Trail
Maintenance and Construction
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Trail
Maintenance and Construction
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Winter and spring are the time to begin planning next year's trail building and maintenance. Kurt Loheit has these words of wisdom to help get things going in the right direction. Here's what the IMBA trail guru has to say:
1) Prioritize trails for maintenance.
Make a list and put your trails into 2 or 3 categories, maybe high, medium
or low priorities. Keep in mind that you don't have to look at every trail,
just the ones that you're interested in maintaining. Ask the following questions
to help decide what goes where. Which trails suffered the most damage? Is the
damage a safety concern? Should the trail be closed until repaired? Which trails
have the heaviest use? Which trails need major work and which ones need regular
maintenance? Can the work be done in one session or will it take several work
days? High priority trails are the ones that include any safety related problems,
especially if the use of that trail is high. Secondary trails might be trails
that suffered damage or see a lot of use, however the damage does not affect
the safety of the user. Third priority would be routine maintenance that would
normally occur. Many trail systems may only require 1 or 2 priorities. Also
make note of any problems that are beyond the scope of volunteers. As users,
you will likely know the trail conditions before land managers.
2) Assess trails for the amount
of work.
Depending on the amount of damage, you will need to look at what will be
necessary in the form of resources and materials needed to repair your trails.
Take the time to figure out how many people, what kind of tools, and how many
hours it might take to do a particular job. This can be a great benefit when
it comes time to organize your volunteers. It also helps to organize your projects
through the year.
3) Make a schedule.
With the above mentioned information, plan your projects according to the
work. Major maintenance projects may not go as planned if they fall on the same
day as a large local race or event. Set your dates so they have minimum conflict
that could reduce your volunteer base. Check with other volunteer groups and
see if you can combine events, or if you can advertise your projects through
them, and that you will return the favor. Smaller projects can be used as filler
dates once you know when your larger projects can be done. Provide alternate
or rain dates in case of weather related problems.
4) Get permission from Land Managers.
As with any work on public land, get permission first. If you go in with
all the above information, you stand a good chance of having several successful
projects. The more prepared you are, the easier it is for land managers to help
you. Remember, they have a lot more to contend with besides your good intentions.
Give them time to review your list. Make sure that there are at least two phone
contacts for them if they have questions. Ask them for their thoughts or ideas
on any of your suggestions. You may want to suggest a date to sit down with
them for a review, or even walk the trail. Include the concerns about trail
conditions that you feel are outside the abilities of your volunteers, but ask
that they keep you informed on their plans. Offer volunteer assistance as an
available resource they can use to help minimize costs associated with non-volunteer
trail maintenance concerns. Make your package short, maybe 2 to 4 pages, try
to include a map with the highlighted trails, and don't go over board on detail.
For more information on trails or trail projects you can contact the IMBA office, (303) 545-9011
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