detrimental to groundwater (literally tons of fertilizer and waste being dumped), forest ecosystems, and are often fire hazards as well.


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## swampboy62 (Feb 10, 2009)

You might want to check out Northern Allegheny Mountain Bike Association - they've gone through the process in Allegheny Nat'l Forest in PA. They have a website and a facebook page.

Good luck. It is a noble thing you are attempting.

Steve Z


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

^ Just have a talk about the possibility of developing some bike trails. The FS has their own rules and way of doing things. A smart person follows their lead, the best scenario is if the Rec Facilitator gets on board and joins in the project. Some FS Districts are quite informal and others not so much, make friends with them and see where it takes you.


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## Chris Clutton (Nov 8, 2006)

I have not worked with the Forest Service but my experience with Jackson Sate Forest is it really helps to have an organized group that is committed to building and maintaining the trails. I would suggest forming a group including law enforcement, local government, and elected representatives if possible. Getting a 501c3 tax status so you will be able to accept grants and charitable contributions is also important. 
Good luck and PM me if you want more detailed info on what we are doing on the Mendocino Coast.


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## tjp (Feb 17, 2004)

We're working with USFS here on the North Coast. It's slow going with their funding situation, but it's also very dependent on the personalities you are dealing with in your particular forest. They will have a recreation administrator. Start there, and have maps and stuff to show them what you want to do to avoid wasted meetings. You will need and EA, almost surely, but the may be able to do it. Again, dependent on their individual level of cooperation. First - get conceptual approval and move forward with (probably) and EA. Second, do the env studies. When they are complete, chase down money to build. Sounds easy? It's not, but it's worthwhile-we haven't gotten to step 2 yet, but are on the radar and have changed their planning priorities. Be patient, polite, persistent.


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

First, take a good long, hard look at what you have in mind. What is the use prescription for the area you're looking at in the forest plan? (A forest plan is kind of like a zoning document) Some prescriptions are friendlier to trails than others. What resource issues are present? What animals use the area? What plant life is present? Any cultural resources? The more front loading of this information you can do the better. 
Then you need to go to however is in charge of dispersed recreation at your ranger district and tell them you want to put together a proposal. Your proposal will need to show purpose and need of the proposed action - The what and why (you deal with the how later in the process). Show what you are proposing in as much detail as possible with maps, photos etc. Then document the need: Who wants these trails, what is the public benefit, etc. Condense that information into 4-5 page proposal.
A lot depends on the local personalities in the Ranger District and what the local community want's and supports. You will need support and financing because building a new trail on Federal land requires it go through the NEPA process which can take 1-3 years depending on what the issues are and is quite expensive.


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## Visicypher (Aug 5, 2004)

As ZRM stated, you will be dealing with the NEPA process. It is a long, and very legal, process. As bsieb stated get with the district rec planner. Do all that ZRM recommends....then you will want to find out if the travel management plan and forest management plan for that forest accommodates your request.

You may also want to review existing management activities for the forest in question. Some activity plans include provisions for trail restoration/construction, and these plans will have already initiated (or even better completed, a full NEPA process). If they have, you may want to piggyback your proposal with one of these plans by saying your group will take over trail design and construction for the "trail restoration/construction".

Good luck.


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## Mark E (Feb 7, 2006)

One advantage to working with an IMBA-affiliated club or chapter is that IMBA holds a national-level MOU partnership agreement with the USFS. This has helped clear the way for many local-level agreements and trail projects with forest units. Citizen-led proposals without a supporting MOU may be harder to get started. More info here: National Partners | International Mountain Bicycling Association


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## cjohnson (Jul 14, 2004)

*list.*

Send a proposal letter to the Rec officer. Below are items to work into such a letter.

Know what you want. (i.e. a natural surface single track trail).

Briefly describe where will the trail will be located. Where will the access points be for the trail? How wide will the trail be? How long will the trail be? (be flexible, the FS may have a spot in mind too. Logging contracts may limit their options, (if so, find an area that is not within their current 10 year logging plan).

What do you need from the Forest Service? (permission to build it).
How does the trail benefit the FS? Would such a trail help them reach a stated goal of more recreation opportunities? More silent sport activities?

Talk up your qualifications. Have you been to an imba TCC school? Who supports your proposal? A local business/tourism group? a club? (If there is not a club, I would not worry about that. A club can be formed later if the FS wants a signature).

What difficulty level will it be? The tendency to propose a beginner trail. I think that is a mistake as the FS will zoom in on that in the future. Propose a stacked loop, with harder sections, (if that is what you want). Propose that difficult features will have obvious and clear by-passes, (whether located in an easy or difficult section).

Call your trail what it is, a mountain bike trail, in all correspondence. Clearly other human powered activities are welcome, (hikers, snow shoers...etc) but always call it a mountain bike trail. When the time comes for a name, call it the "_____ Mountain bike trail".

I would not ask for money from the FS, at some point the FS may have some grants available, it is fine to ask if there are any, but I would not make your project dependent upon getting any money from the FS.

NEPA can be fast tracked, but expect a year after the potential route is flagged, (by you). NEPA involves a govt gps of route, plant survey, public comment...etc.

good luck. The effort is worth it.


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

cjohnson said:


> Send a proposal letter to the Rec officer. Below are items to work into such a letter.
> 
> Know what you want. (i.e. a natural surface single track trail).
> 
> ...


I don't want to get into a pi$$ing match on minutia of NEPA, but things like the difficulty, features, etc, in other words how the final trail alignment looks from a _recreational_ point of view is very low on the priority of NEPA. IE, it doesn't matter if you're proposing a beginner trail or a super rad trail NEPA is primarily about environmental impact, what the resource issues are and how to address them.

NEPA can be _relatively_ fast tracked (12 months would be the _absolute_ minimum from proposal letter to decision notice.) but only if the trail is in an area with absolutely no resource issues that generates no controversy during scoping and your local ranger district and Supervisors Office doesn't have a lot of stuff on their desks competing for their time. I'd be more prepared for 18 months to 3 years. It all depends on a lot of variables.

You can help the process along by "front loading" as much information and input, and identifying as many issues from as many credentialed people (wildlife biologists, etc) as possible you will help move things along a lot.

Cjohnson is right though, it's worth the effort and good luck. Expect it to be a learning process if you go forward with your dream.


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## Tread Lightly! (Oct 19, 2011)

There are some great recommendations here.

Another i'd like to make:

If you are looking for human-powered only, get in touch with the OHV community in the area and get their support. MTB/Hiker only trails will reduce the number of users on those OHV routes, decreasing user conflict and congestion... Something i'd be willing to bet they'd get behind. Opening those lines of discussion with the other groups as well shows cooperation, which the USFS will appreciate.

Lots of land out there... We all just need to share it. :thumbsup:


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## bpressnall (Aug 25, 2006)

Let me guess-is it the Mendocino NF?


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