IDPR Trail Rangers clear 1,843 miles of trail statewide in 2013; thanks for the work guys!

Post burn log pile-ups can take many hours, if not days to clear. 

Hi all, 

Happy New Year to the Idaho OHV community! We wanted to share the impressive achievements of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation Trail Rangers  program in the 2013 field season. 

The Trail Ranger crews work hard all summer long in Idaho's backcountry to ensure that our multi-use trails on national forest lands are free of downfall and brush, usable and sustainable.  They're strong and sturdy guys who ride motorbikes to access the trails, carrying chainsaws, shovels and other necessary tools for trail maintenance.

The overall goal is to clear about 2,000 miles of trail statewide. Twenty-six different ranger districts on eight national forests throughout the state put in requests for trail-clearing, and IDPR fulfills the requests as best they can. The Forest Service provides a place for the Trail Rangers to sleep, and the trail work is provided to the national forests at no cost. Idaho OHV registration fees pay for the program, keeping many popular multi-use trails open and cleared for the public to enjoy. 



Here's the breakdown of the Trail Rangers work by region, according to IDPR's ATV/Motorbike Program: 

North: 

Miles request: 540.7
Miles Cleared: 528.3 
Downfall: 1949 
Tread work: 1027
Water Bars: 179

Southwest:
Miles Request: 734.2
Miles Cleared: 679.6
Downfall: 7080
Tread Work: 1058
Water Bars: 308

East:
Miles Request: 668.9
Miles Cleared: 635.1
Downfall: 2551
Tread Work: 110
Water Bars: 169

Total miles cleared 1,843 miles 

One statistic seems to jump out in the Southwest region -- the removal of more than 7,000 trees! Recent wildfires, microbursts and blow-down events all led to that amazing tally of downed timber.

You can see individual ranger district reports on Trail Rangers work on the IDPR ATV/Motorbike Facebook page.

Many thanks to the Trail Rangers for their fine work in 2013, and thanks to the OHV users for supporting the program!

If OHV users have a particular trail that they'd like to have addressed by the Trail Rangers, they should contact their local Forest Service ranger district office to ensure that the trail is under consideration for maintenance. Folks also could contact the IDPR ATV/Motorbike progam for information as well. 

Give thanks to IDPR Trail Rangers for keeping our trails clear on national forests in Idaho

Typical tree removal

Trail tread work

Serious downfall!

At this time of year, it's appropriate to give thanks to some unsung heroes who work hard all summer long in Idaho's back country to ensure that our multi-use trails on national forest lands are free of downfall and brush, usable and sustainable.

I'm talking about the Trail Rangers crews provided by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. They're skilled motorbike riders who carry shovels, chainsaws and other tools into the back country and work on opening up multi-use trails for all of us to enjoy.

Last summer, IDPR's Trail Rangers cleared almost 1,500 miles of trails, removed more than 8,000 trees, improved the tread on approximately 1,530 feet of trail, and worked on 1,045 water bars/dips.

The trail work occurred on many of Idaho's national forests, including the Panhandle, Salmon-Challis, Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Caribou-Targhee, Boise and Payette. Please see a detailed accounting of the Trail Rangers work on the IDPR web site.

With the late spring and cool, wet summer, the IDPR Trail Rangers "struggled with excessive amounts of brush growth" that slowed the crews down and made it difficult to treat all of the trail miles requested by the national forests, IDPR officials said.

IDPR has four Trail Ranger crews that serves the state -- one in North Idaho, another in Eastern Idaho and a third and fourth located in SW Idaho. The fourth crew is a “roaming crew” that assists all three regions in trail maintenance.

IDPR also has a trail cat that does more heavy-duty trail work. Statewide, IDPR trail cat operators reconstructed 31.3 miles of of trail, built 3.2 miles of trail and 868 water dips, cleaned out 1,003 water dips, and removed 817 stumps.

IDPR's mini-excavator operators rebuilt 2.9 miles of trail, built 27 water dips, cleaned 28 water dips, and removed 27 stumps.

All of this work is made possible by OHV registration funds.

In the spring, IDPR invites national forest ranger districts to apply for assistance from IDPR Trail Rangers. Trail work is provided to the national forests at no cost. But the Forest Service does provide temporary housing for trail ranger crews. In 2010, 26 ranger districts in Idaho's national forests requested and received Trail Ranger services.

Thanks Trail Rangers!