Here is the Schedule for the second annual RAT Fest fundraiser. Please come, bring the family and help us raise funds for Ridgway Area Trail building.

Friday June 9th

5-7pm, Trail Building at Weaver (flagging and clearing the kid’s loop–Brian to get with Park group for ok)

7:30-9, Movie and Beer in the park (food provided by Land and Ocean–Randy to confirm)

Saturday June 10th

9-10 Set up in Town Park (10x10s, etc)

10-12 Trail Building at Weaver (and/or group ride)

12-1 Lunch (food by True Grit or 520–Brian to confirm)

1-3 Ride the RAT (group rides from town Park)

1-3 Mountain Biking Clinic with Sara Ballantyne

3-4 Band set up, Beer set up (Band is Tony Rosario and the Hillbilly Healers/Beer is NB and CB)

4-9 Band/Silent Auction/Live Auction (Live auction at 7pm set break)

Sunday June 11th

11-2: Dallas Ride, Randy provides the shuttle

2-4: After party at the riverfront Ouray Brewery Tap room

The Bureau of Land Management’s Uncompahgre Field Office is seeking public comments for the route-by-route designation of about 1200 acres for roads and trails located on public land about two miles northeast of Ridgway.

The BLM is soliciting comments on this proposal to help identify issues, concerns or alternatives that should be addressed as part of the environmental analysis and decision making process. Following the comment period, the BLM will analyze the resources to designate all routes within the project area through an environmental assessment.

“The citizens from the Town of Ridgway, surrounding communities and local groups have expressed their interest in an inter-connecting trail system and increased recreational opportunities,” said Barb Sharrow, BLM Uncompahgre field manager. “These interested groups and individuals expressed a need for accessible trails from the Town of Ridgway, trails adjacent and linked to Ridgway State Park, trails close to town for educational trips, interpretive programs and events and access to backcountry trails located near communities.”

Project and comment forms are available for download here and further information about the project is available at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/nepa/ufo.html.

Written comments are due by Friday, May 18. Send comments to the Uncompahgre Field Office, Attn: Julie Jackson, 2465 South Townsend Ave., Montrose, CO 81401, cotmpufo@blm.gov or by fax to 970-240-5368.

Please note that comments and information submitted regarding this project, including email addresses and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review and disclosure. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name, e-mail address, or street address from public view or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by the law. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives of officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.

Other business discussed included:

TRAILS PROJECTS

A. BLM Land: We cannot build any trail on BLM land until BLM completes its review process. Most of the review was completed last spring, but BLM decided in July of 2011 they must have a Travel Management Plan. We do not expect completion of that TMP until sometime next year at the earliest. Rod Fitzhugh will continue to monitor BLM progress through Julie Jackson and Barb Sharrow. Commissioner Lynn Padget is presently in Washington DC to meet with our Congressional delegates on various items of Ouray County business. We have briefed her fully about status of our project on BLM and she will lobby or delegation to pressure BLM for priority. Jeff Bockes will arrange a debriefing with Lynn when she returns. Jeff has completed a revised map of our proposed trail plan. We will not present that to BLM until first soliciting feedback from BLM about status and progress on the TMP.

B. State Lands: The State Park Service has commenced an independent review of the trails we have proposed for the State Park. They have the project on the fast track and expect to have full approval for 5+ miles of single track by late this spring. Construction will likely begin in the early summer. It remains to be seen whether COPMOBA volunteers will assist with the construction, as the Park Service may elect to build the trail entirely with State money paid to professional trail crews. Rich will stay in contact with State personnel about progress on the project and status.

FUNDRAISER

We scheduled the Second Annual RAT Fest fundraiser for the weekend of June 8th. We have tentatively agreed to schedule the following events:

Friday Night: beer and a movie

Saturday: gear swap, live auction, silent auction, live band and beer sales, group rides, cruiser criterium

We need to begin publicizing the event a.s.a.p. Randy Charrette will contact Brian Scranton about press releases and other advertising. Randy will work with Jack Rajca and Marisa Murphy to develop a poster design. Jack will generate t-shirt ideas. Marisa, Jack, Bill and Randy will will take the lead in organizing the details of the fundraiser and in soliciting donations of swag for the auction and cash to defer other costs. They will seek assistance from Sara Ballantyne as well. Rod will approach town council about reserving town park for the event. Rod will also request a donation from town council.

