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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]