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1 Trail Law Primer
Trail Laws Gathering and understanding information that will aid the Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation in designing a Non-Motorized Recreational Trail Network Plan for our area of the San Bernardino National Forest. What do laws have to do with trails? Plenty, especially when you live in an area [...]
1.1 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States. The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad [...]
1.2 USFS Trails Management Handbook
There is a large wealth of information readily available to the public on the USFS website; it just takes a bit of digging, and a lot of reading, to understand what is there. The first place to start is the official Trails Managment Handbook. This is a 35 page document [...]
1.3 Trail Fundamentals
Does Every Trail Have To Be Smooth And Easy With No Rocks? Trail Fundamentals tells us that it's ok for some trails to be flat and easy and have tons of directional signage. It's also perfectly alright if other trails have logs across them, rough creek crossings, and signs [...]
1.4 Trail Assessment & Condition Surveys – TRACS
The 5 concepts of Trail Fundamentals discussed previously do a great job telling us about the trail type, class, managed and designed use, and design parameters of a trail. What we're missing though, is what the trail actually looks like in the field. To address this need, the USFS [...]
1.5 Standard Trail Plans and Specifications USFS
The USDA Forest Service Standard Trail Plans and Specifications is a comprehensive guide to the design, construction, and maintenance of National Forest System trails and trail bridges. This is very specific information that shows how to develop a trail plan, plan out the needed materials and labor costs, and then [...]
1.6 Databases: Natural Resource Manager
The Natural Resource Manager (NRM) is a system of database tools for managing Agency data across the Forest Service. Natural Resource Manager includes: Forest Service ACtivity Tracking System (FACTS), Infrastructure (Infra), Natural Resource Information System (NRIS), and Timber Information Manager (TIM) applications. NRM applications provide tools for most of the [...]
1.7 USFS National Budget Justification
The United States Forest Service budget is available online here. The Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Justification is a 547 page document that discusses the rationale for money spent on our National Forests. Below are selected excerpts that address the Capital Improvement and Maintenance of Trails. This is good background [...]
1.8 Govt Accountability Office Report on Trails
In 2013, the Governmental Accountability Office published a 62 page report titled "Forest Service Trails: Long- and Short-Term Improvements Could Reduce Maintenance Backlog and Enhance System Sustainability". What the GAO Found The Forest Service has more miles of trail than it has been able to maintain, resulting in a persistent [...]
1.9 How to Enact CHANGE!
Now that we've gone through a completely intimdating and overwhelming amount of information, we've still somehow got to find the energy to actually do something. Going back to the Trails Management Handbook, there is actually a section that details how to start the change; through applicable NEPA procedures. [...]
2.1 Land Management Plan Decision, Vision and Design
A Land Management Plan (LMP) is required by the 1976 National Forest Management Act. This document describes the goals, objectives, and management direction for each part of the National Forest System. The four national forests in southern California adopted revised Land Management Plans in April of 2006. Here are the [...]
2.2 LMP Strategy for San Bernardino National Forest
The strategic direction and program emphasis objectives that are expected to result in the sustainability (social, economic and ecological) of the national forest and, over the long-term, the maintenance of a healthy forest are described in the 159 page Land Management Plan, Part 2 San Bernardino National Forest Strategy. [...]
2.3 Land Management Plan Monitoring Reports
The purpose of the USFS Monitoring and Evaluation Report is to determine the effectiveness of the Land Management Plan and to determine whether changes are necessary. The Monitoring and Evaluation Report is an annual update on what's going on in the San Bernardino National Forest. Below are selections from [...]
2.4 LMP Controversy – Bikes only on System Trails
From the Land Management Plan, Part 3 Design Criteria for the Southern California National Forests: Plan Standards Required by (36 CFR 219) S35: Manage dispersed recreation activities to ensure that environmental sustainability is maintained by utilizing the following measures: Motorized and non-motorized vehicle travel is restricted to National Forest System [...]
2.5 Schedule of Proposed Actions – SOPA
What is a SOPA? As part of carrying out the mission of the Forest Service, agency resource specialists develop proposals that will enhance or maintain resource values on public lands, as well as generate products. In addition, the public may submit proposals for various uses such as rights-of-way, land exchanges, [...]
Can Erosion and Illegal Trails Get Along?
By Caroline Blake At the University of Vermont (UVM), I remember not wanting to walk on the concrete sidewalk between the Student Center and the Library because it was not convenient. Instead, I joined thousands of other students who took the shortcut straight across the grass of the University Green. [...]
Does the Forest Service litter in the Forest?
Give a hoot, don't pollute! Remember this saying? Woodsy the Owl encouraged many of us to keep our forest beautiful and put litter where it belongs; in the garbage can. For the most part, our trails in the Big Bear area are pretty free of trash, with some exceptions. Hit [...]
Field Assessment Data Collection
Currently available GIS Information includes all known routes in the forest, both system and non-system. Using this information as a basis, all non-system routes will be field verified and data will be collected. If additional routes are discovered, they will be walked and collected for insertion into GIS data set. [...]
Lake Fire Information on Trails
Beginning on June 17th, 2015, the Lake Fire burned parts of the San Bernardino National Forest, the San Gorgonio Wilderness, BLM land, and private land tracts in Southern California. Source documents can be found here. A good overview of the after burn situation can be found here, in the Burned [...]
Paid Trail Positions in Tourist Towns
We're pushing for the City of Big Bear Lake, Mammoth Mountain Resorts, the Southern California Mountains Foundation, the United States Forest Service, and the Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation to all come together to support our recreational trails. In an effort to convince folks that this is something worth paying [...]