Update on Yacolt Burn Trail System.
I am probably not the one to report this... so don't quote all of it as gods truth.. but here goes.
Pistons Wild Motorsports Club
www.pistonswild.com has been an active group in getting this project going. I am a member of the club so I have been hearing the update information at each meeting. I have also been to a few of the planning meetings and have been up in the Yacolt Burn with DNR and the Trail Consultant to help plan the system. I have been mostly a spectator to the process. Crystal Crowder, pres. of Pistons Wild and others have been most active in the process.
The trail system is going to include trails for all types of users from quads, cycles, 4x4's, horses, bicycles, and hikers. All of these groups have had representatives on a planning committee. The group is called the Trail Advisory Group ( TAG ). The group also includes the DNR and Forestry people. The group has been meeting monthly for two years. The meetings are public ( you can attend ). The meetings take place above the Fire Station in Woodland. The dates are on the Pistons Wild Motorsports Forum Calender.
The DNR has committed much time and money to this project. They fully expect this to become a reality. They have gone to the expense to hire a nationally recognized Trail Consultant to come and spend a great deal of time in the Yacolt Burn with several of the user groups ( including Pistons Wild, representing the 4x4 users ).
I was lucky enough to get to go up there with the club on a day with the Trail Consultant. We spent the whole day up there and showed the consultant several trails that we thought would be good. ( ie not requiring too much work or money or going into environmentally sensitive areas ) This was the thought... if the trail did not cost too much,, better chance of us getting it. And also if ecology was not adversely affected we would have less trouble and cost in getting that trail. We proposed and 40 plus miles of trails in our first proposal. We have asked for 40 more miles to be allowed after a couple years of use has shown that the user groups can manage the trails.
The consultant is of like mind and our proposal was included in the consultants trail plan.
The consultant proposed a camp ground at 4 corners ( we think this may not initially happen because of budget concerns. ) ( we think we will be happy to get a staging area similar to the Jones Creek staging area. We do not know if camping will be allowed at this moment. The plan IS for camping as all concerned want this to be a destination area. Also included was an expansion of one other existing camp area ( name escapes me ).
The consultant included 40 miles of 4x4 trails in his plan ( along with added miles for other groups,, ie quads, cycles, bikes, horses and hikers ).
The plan was signed off by local DNR and State DNR representative. It was then sent to Olympia. The Commissioner ( of what,, I don't know,, ) was presented with the plan by DNR staff in Olympia. This is where it got a little ugly. Spending money right now is tough. Our project is pretty low on the list with all the government projects losing funding because of the economy. When the time had come for the proposal to be presented to the commissioner,,, the DNR staff in Olympia made the proposal. Problem was,, the DNR staff making the proposal was chosen by the commissioner. The DNR staff had no personal working knowledge of the proposal. ( it was not presented by the local DNR who we had been working with ).
The commissioner asked questions of the DNR staff that they could not answer. The proposal was sent back to get the questions answered. The proposal now has to wait for its next opportunity to be heard by the commissioner. We have been asked by local DNR not to try to talk to the commissioner regarding the project. We are honoring the local DNR wishes. ( We are working with the local DNR,,, not trying to go over them. )
We have asked if we could begin the trails before final approval and DNR has said we can not start until approval has been given.
We have asked for a tentative guess on when approval will come. DNR fully expects this project to be approved and guessed that approval will come this winter,,, and trail building could start at that time. This really means next summer because the area is in high altitude and snow will be a problem until June? .
Our club will be doing a second annual cruise in ,, tentative October,,, and tentative at Sargent's Island on the Woodland Bottoms. ( land owner has already given us permission... Date is not set yet. ). This cruise in will be even better than last year's event as we will be able to include some real 4x4 games. Last year netted the Trail Fund about $1500. We hope this year will be at least as good. This money is in a separate account with our club and money will be used ONLY for the Yacolt Burn Trail System ( our clubs pet project ). We have a separate bank account for our regular club business. Everyone can be assured that this money is not going to be wasted,,, and we will be hoping for every one to support the 4x4 cruise in again this year.
More questions? shoot ! or.. check out our forum.
www.pistonswild.com and then click forum. then Yacolt Burn Trail Matters,,,
Also again,,, I want to invite any poorboys to consider joining our club. Your help and input on this project will be greatly needed. and yes,, you can be a member of how ever many clubs and associations you want.
Thanks again for all the interest in what we hope will be a world class and destination area like other great ones in the Northwest. ie Browns Camp,, Naches,, and others.
Dave.