TRAIL WORK DAY

We decided to plan our trail work day for the weekend after the fundraiser. We have several options, including: State Park Lands, maintenance or new trail work in Weaver Park, new trail along Cottonwood Creek. Our first choice would be State land, but they may contract all that to professional crews. Rod will continue working with Town staff on approvals for the Cottonwood Creek project.

OTHER MATTERS

Bill explained status of the local DEVO (Junior Mt. Bike Development) organization. this year’s program starts May 8 and will continue for 8 weeks. We discussed perhaps bringing project under the auspices of COPMOBA. The group is currently affiliated with Durango Devo’s 501(3)(c) organization and will likely maintain that status at least for the present. We also resolved to create a presence for COPMOBA at other community events by renting booth space at the crafts fair, love your valley, and balloons ‘n vrooms evernts.

NEXT MEETING is scheduled for April 4, 6:00pm at Fishbone Graphics in Ridgway.

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

Our Very own RAT Brian Scranton assembled these notes for us from the presentation.

The Economic Rationale for Mountain Bike and Multi-Use Trails

Outdoor recreation is a $730 billion market in the United States. Of that amount, more than $622 billion is spent on travel and the expenses associated with recreation (fuel, food, lodging, etc). In the Mountain states, over 60,000 jobs are created–and in Colorado alone, more than $500 million in tax revenue are realized–thanks to outdoor users.

Over the last decade, many regions have seen great success in creating, increasing and sustaining economic development through the development of trails. For example, Jackson WY invested nearly $1.7 million over the last 10 years to create a world-class trail system. In 2010, their estimated annual income associated with mountain biking was $18 million, with over $3 million coming from local residents. Grand Junction attributes $20M in annual business revenue to mountain biking and trail development.

From a health perspective, communities that build trails tend to use them. In Southern Missouri communities, 55% of the population exercise more now that their trail system has been established. And a recent University of Colorado study showed that for every $1 spent on trails (creation and use) there is a $4 direct medical benefit.

The Perfect Fit
Demographically, mountain bikers and Colorado are perfect matches. Our terrain, views and amenities appeal to “high end” clientele. In short, mountain bikers spend money and they spend it in Colorado.

• Mountain Bikers are: Male 88%, 43 year old, 73% college or post grad, $106K median income
• 50M mountain bikers in the US
• Favorite activity of kids 6-17
• There are 1.5X more mountain bikers than golfers
• There are more mountain bike voters than those age 65+
• 35% of the Colorado population bikes/more than 41% get out on trails
• 80% of mountain bikers take one big trip per year averaging a 4.6 night stay
• 45% prefer staying in hotels

What do destination mountain bikers look for when deciding on where to travel?
1. Terrain, 2. Number of trail miles, 3. Scenery, 4. Reputation

Things We Can Do to Help Trails Succeed
• Build trails to bring new people into the sport (not double black diamond)
• Show off the beauty/scenery
• Create high quality trail maps and great signage that makes traveling on trails easy
• Align political, physical, social elements to ensure success
• Focus on the community and the infrastructure before creating a “destination”
• Be patient with local, state and federal agencies–they support trails but support creating them legally, sustainably and with full community support
• Meet with private land owners–provide the facts. Invite them to meetings. Let them know the demographic that will be on the land. Inform them of trail user’s ability and desire to police the trail.

* IMBA Better Living Through Trails presentation, 2011, Outdoor Industry Foundation, 2011, Outdoor Industry Association/Leisure Trends, 2011

Trail Inventory Finished

The inventory of the existing trails is finished. A map of the existing roads and trails is now available on line. You can  down load this map from the trails page as a PDF document. Please download your copy, get out on the trails, and explore!

