Hello to All,
Hope all of you and your families have faired well during this Covid19 crisis. We know it has been a long nine months or more and normal chapter activities seem to have come to a standstill, but we assure you this has not been the case, and we are working on existing and future NGMBA projects.
We wish we can get back to normalcy soon. The NGMBA and other groups have been doing some small work parties and doing some clearing. The last storm put a hurt on many of the trails. The NGMBA would like to thank all the volunteers who helped with the tree clearing and limited maintenance these last few months. Hopefully, 2021 will be year that we access USFS Sawyer B chainsaw certification, Trail Maintenance 101, Trail Building and Crew Leader Training Clinics.
As far as trail builds go, we are continuing with our projects. The Cartecay Tract re-route is now under construction. Ken Nix has started the re-route on the Boy Scout loop and progressing nicely. Here is the update on the Aska Fruitkof project; we just had a virtual stakeholder meeting with the Forest Service, and everyone is ready to move on with this project (here is the recording link). The Forest Service wants to improve the infrastructure leading up to the trailhead and parking lot before any trail builds can start, hopefully things will start to happen next summer. Forest Service has projected that the costs for improving Bear Lane (FS Rd 711), parking area and vault toilet will be $300k - $500k. The infrastructure project has been put on the list for funds coming from the Great American Outdoor Act passed by congress this past summer. This is the only project supporting a new mountain bike trail that I know of in Region 8.
We do have much to discuss and a lot of work to do the get back on track. We are planning to have a chapter meeting first week in December.
The link below is a recording for the Aska (Fruitkof Area) Project Stakeholder Virtual Meeting
Topic: Aska (Fruitkof Area) Project Stakeholder Virtual Meeting
Date: Nov 18, 2020 03:14 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Meeting Recording:
https://zoom.us/rec/share/HCyhbAbu13ZTgyiO6OitHMdTvzPyuoSqY8Nrgwp83EdyxY1TifdI1qNqfALPZnIm.wFgruP8oQvxWyGy2