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Could be better, could be worse pretty much sums it up.
Guaranteed trail impact: Lower Trace down to the river (the massively eroded part) will be used for timber extraction and will be re-graded.
There will be two spots in the last 1/2 mile of Upper Trace where an old road crosses the trail. This old road will be used for extraction and will be re-graded, so there will some impact on the trail tread.
Potential other impacts: Logging occurs very very close to Bear Branch and Wash Creek trails. The FS claims the trails will not be impacted, but, well, you know...
Understory removal will occur near North Mills River trail. Again, no claimed impact, but, well, you know...
Road use for extraction will have the biggest impact. Talking wiith people towards the end of the meeting, we realized there''s a good chance that a lot of the area will get CLOSED to all traffic during logging operations- in other words, no access to Never-Ending Road or maybe even Trace Ridge Trailhead for an extended period of time. As always, I have great concerns regarding what conditions the roads will be left in during extraction.
If you can think of a gated or non-gated road in the Mills River area, it will be used for extraction during this project.
There are no plans for any trail improvements/work as part of the project.
PAS will be writing a formal comment in the near future.
We had great turn-out from the MTB community compared to past, similar open houses. Thanks Chuck, Drew, Park, Julie, Jody (the man of many hats) , Jeff for being there.
If any of you think I missed anything, please post.
Mike
Guaranteed trail impact: Lower Trace down to the river (the massively eroded part) will be used for timber extraction and will be re-graded.
There will be two spots in the last 1/2 mile of Upper Trace where an old road crosses the trail. This old road will be used for extraction and will be re-graded, so there will some impact on the trail tread.
Potential other impacts: Logging occurs very very close to Bear Branch and Wash Creek trails. The FS claims the trails will not be impacted, but, well, you know...
Understory removal will occur near North Mills River trail. Again, no claimed impact, but, well, you know...
Road use for extraction will have the biggest impact. Talking wiith people towards the end of the meeting, we realized there''s a good chance that a lot of the area will get CLOSED to all traffic during logging operations- in other words, no access to Never-Ending Road or maybe even Trace Ridge Trailhead for an extended period of time. As always, I have great concerns regarding what conditions the roads will be left in during extraction.
If you can think of a gated or non-gated road in the Mills River area, it will be used for extraction during this project.
There are no plans for any trail improvements/work as part of the project.
PAS will be writing a formal comment in the near future.
We had great turn-out from the MTB community compared to past, similar open houses. Thanks Chuck, Drew, Park, Julie, Jody (the man of many hats) , Jeff for being there.
If any of you think I missed anything, please post.
Mike