Thanks to Julie Stotler at the BLM for her help with the inventory and creating the maps. Additional thanks to Denise Smith and Shauna Tewksbury for assisting me with the GPS-ing.

Click here to go to the map!

Tuesday Night Mountain Bike Rides Begin

If you are interested in riding with a group for the last few weeks we have been meeting at Rich Durnan’s house (264 N. Laura St.), in Ridgway at 5:30 on Tuesday evenings to ride the trails.

Your Help is Critical for the Next Phase

We are ready to move into step 2 of the BLM Lands project outline. The next phase of this project is to design and layout a suggested multi-use trail system. We need to develop three trail plans illustrating proposed trails in three different densities (highly developed, our goal development, and minimally developed). This is the time to start thinking about singletrack!

How can you help? By getting out into the area, taking a look, and meeting with Rich to help him to draw in where you think it would be good to have new trails. Go to the trails page and download the two page PDF map document and see what is already there. Then think about what you would like to see developed.

Things to think about…

• Trail connectivity
• Difficulty of terrain, (gradient, trails on contours, challenges)
• Trail use (hiking, biking, trail running, horseback riding)
• Trail aesthetics

Please contact Rich and let him know your ideas: rich@richdurnanphoto.com or 626-4138

IMBA Interested in Project

This Winter Julie Stotler, the recreation planner for the BLM, included the Ridgway Trail Project in a list of possible projects for support in the area to the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). IMBA replied with the Ridgway Trails Project as one of the projects it is interested in supporting.

COTI Trail Crew Leader Training Offered in Montrose

Become a better trail steward by learning how to effectively lead volunteers in the construction and maintenance of sustainable trails. The Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative (COTI) has developed a standardized curriculum for training trail crew leaders in Colorado. On June 10th & 11th this two day training is offered in Montrose. It will introduce the fundamentals of successful volunteer crew management for the construction and maintenance of sustainable trails.

This training is very worthwhile. Attending this training and learning how to properly build trails would be a great help to our project.

For more information and to register contact: Jack Placchi
jack_placchi@co.blm.gov
(303) 239-3832

Or visit the V Outdoors web site.

Trail Work Days

We will be scheduling trail maintenance days in the near future to do maintenance and clean up some of the roads in the area making them more suitable for riding and hiking. Please take the COTI Trail Crew Leader training course so you will be a more effective volunteer to this project. Stay tuned for date announcements.

New Photo Gallery

Click here to see photos from the area.

A Call to Join COPMOBA

Please have a look at the COPMOBA web site and consider joining the organization. By increasing the membership we will strengthen the organization and therefore benefit our effort. COPMOBA is a group of mountain bikers dedicated to the development and maintenance of a regional mountain bike trail system on the Colorado Plateau. They build and maintain mountain bike trails, work to preserve single track, and promote responsible riding.

COPMOBA Endorses Project

On the 9th of January Brad McCardle and Richard Durnan attended the monthly meeting of the Uncompahgre Chapter of the Colorado Mountain Bike Trail Association (COPMOBA). At this meeting the Ridgway Trails Project was presented to the chapter body and a proposal to support the project was made. Chapter President Bill Harris took the proposal to the COPMOBA Board and the board has approved involvement/support for the project.

This is a great benifit to us as COPMOBA has a very good reputation and track record working with the BLM. COPMOBA will also be bringing to our effort valuable knowledge.Not only in the area of negotiating the politics of the BLM, but with trail building knowledge, tools, and man power.

Snow Fall Delays Inventory Completion

Snow fall in the trails area has delayed the completion of the resource inventory that was to be finished last fall. The inventory process will continue as soon as the ground is dry.

A Call to Join COPMOBA

Please have a look at the COPMOBA web site and consider joining the organization. By increasing the membership we will strengthen the organization and therefore benefit our effort. COPMOBA is a group of mountain bikers dedicated to the development and maintenance of a regional mountain bike trail system on the Colorado Plateau. They build and maintain mountain bike trails, work to preserve single track, and promote responsible riding.

