August 26, 2010

· September 4  Work Party Cancelled

· September 19 Work Party – Non-motorized Trails

· Progress Report

· What’s Next

Saturday September 4 Work Party Cancelled

Because of the Labor Day Holiday, this work party is cancelled.  Enjoy the holiday and be safe!

Sunday September 19 Work Party

We will work with users to start identifying trails in the non-motorized portion of Reiter Foothills Forest.  More details will be provided in the next update. .It would be helpful but not required if you can bring a GPS unit. If you would like to participate, please contact David Way at 360-854-2803 and let him know if you are able to bring a GPS.

Progress Report

On Sunday, August 22, DNR and eight volunteers continued reconnaissance efforts —collecting information about areas that could potentially provide opportunities for motorcycle trials riding.

We have completed our preliminary field reconnaissance of locations for the 4×4, ATV, and single-track trails and flagged the areas. We’ve also collected most of the preliminary data for the 4×4 areas. The data will help us design the trails, including drainage and water crossing bridges or culverts.

We met with representatives of the town of Index to review a section of proposed trunk trail within the aquifer recharge area. We tried to stay out of the aquifer recharge area but there were a couple of areas that for environmental, construction and long term maintenance reasons make more sense to cross a small portion of the aquifer. Representatives from the town talked with us about signage to inform recreationists about the aquifer and its importance, and about perhaps fencing some sections of trail.

At last night’s focus group meeting we walked the group through a rough project timeline and the county permitting process, including technical and specialist reports.

What’s Next

We are continuing to layout and design motorized trails as well as doing a preliminary layout for the entire proposed motorized trail system.  We will collect additional data where there are gaps in information such soil type, slope steepness, indications of wet areas that might need extra engineering attention, and stream locations.  We are scheduling review time with technical specialists—engineers, biologists, and soils/geologists.

We are working on more detailed trail design for those motorized trails that are not located in critical areas and are proposed for the first phase of construction.  Work includes field verification, technical reports, review of drainage and grading, estimates of costs, and development of the final planned design.

We are continuing work on developing the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) documents and preparing to apply for county permits along with required technical reports and complete the applications.

The next focus group meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. September 22 at the Snohomish County Administrative complex in Everett. For more information, contact Candace Johnson at 360-854-2803 or candace.johnson@dnr.wa.gov.

Get involved!

If you’re interested in helping at Reiter Foothills Forest, we can always use volunteers to help with restoration work and trail planning, construction, and maintenance projects. For more information, contact David Way, 360-854-2830 or david.way@dnr.wa.gov.

Candace Johnson

Assistant Region Manager, State Lands

Northwest Region
Washington State Department of Natural Resources
360-854-2803
www.dnr.wa.gov

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August 11, 2010

· August 15 work party

· Progress report

· What’s Next

· Other

· Get involved!

August 15 Work Party

Our next regular work party is set for Sunday August 15. The work party will continue to brush preliminary trail locations for 4×4s and single track trails. There is a considerable amount of work to be done to make these preliminary trail locations more easily accessible to by the specialists and design teams. easy to walk. Specifically, the portions of single track trail in an old harvest unit need a lot of work brushing and bucking logs out of the way.

Chainsaws, hedge trimmers, weed eaters (with blades), loppers and other tools proved to be especially useful at the last work party. If you are willing to bring your own tools, please do. DNR will provide what some tools and personal protective equipment.

In addition, we always need photos of Reiter work projects and the great volunteers who are helping us make progress there. If you bring a camera and get good photos, send a couple of them to David Way. His name and contact information are listed below. DNR will use these photos in a number of ways, including on our website, in our blogs, and for presentations during legislative session. We will be sure to give credit to the photographers who took them.

Work parties start at 9:30 a.m. and go until 3 p.m. or until we run out of projects for the day. Meet at the Reiter gravel parking area outside of Gold Bar on Reiter Road.

Progress Report

At the August 7 work party, about two dozen volunteers brushed several preliminary trail locations for 4×4s and single track to provide easy access for the DNR and consultant design team.

The preliminary field layout of the 4×4, ATV and single track (motorcycle) trails is done and trails are flagged! Some areas need specialist (biologist, geologist, engineer, and others) review and we are working on detailed design specs.

What’s Next

We are continuing trail design work and collecting additional data on things like soil type, slope steepness, indications of wet areas that might need extra engineering attention, and stream locations. The locations of boulders are of particular interest because the boulders may end up being used as special challenge features. But first we must ensure that the boulder in question is not providing critical habitat for wildlife species. We are scheduling specialist review time, including time with engineers, biologists, and soils/geologists.

We are continuing work on developing the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) documents and preparation for county permits.  Once we have submitted the SEPA documents and county permits, we will resume work on non-motorized trail design.

The next focus group meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. August 25 at the Snohomish County Administrative complex in Everett. The focus of this meeting will be on motorized trail development. For more information, contact Candace Johnson at 360-854-2803 or candace.johnson@dnr.wa.gov.

Other

Just in case you missed it, the information below was included in a recent DNR blog. The impacts of illegal off-road use can be serious! Please take a look:

http://washingtondnr.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/the-not-so-hidden-cost-of-illegal-off-roading-washington-trust-lands-facing-erosion-damage/

Get involved!

If you’re interested in helping at Reiter Foothills Forest, we can always use volunteers to help with restoration work and trail planning, construction, and maintenance projects. For more information, contact David Way, 360-854-2830 or david.way@dnr.wa.gov.

Candace Johnson

Assistant Region Manager, State Lands

Northwest Region
Washington State Department of Natural Resources
360-854-2803
www.dnr.wa.gov

Become a fan of DNR on Facebook!