Kaye Killgore
I sent an inquiry to Oregon Equestrian Trails regarding the Wilson River
Trail, and have attached their reply. Sounds to me they would be willing to
also work with people from OBRA to solve this problem.
From: richard smith [mailto:rms.gaston@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 7:53 PM
To: Kaye Killgore
Cc: columbiacounty@oregonequestriantrails.org;
northcoast@oregonequestriantrails.org; northwest@oregonequestriantrails.org;
rpeterson@odf.state.or.us; nseable@odf.state.or.us
Subject: Re: Wilson River Trail, Tillamook Forest
Hi Kaye,
For around 10 years or so volunteers from Oregon Equestrian Trails (OET)
have been working on the Wilson River Trail (WRT). In fact, nearly half of
the trail related work parties in the Tillamook State Forest (TSF) that the
Northwest Chapter of OET participates in are on the WRT.
At the state level, OET has donated funds towards development of a new
section of the WRT.
Finally, after our many years of work on this trail, and after a joint
ODF-OET project to construct a trail head parking area was completed, a 7.5
mile portion of it was opened to equestrian use in late August.
Unfortunately in a number of areas, the trail is severely undermined by
mountain beaver tunnels. The additional force of a horse hoof is all that
is needed to punch through the trail tread into the tunnels. The extent of
the damage due to the mountain beaver or 'boomer' tunnels is greater than
anyone expected. ODF is working on solutions that include both boomer
control and tread repair.
Trails in the Tillamook State Forest that have long been open to equestrian
use only have occasional punch through occur. So I suspect that a lack of
horse traffic on the WRT since it's inception has actually contributed to
the severity of the problem.
Last Saturday while doing some Reehers area trail construction with mountain
biker friends plus a great group from Pacific University, Roger Warrens of
ODF and I discussed the possibility of forming an OET work party in November
specifically to workin the boomer undermined area on the WRT. Work parties
normally end in October, so this will be an extra work party - if we can get
the volunteers, and if the weather cooperates.
When one of my mtn biker buddies Wayne and I took a rest break on Saturday,
we discussed again the need for mtn bikers and equestrians to work together.
When compared to the motorized and hiking user groups, mtn bikers are a
small group, and equestrians smaller still. So as the two smallest user
groups it is in our best interest to find ways to work together and not to
work against each other.
Kaye, if you know of any equestrians who would like to join us in November,
please, please, give them my email address. If you get an opportunity to
talk with your biking friend, please pass this information along. Education
and sharing are the keys to understanding and working together.
We were thrilled to have students from Pacific join us on Saturday, so if
you know of any scout, school, or other groups that would like to help out,
ask them to contact ODF. Besides being the smallest user group, equestrians
are also the oldest demographic group, so help from the younger generation
is very much appreciated.
Best Regards,
Rick Smith, 503 - 310 - 6484.
OET Northwest Chapter
On Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 7:45 PM, Kaye Killgore
wrote:
Hi,
There is some concern by bicycle riders regarding horses on the Wilson River
Trail. They feel that horses tear the trail up, making it difficult to ride
on the trail. I've been told by a member of the bicycle community that
their feeling is that they do trail maintenance
And other groups don't do as much. I know that your organization does lots
of trail maintenance and other projects, so I am asking that you consider
the Wilson River Trail as one of your projects.
Randy Peterson, rpeterson@odf.state.or.us Nathan Seable, ,
nseable@odf.state.or.us were suggested as Forest Service Contacts in the
biking community post.
Thank you for considering this, I would like to see everyone get along and
keep the trail a multi-use trail.
Kaye Killgore
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