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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