Land Use: Practical Observations

[Mug]

My last trip up American Fork Canyon was riding my KLR650 with my good friend on his. These are the ultimate Utah exploration machines and we had a great ride up to Forrest Lake. This gave me the opportunity to watch a non-RMEer, a non-BRCer, and non-U4er, but a great guy who loves the Utah outdoors and, albeit unknowingly, wants trails to stay open. As we made our way around the last right hand curve and up the hill into the clearing that surrounds the lake, we stopped to take in the views. After spotting a fire ring across the lake, we took of in that direction with my friend leading the way. He wanted to follow the shore line and he b-lined it right out onto the flat peninsula that gets covered on high water months. If you're very familiar with this area at all, you know that I'm talking about the area that's off limits to motorized vehicles. I believe the FS is trying to restore plant life as well as keep people from rutting through the mud and destroying the shore line. The brown plastic signs were up and the ones that were left standing when we got there were more or less about 30 feet apart, but they proved easy to miss for my "less aware of the tense land use situation" friend.

I honked at him and waved him to come back and follow me wide and to the right around the lake. As soon as we got settled and broke out the snacks, we got into a discussion about FS practices, the canyon, and land use in general. He's a business minded person and we like to relate things in the context of "if this situation was run like a for-profit business, things would get done differently."

With that, I give you my distillation of our conversation and conclusions:

• The road up to FL is adopted by Utah4x4 and the laminated sign nailed to the FS post indicates that along with some guidelines, etc. On popular days like weekends or holidays, U4X4 could post someone there at the turn off by the river crossing to shake people's hands and ask them if they are aware of the risks, dangers and responsibilities of trail travel. I would call this person the "Trail Host" and they could simply hang out in the shade of their sideXside for a few hours and greet people as they pass. I'm not saying everyday, every holiday, or every weekend, but most travelers to the canyon are repeats so I think random hosting days would work quite well to educate land users.
• Same as above, but park yourself at the lake and welcome visitors and keep an eye on things for a few hours. I believe that most trail violators have some level of ignorance - even if it's just ignorance to the idea that they and their friends have the real power to loose trail privileges for all. Just while we were up there, a couple of families came up on sideXsides and they let one of the teens take a turn driving near the lake. He wasn't roosting through the mud, but he was practicing driving by going back and forth on the correct trail but every time he got to the one end, he would make a small loop into the restricted area to turn around. It could have been a great education opportunity for him and his family if a Host went over and had a chat with his family. Every bit of awareness helps, and don't assume each violation is committed by some beer chugging hooligan.
• Discuss signage with the FS. Yes they are a gov (read: slow and unwieldy) organization but they must be somewhat interested in solutions (I'm assuming). There is a whole science behind human visual cognition - businesses tap into it all the time. I'm not advocating for neon yellow markers dotting the wilderness, but the reality is that the difference between a skinny brown sign that means "welcome all" and the skinny brown sign that means "keep out" is a few square cm of white vinyl. I think something like a red outline vs a green outline... and I don't want to start that whole discussion, but I wanted to start the conversation about some change with marking boundaries.
• Similar to the above comment would be marker placement. When my friend went beyond the boundary, the sign that was closest to him was about 25 feet to the right. In other words, the gap between the signs was too great and the sign was not in the line-of-sight of where leaving the trail occurred. (A little hard to explain in words and without pics so next time I'll take some). While the FS may not be in a position to alter their sign placement procedures, I'm betting they wouldn't mind if U4X4 placed small arrow signs near the ground to help people avoid leaving the trail on those extra sensitive sections.

I'm curious what thoughts you have and especially if you belong to a local club, how you might add to this discussion. As always, those with more experience within the land use realm are encouraged to reply. Please avoid turning this discussion into accusations or a list of problems surrounding off road groups.

 

[Don B]

Good observations and ideas.

What are YOU volunteering to do?

It's easy to suggest that "someone" do something. But the very few people that actually do anything are always spread thin.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

What are YOU volunteering to do?

It's easy to suggest that "someone" do something. But the very few people that actually do anything are always spread thin.

x2

There are an infinite number of things that could be accomplished with the right resources, volunteers being in many cases the hardest to find. U4x4C volunteers to adopt that trail each year, join their club (100% free and easy) and sign up to cover some Saturday door greeter positions. I've done that exact thing as part of Trail Patrol up American Fork Canyon on busier weekends with the FS. It is in fact very beneficial and a great way to help remind people about having a sound outdoor ethic but again it takes someones time.

 

[Kevin B.]

Trail Patrol up American Fork Canyon on busier weekends with the FS.

I don't know any of the FS people, who would one talk to about this?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I don't know any of the FS people, who would one talk to about this?

Are you (were you) a member of Trail Patrol? Sadly it has sort've faded over the years, but it could come back with some new blood and there are similar programs such as Tread Lightly and Ride Right that have a similar pro-active function. As far as whom to contact in AF, Cheryl Butler is the volunteer coordinator. She is very familiar with the local 4x4 groups. Best bet would be to work with one of the existing clubs in the canyon such as Lone Peak or U4x4C as Cheryl's time is very limited and if she can work with a club of 25 its going to have far more impact than trying to develop a program with one. If your just wanting to go up and hand out literature and offer friendly reminders, get Tread Lightly trained, they provide the handouts as well as educate in ways to approach the public including rogue users.

