Syncline/ Catherine Creek/ Coyote Wall Meeting March 2nd
Date:
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
From CAMBA:
Sorry for the late notice, but I just found out myself. The US Forest Service has scheduled the following meeting:
When: Tuesday, March 2nd at 6PM
Where: Hood River Inn, "Gorge Room" (the one in the parking lot)
Why: To discuss the latest proposals for the management of the area we call the Syncline and Catherine Creek
History: This discussion has been formally going on since 2007. After
numerous sessions the Forest Service issued a proposed "EA" for the
area which was met with threats of lawsuits from Friends of the Gorge
and others. The Forest Service withdrew their proposal, and now has
prepared a new alternative which they would like to put in a new EA.
That's what we'll be discussing at the meeting.
The EA makes specific proposals about where mountain bikes will be
allowed, and involves significant trail closures and alterations. It
also discusses where dogs will be allowed off leash. It's important
that mountain bikers attend this session to get in your comments. There
will be a written comment period after the meeting, but comments at the
meeting have a chance of getting into the proposed EA before it gets
drafted.
Most of the controversy in the recent discussions has focused on horse
presence (actually horse manure presence) in the "thin soil" biology of
the low elevations at Catherine Creek. The new alternative for this
area will propose horse limitations (115/ year) and seasonal closures.
This area will be recommended for closure to mountain bikes.
FYI, I've made two comments on the new proposal:
1)
I'm concerned that limiting horse use at Catherine Creek will displace
it up Atwood Road and onto some of the other trails in the western part
of the area which are not going to handle horse traffic very well.
2) Allowing off trail use by hikers will encourage side trails
to develop beyond the official trail network, and complicate our
efforts to keep mountain bikers on trail.
Hope to see you at the meeting.
--Arthur
Price: $0.00
- Riding Areas:
- Type:
- Ride Rating:
Upcoming Events
- Stub mountain bike night ride (easy/beginner) - 2012-02-09 18:00
- Stub trail building - XC - 2012-02-11 08:45
- Stub Freeride area build day [W.T.F.] - 2012-02-18 09:00
- NWTA Women's Ride - 2012-02-25 10:00
- Stub trail building - XC - 2012-02-26 08:45
March 02 Syncline/ Catherine Creek/ Coyote Wall meeting notes
[flickr-photo:id=4404637740,size=s] [flickr-photo:id=4404637648,size=s] [flickr-photo:id=4404637456,size=s]
view more photos of the event
Synopsis: The Forest Service held a meeting to present a revised version of the Planning Environmental Assessment for the Syncline, Catherine Creek, and Coyote Wall areas after the Recreation Plan for the area was retracted due to appeals last year. You can read more about the planning process history here.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/projects/index.shtml
NWTA members present: David Anderson, Joe Barcott, and Drew Betts.
Presenters: Stanley (Stan) Hinatsu, Recreation Program Manager, and Lynn (whose last name I didn't get), Landscape Architect from the Forest Service (FS)
From the Meeting:
Drew's notes. Stan presented the revised version of the plan and a question and answer session began. Below are the bike specific questions.
Q. Why no bikes east of Atwood Road?
A: Reduce user conflicts. Historically, this has been a hiker area.
Q: What documentation of user conflicts exist today?
A: Done through studies. If they perceived if there was a conflict, then there was a conflict. We do not have a history of conflict in the area, action is to prevent user conflicts.
Q: Did you ever use the scenario of horses to apply to bikers to see if the area is being over used?
A: We did number crunching because the CC area is environmentally sensitive. We did do a use estimate in the EA for hiker biker use East of Atwood.
Q: Would you establish a limit for bikes?
A: We would consider it.
Q: Where are you proposing new parking?
A: Courtney Road.
Q: What about motorized use?
A: That would not be allowed in the entire planning area (Burdoin, Catherine Creek, Coyote Wall).
Q: Would the Coyote Trail be removed? (It's the green trail between courtney and atwood rd)
A: The majority of the trail is on private land. Our policy is not to encourage trespass on private land so it was removed.
Q: Why is the plan being revised? No one was thrilled last time but everyone thought 2 was the best option?
A: We are redoing this because it was appealed.
Q: What will the FS do to keep trails from being put on private land?
A: For those routes we have control over, we will re-route. We'll do our best to discourage access via public lands.
Q: Will pedestrians be allowed off trail in the area?
A: We are still allowing for self-discovery for pedestrians.
Q: There are a number of missing trails, like a connector near old hwy 8?
A: If you don't see them, help us put them on the map.
Q: Will they be listed in the revision?
A: We will have to answer that in the analysis phase.
Q: Could you comment on the timeline for trail construction and destruction?
A: What we would like to do is work with the different user groups and identify priorities for new construction and deconstructions. Five year or longer project to implement.
Q: Is there any plans to do any enforcement in the next five years? (Question asker sited recent illegal trail in Forest Park). What will stop anyone for creating new trails?
A: That's part of implementation and monitoring. Once we have the EA, there will be no new trail development. It's going to require a lot of education and we're looking to you to help. The FS must balance stewardship responsibility with opportunities to recreate. We don't want to eliminate any user group, want to find balance.
Q: Is Loose Lucy going to be rerouted? (purple line next to green line above Old Hwy No 8)
A: Yes, to avoid sensitive area along cliff.
What's Next:
1. New environmental assessment period
2. 30 day comment period
3. 45 day appeal period
4. Creation of implementation plan
What You Can Do:
1. Don't ride East of Atwood Rd. See the map. [flickr-photo:id=4404637456,size=s]
Stay on Existing Trails: Do not ride off trail or create new routes
Be Sensitive to the Dirt Beneath You: Wet and muddy trails are more vulnerable to damage, consider other riding options in these conditoins to protect sensitive resources.
Ride Responsibly: Be courteous to other users and maintain control of your bicycle.
2. Comment on the Revised Alternative 2 via email or mail.
comments-pacificnorthwest-columbia-river-gorge-nsa@fs.fed.us
CRGNSA
902 Wasco Ave. Suite 200
Hood River, OR 97031
The following fields should probably all be filled in.
Name:
Organization/Affiliation:
Address:
Telephone Number:
Email Address:
Comments:
The comment period is open until the new Environmental Assessment (EA) is released, but comments in the next three weeks will be given more serious consideration.
car pool anyone
Anyone wanting to carpool to the Forest Service Meeting in Hood River on 3/2 should be at the Bike Gallery at SE 109th & Division by 3:45P. Joe Barcott and I will be leaving there at 4pm. You should park on the street - not in the parking lot. Please let David Anderson know if you will be going. e-mail: ujelang at gmail dot com.
Attend!
Jarred,
It would be great if you, and anyone else, could attend the meeting. One area that really concerns me is that one user group thinks they can go anywhere they want off trail, but eliminate other user groups under the guise that the soils are too fragile for the other users to use trails in specific areas. That makes no ecological/environmental sense to me. So, it's OK to have hundreds of people walking around, tramping the ground, killing plants, making trails/pathways, but it's not OK to have other people using trails? (See Arthur's last point in the original post.)
Coyote
Do you know if the new EA still has Coyote slated for removal? I think that would be a complete waste as much of that trail wouldn't be good for anything but hiking and biking. I know there are issues about private land, blah blah blah, but if the trail could be rerouted to avoid those pieces of land, that would be great. Is this even an option or am I just dreaming. I'll try to make the meeting, thanks for the heads up!