The community forest (CF) has taken a big step towards establishing an overall trail plan that can be used in planning future logging operations.
Dozens of people representing outdoor recreation groups on the Coast showed up at a meeting on recreation in the community forest on April 25 to share their knowledge of and desires for trail use in the community forest.
The meeting, set up by the community forest advisory group, was designed to pool local knowledge of the trails and incorporate it into an overall trail plan, according to group member Elise Rudland.
Recreation enthusiasts representing hiking, snowmobiling, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding and off-road vehicles each contributed to a map of the forest marking the trails they currently use.
The result was an updated list of trails at each CF site including names, level of difficulty, preferred used and priority."We ended up with a better understanding of the recreational users need and issues within the community forest area," said Rudland. "A full report is expected at the end of June and will be posted on our website and will include an updated downloadable recreational map of the existing trails."
Len Pakulak, chair for the board, said in a later interview the CF board can now use that information when making decisions about future logging operations. If a block of woods scheduled to be logged affects a trail, the CF can now consult with the user group to discuss options.
"When we lay out future cut cut-blocks, we'll be able to more easily identify where we have common situations and where there needs to be special attention paid to either protect existing trails, or remove them or replace them after we do out cut-block," he said.
Though there is no guarantee trails will be protected from logging, Pakulak said he and the board strongly encourage trail use in the CF and he would like to see the board help where it can."We want to do our bit to help and I suspect if they want to build some trails, if we can help financially, we certainly will," he said.
