Trail building faces myriad money problems

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john
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Trail building faces myriad money problems

#1 Post by john »

"On the wrong path?
Trail building faces myriad money problems, infighting

Engineering alone doesn't ensure building of good trails

By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: November 2, 2003)
About the best news coming out of a three-day statewide trails conference here in October was the observation that Alaska is blessed with a wealth of public-minded residents willing to volunteer their time, effort and money to improve the state's battered and still embryonic trail system.


And that's a good thing.

Because the news from land and trail managers who coordinate activities in the 49th state was not rosy. All sorts of problems face Alaska trails, they said:

• Off-road vehicles running wild on the tundra to the detriment of both trails and the environment.

• Lack of funds for building and maintaining trails in forested areas, sections of which are plagued by blow-down trees in the wake of the spruce-bark beetle infestation in Southcentral forests.

• Conflicts with historic trails crossing private lands.

• Objections from Native corporate land owners who see no advantage to trails crossing their lands and who are frustrated with the slow process of resolving disagreements over trail easements established decades ago by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.

• Disputes between motorized and nonmotorized trail users.

• Confusion over whether historic Alaska travel corridors claimed by the state for future transportation routes should be developed as trails now or saved for future road routes.

• Expensive planning efforts for simple trails.

• Infighting between trail users over the standard to which trails should be built.

And a whole bunch more.

Former Chugach State Park Superintendent Al Meiners said he heard enough to convince him that a decision to head back to his Mexican retirement home for the winter was the right thing to do.

Meiners, who returns to Alaska every summer because he enjoys it here, had contemplated getting more involved in a nonprofit trail advocacy group being formed.

Alaska Trails, as the group is called, could do great things for Alaska trails, but it's going to take a small army of volunteers and a dedicated executive director willing to work long hours for minimal pay, Meiners said.

After years of battling for trails in the state's flagship state park, only to encounter road blocks, Meiners said he didn't have the energy to attack the problems again.

He'd be happy to grab some tools and get his hands dirty building trails every summer, he said. But that can be easier than trying to hack through the bureaucratic jungle that stands in the way of getting trails started -- or saving them from users who love them to death.

MUCH TALK, LITTLE ACTION

Alaska trail managers may be at an interesting crossroads.

Where vegetation is sparse, many historic Alaska mining roads have now become trails that are falling apart because of lack of maintenance and overuse by all-terrain vehicles.

Where vegetation is thick, many of these same trails have disappeared into thickets of alder regrowth.

Reopening them requires costly planning and permitting as the Chugach National Forest has discovered as it tries to reopen the Iditarod National Historical Trail between Anchorage and Seward. So far, there has been much talk about that trail and little action.

Despite this and other problems, Joe Westfall from the Susitna Valley and a group of volunteers involved with an organization called Alaska Trails say they are willing to try.

"It's a reasonable hill,'' Westfall added. At the moment, Alaska Trails is trying to gain operating status as a nonprofit corporation.

"There are two things the government really doesn't seem to want you to have,'' Westfall said. "One is a machine gun, and the other is a tax-exempt status.''

Alaska Trails is undeterred.

"I've already invested much of my time in this,'' Westfall said. "For me, it's worth a reasonable amount of effort.''

Behind Westfall at Alaska Trails stands a cadre of former state and federal government officials frustrated with the hurdles to Alaska trail development that have arisen in the past 30 years.

"They're pretty gassed up about it,'' he said. "And the good thing is that they've got lots of experience -- 30 or 40 years each of experience knowing what actually works on the ground.''

If they can hold their enthusiasm, Meiners said, they might do great things. The key rests in raising money and getting it to people who can use it efficiently, he said.

That's exactly what Alaska Trails intends to do, Westfall said. It aims to become a repository for trail grants that can be dispersed to organizations -- private or public -- that can get new trails built or old ones repaired.

The organization, Westfall said, is rife with people who know all about red tape and have ideas on how to get around it. Sometimes, he added, this could be as simple as mediating between state and federal agencies.

"Sometimes you've got two different agencies thinking different things about the way a trail should be built,'' he said, and actual trail construction gets bogged down in the process.

Alaska Trails, he thinks, can jump into the middle and quickly find solutions.

In a promotional brochure, Alaska Trails notes, "Thousands of trail miles across Alaska are being impacted by development, land transfers, settlement, roads and non-sustainable use" while "population increases are focusing trail users to the same areas sometimes leading to conflicts.''

The solution, the group says, is simple: more and better trails.

Daily News Outdoor editor Craig Medred can be reached at cmedred@adn.com.

http://wave.prohosting.com/aktrails/"

eddie
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#2 Post by eddie »

:evil: at least anchorage has some trails, i am a little *beep*, why is it the the skiers have a place and the dog mushers have a place and the sno-goers are the only ones footing the bill ? we regester our sleds and what do we get in return? has any one seen the lodge the x-skiers have? that place is nice . and who paid for that? i think alaska as a whole could generate huge profits by having trails ajourning the smaller towns and villages , maby if they market it as a tourist trap the state ir city would be more interested in helping with the trail situation. but somthing has to change i am so *beep* i cant see straight.
sorry just the ramblings of a mad man.

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chena hot springs!

#3 Post by eddie »

One more little item i would like to bring up while i'm on a rant! chena hot springs got some of this "trail" money and used it to keep up there trails and "I" cant take my sled on there trails but i can "rent" one of there sleds ? what the *beep* is that all about? i'm still a little hot under the coller :evil: calgon take me away!

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#4 Post by john »

Got to agree. One of the reasons I'm not in support of DNR handling the funds any more. They have broken their various "guarantees" and other inconsistencies. Now we just need a plan.

On your "one more thing" Does the state know that they used registration funds to build the trails and now won't let folks ride unless they "rent" one of their sleds. ?? I'd be making a phone call to SnoTrac folks in Anchorage and also to Juneau to let them know, Juneau especially if DNR doesn't do anything.

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