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Minutes May 18, 2004 Attendees: Mike Smith, Reg Pullen, Scott McNew, Mike Law, Bob Golden, Amelia Dexter, Donna Bishop, Peter Stuart, Richard Turner, John Bragg, Gary Combs, Bob Laport, Tom Sill John Bragg opened the meeting with a review of the planned agenda. The Minutes were approved as read. Reports and Project updates: Winchester Trail Work Party 18 people showed up to work on the trail on May 1. Most of the participants were from the Oregon Equestrian Trailriders and the Back Country Horsemen. Hall’s Hollow was brushed out and the entry sign and kiosk were repainted. Unfortunately, the chipper didn’t work out. A lot of volunteer hours were contributed, the potluck afterwards was successful, and everyone was very enthusiastic about trail maintenance. National Trails Day on June 5 This event will start at 9A.M. at the Winchester Creek Staging Area. Everyone should bring big trash bags to help clean up along the trail. An attempt will be made to get publicity about the event in local newspapers. Mike Smith will bring a dump truck to haul away the trash. Grant Writing Gary Combs gave a presentation on grant writing. He was Coos County Parks Director for 26 years. He has obtained almost 2 million dollars in grants for Coos County. He is fairly busy, but would have time to write some grants for the CRTP. He charges $45 an hour for his services, with a typical grant application fee of ten hours of time plus a percentage of the total value of the grant. Oftentimes, his costs can be charged against the grant. He listed a number of potential grant sources, including: Outdoor Recreation Grants—Acquisition and Planning; Highway Planning and Construction—Bike Paths; Highway Training and Education—Bridge Construction and Inspection; Recreation Resource Management—Planning; Recreational Trails—Trail Maintenance; and Recreational Water and River Trails. He felt the CRTP needs to first establish their priorities and then write grants to meet those priorities. Mike Law from Oregon State Parks observed that obtaining grants for non-motorized trails from the state is highly competitive. Motorized trail grants are easier to obtain, but must show that an important need is being met. Gary Combs stated that going to Salem to lobby ahead of time makes a big difference in the success or failure of a grant application. The Big Loop Trail Concept Mike Smith gave a presentation on the Big Loop Trail project that was developed with the assistance of Dan Miller, former CRTP leader. This multi-purpose ATV trail would connect Blue Ridge, Winchester Creek, the Oregon Dunes NRA from Horsfall Beach to Reedsport, and the Elliot State Forest. As many trails as possible would be tied into a single loop trail. Major points of interest would be Dean Creek, Sunset Bay, and South Slough. Most of the trail would be on lands administered by federal and state agencies, and major timber companies. One of the big selling points is bringing diverse groups of users together in a common cause. It would be a major tourism draw to the south coast, and could connect together a large number of small communities that need economic diversification, places like Ash Valley, Lakeside, Sumner, Fairview, and Allegany. The trail could go in any number of directions to the east, north, and south, even connecting with Powers and the Bandon Dunes Golf Course. It would provide the stimulus for Oregon State Parks to finish the Eel Lake trail, and would tie in well with Coos County Parks Department plans for Riley Ranch. Interpretation of commercial forestry activities would be another selling point. Primitive campgrounds could be built adjacent to the trail, which would be popular with horseback riders and other user groups. Connectivity of trails would also allow for greater dispersal of users, so no single area would be overused. A recognized problem with the Loop Trail concept is the need to cross private timber company lands. Weyerhaeuser has not shown much interest in allowing recreational trails on their lands. Similarly, South Slough and Oregon State Parks have been reluctant to support ATV trails. One possible solution is to have short hiking trails leading from the main ATV trail to allow people to access State Parks and South Slough lands. Rights of way could be purchased from private landowners. An important part of the plan would be looking at a wide range of location options, so having any single landowner oppose the plan would not doom it to failure. The Elliot State Forest would be a key component, since it is connected to the Dunes NRA, Oregon State Parks, and Weyerhaeuser. Plans addressing maintenance and law enforcement would have to be developed to ensure success. Older road segments no longer in use would be incorporated as much as possible. Some secondary roads might be closed and tied into the loop, reducing the costs of road maintenance. The Pacific Crest Trail is a good example of a major trail that crosses the lands of several owners, and could serve as a prototype. Another example is the Corvallis To The Coast non-motorized trail, which was proposed in the 1970’s but has just recently begun to be implemented. An excellent powerpoint presentation has been developed to help sell this trail. Several things are necessary for this project to succeed. A core team of agency representatives must be established. A master plan needs to be developed, with the assistance of all of the user groups. The MOU’s of all of the partners need to be renewed. A grant for promotion and advertising should be obtained, so that a powerpoint presentation can be created and made available to show to as many different people as possible. County Commissioners from Coos and Douglas Counties must be in full support before the project begins. The biggest issue will be gaining the support of private landowners, which needs to be done before this plan goes very far. Using the trail to support the concept of sustainable forestry should help to sell it. Bob Laport raised the issue of liability as a major concern of landowners. Due to Champion Timber Company litigation, private timber companies are liable if recreationists are hurt or start forest fires on their lands. Mike Smith countered that if private lands are made available for recreation by the public, state law protects the landowner from liability more than if lands are closed to the public. Several members of the group pointed out that the Big Loop plan might take 50 years to complete, but that in the meantime some segments could be established. By laying the groundwork now, this concept could become a reality at some point. Portions of the trail could be motorized, while other parts would be non-motorized. The CRTP could spend part of its time working on the Big Loop, but other smaller trail opportunities would be developed as well. One trail that everyone agreed should be promoted is the Eden Valley Trail on the Powers Ranger District of the USFS. Next meeting The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 15th at 6:30 P.M. at the Coos Bay District BLM. Respectfully Submitted By Reg Pullen |