Hey there FOSM volunteers,

 

Just wanted to say a big “thank you” to those of you who were a part of the push over the last several months to complete all of the reroutes on the Lower Pine trail, in the Manzanitas south of I-40 near the Zuzax exit. As of this week, Lower Pine, having been a High priority on SRD Trail’s program of work for a while, is now complete, with the entire length of the trail where we want it to be in terms of its design and placement.

 

As an East Mountain resident, I went out on Friday while I was off work to ride it for the first time in its newly completed form, and it is a HUGE improvement over its previous alignment.

 

Because this series of reroutes was designed and constructed thoughtfully and correctly, multiple goals were accomplished:

 

• The trail rides & flows much better now, which will attract mountain bikers (one of the primary recreational uses in the Manzanitas) and aid in dispersing that recreational traffic in the long run (i.e., not as many mountain bikers parking down the side of the highway at Tunnel Canyon on the weekends, nor as many in places where the chance of conflict with hikers is greater, because there is now one more high-quality alternative).

 

• The trail is much more sustainable – it will not be causing nearly as much erosion or other resource damage as before, which supports the greater goal of watershed-level resource management and protection on this district.

 

• The trail will, by and large, take care of itself – it will require very little input of time and money from Forest Service trails staff well into the future, aside from cutting fallen trees or encroaching oak brush out it. It will stand the test of time, and become an asset that brings us and the community benefit, rather than a depreciating liability that needs ongoing ground-disturbing work to even keep it safe & functional. And, it will place that much less strain on non-trails USFS staff in the long run, by bringing the trail into a realm of necessary maintenance that doesn’t require nearly as much legally-required input from archaeologists and wildlife biologists.

 

 

This is EXACTLY the direction I’m seeking to steer SRD’s entire trail system, as begun by Kerry Wood when he was in my position. About half the trail mileage on the south side of the Sandia Ranger District has already been worked over like this in the past ten years or so, in addition to some of the trail mileage on the north side in the Sandias. The long-term goal is to get the entire SRD trail system up to this standard, in addition to adding new, meaningful connections & loop opportunities, such that our trail system as a whole is able to sustainably withstand and accommodate the increasing and complex recreational demand of the ever-growing Albuquerque metro area, all the while the strain of managing it is minimized, and the efficacy and efficiency of that management is maximized.

 

 

Thank you for being a part of our mission here at SRD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canyon Young

Trails and Wilderness Program Manager

US Forest Service

Sandia Ranger District

Cibola National Forest

11776 Hwy 337, Tijeras, NM 87059

505-546-7466

canyon.young@usda.gov