COTI Trail Crew Leader Training

The Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative (COTI) has developed a standardized curriculum for training trail crew leaders in Colorado. On March 3 & 4th this two day training is offered in Grand Junction. It will introduce the fundamentals of successful volunteer crew management for the construction and maintenance of sustainable trails. To register visit the V Outdoors web site.

Attending this training and learning how to properly build trails would be a great help to our project.

Inventory Work Begins on BLM Land

On September 13th, 2005 Richard Durnan and Julie Stotler, the BLM Recreation Planner, met at the trails site and began a comprehensive inventory of the existing trail resources by GPS-ing the existing roads and trails.

Below is an outline and rough time-line to give you an idea of the steps that must be followed next to make this project a success. Notes in Blue are things that you as a volunteer can help with at the appropriate time.

Jeff Riddle Retires from Ridgway State Park

Jeff Riddle the Ridgway State Park Manager and our contact for the trails project announced his retirement from the state parks. ” I’ll be leaving Ridgway State Park sometime early next year”

Jeff has been strongly supporting our project and states that it “will certainly be on my list of things to review with the new manager.”

Outline for the BLM Lands portion of the project

1. Finish the Lands Inventory (Now through 12/1/2005*)

• Map out all existing roads and trails with a GPS to allow the data to be entered into the BLM’s mapping system.
• Map out areas of disturbance such as game trails and other areas that may be used as part of the trail system in the future.
• Notify Rich Durnan of trails within the area you think should be included in the inventory.
• Join Rich in the field and help finish GPS-ing for the inventory.

2. Analysis of Inventory (Winter 2005/Spring 2006*)

• Enter GPS data from the inventory into the BLM’s mapping system
• Internal Scoping with the BLM and External Scoping with other agencies Identify area soil types

• Identify area vegetation
• Identify any there are any threatened and endangered species present
• Identify cultural resources
• Identify seasonal closures (* see clarification below)
• Identify any special wildlife issues
• Determine ideal trail slope percentage for area
• Perform a real estate check

• Design and layout trail system including facility development (The Plan or Desired Outcome)

A public meeting will be set up during this period. This will be your time to express your opinions and ideas about all aspects of the trail systems development.

3. Environmental Assessment (EA) (Fall/Winter 2006*)

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assures that the BLM (and other federal agencies) will consider the impact of an action on the human environment before decisions are made and the action is taken. It requires that NEPA documents concentrate on issues that are significant to the action in question.
The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make better decisions based on an understanding of environmental consequences, and take actions that protect, restore, and enhance the human environment.

In accordance with the NEPA Process, BLM conducts an interdisciplinary review of the environmental effects of the proposal so that the relevant environmental information is available to citizens and public officials.

An EA is prepared to determine if a proposed action or alternative will significantly affect the quality of the human environment. If the impacts are determined to be insignificant, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is prepared and is made a part of the decision. If impacts are determined to be significant, the proposed action may be rejected, modified, or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) may be prepared. Public involvement activities for an EA range from notifying those directly affected by the proposed action to providing review drafts for public comment and conducting workshops and meetings.

4. On the Ground Work (Summer 2007*)

Now the fun begins and we will need all your help with jobs like trail building, and grant writing.

5. Other things you can do to help

A strong show of support for this project will help us in all areas of the project. Letters of support for the project will be critical to show all the agencies involved our communal interest and commitment to this project. At some point we will begin seeking grant money and letters from you will help to achieve success in finding funding. Please take a moment to write a letter of support for this project and encourage all those you know to do the same. It will save us time and speed up the process if we have these letters on hand.
Send your letter to Richard Durnan at PO Box 2065, Ridgway CO, 81432-2065 or e-mail it to him at rich@richdurnanphoto.com.

*All dates are approximations and are in no way a guarantee by the BLM staff that they will be completed in the above timeframe however the BLM does support the project and plan to see it through to the end.