 

[jackjoh]

X3 to all of the above. U4WDA is what it says, an association of 4wd clubs and the only thing holding them back from doing this type of thing is volunteer clubs and individuals. We do not have money to hire individuals, like Suwa, so we depend on volunteers. There is no end of the possibilities of projects that could be accomplished if people would volunteer one day a month to the various projects that are available. Witness the RME Noob runs and the U4WDA monthly trail clean ups. One thing to think about is this years NPLD on Sept. 29th that is a nation wide activity that all ORV users can get involved with.

 

[sixstringsteve]

There's a giant sign right after the river crossing where your "trail host" would be. The sign outlines all the rules of the trail. I know it's a pain to stop your rig, or get off your bike, but people should always read posted signs before heading up a trail. There's also a sign up by the lake. The brown posts are spaced far apart, but it would just be a complete eyesore if they were spread out every 5 feet around the perimeter of the lake. If they haven't read the two big signs by then, the small ones aren't going to do much.

I like the way that you guys are thinking, we love to hear ideas of how to make it better. I will say that the Forest Service is very reasonable to work with.

Personally, I really care about land use, but I don't care about it enough to sit at the trailhead for a few hours and educate strangers. You were there at the trailhead with your friend, yet you didn't educate him. I don't blame you one bit, but if you didn't take the time to educate a friend first, then who in their right mind would sit there for hours on a busy day and tell strangers not to go in there? My post sounds harsher than I intended it to, but when people don't read a huge sign, I don't think we can blame clubs or the forest service for not doing more.

 

[scoutabout]

Personally, I really care about land use, but I don't care about it enough to sit at the trailhead for a few hours and educate strangers.

Everybody cares when it's in an internet post. Converting this "caring" into "action" is where we lose. Wheel it while it's still there.

 

[ret32]

Mug and others, thanks for your observations about Forest Lake. Let me just respond generally to a couple of things on behalf of Utah 4x4 Club.

First of all, we haven't really ever thought of just posting a volunteer at the trailhead or at the first kiosk. I normally do my "educating" up at the lake, but I think that's a great idea. Face time is the best way to help people know what the expectation are (for those who wish to follow the rules), and that there are eyes on them (for those that don't wish to follow the rules). The trailhead would be the only place to get face time with all of the trail users in a given time span. We will definitely consider that.

Signs at the lake. Unfortunately, signs prohibiting access to someplace that people really want to access (i.e. dry lakebed mudpit) are demoted to the lowly task of being vandalized as much as the task of educating. In June, we had 5 carsonites surrounding the portion of lake's high water mark that you are referencing. 3 of the carsonites were stapled to 4x4 posts and installed 36 inches deep. Also in June, there were 12 logs and downed trees stretched between the signs. It is nothing to keep people out, but it is definitely enough to keep people informed. However, the logs don't stay in place. The logs have been re-placed numerous times. As of my last trip up there (8/4), one of the regular carsonites and one of the 4x4 post mounted carsonites had been drug out of the ground and thrown into the forest. So at any given time, it may be obvious where vehicles are expected to stay out and at other times it may not. Just depends on how busy the vandals have been.

Signs and barricades in general. It is the position of the Forest Service and of the Utah 4x4 Club that fencing off every place that people might leave the legal trail is cost prohibitive, volunteer time prohibitive, and an eyesore. We try to create barricades any time an illegal spur or bypass crops up, but we try to keep our impact minimal. This includes the idea of fencing around the entire northwest (dry) corner of the lake. It may eventually come to that some day, but an incremental approach is preferred.

Volunteers. All kinds of great ideas can be implemented when there are sufficient volunteers to do them. However, any club (except perhaps Moab Friends For Wheeling--those guys are the poster example of what a club can do when the right people have the time, the drive, and the structure) does not have sufficient volunteers to implement a whole host of many great ideas. Our adoption contract with the forest service is to visit the lake as the eyes and ears of the forest service a minimum of 3 times during the season. We've committed to that, we know we can do that, and we ensure that we complete that minimum requirement. Where possible, we do much more than that, including fencing, litter control, and education projects. However, our volunteer base is minimal and we do only what we can. We can only promise the minimum. We do more as volunteer hours an excitement permit.

Non-volunteers. The fact is that many members of Utah 4x4 Club, RME, Lone Peak 4-Wheelers, Dirt Hedz, and U4WDA are at Forest Lake or somewhere in AF Canyon pretty much every weekend. You are all there to wheel more often than to do a "project." And that's okay, what's the point of doing projects other than to protect your right to have fun? You are the people that can make the difference. Open your mouths. Let people know the rules. Let people know how they can get involved. Print off a few U4WDA applications. Print off a few Tread Lightly documents. Jot down the Utah4x4Club website, the RME website, etc. Let people know what resources there are to help keep the trails there (or anywhere else) open. You don't have to "preach" to every person you see, but go out of your way to talk to at least one person. Give away one piece of paper.