northwest trailriders association, inc
TRANSCRIPT
EENNDD OOFF 22001166 Club President: Geoff Reiff Vice President: Brandon Robinson
Treasurer: Chuck Overstreet
Co-Secretary: Gary & Makayla Humphreys
nwtra.com
North West Trail Riders Association
PO Box 571, Pendleton, OR 97801 Email: [email protected]
The success of this club and the events it provides to its members is directly related to the participation by its members
22001166 HHIIGGHHLLIIGGHHTTSS:: NWTRA’s 31st year was another solid forward moving year. Led by Geoff Reiff as Club President
and Brandon Robinson as Club Vice-President your club saw these things happen in 2016:
Super-Cross Saturday night had larger turnouts in the first of the year, with the new Umatilla
National Forest supervisor visiting
one of our meetings
NWTRA took on the short notice
challenge of putting on the Poker
Run in the Blues @ Morrrow/Grant
County OHV park on Mother’s Day.
This represented a significant
financial risk to the club, but the
events’ success recovered those
funds and bolstered the club
account. 15 confirmed members
were gained from the event
NWTRA Club Poker Run on
Memorial Day weekend (its 2nd year
on this date) was a huge success,
with more members attending than
in the last 10years.
Wal-Mart DC volunteers
assisted NWTRA on a hands-
on brush clearing event on
Tower Loop Trail.
Over the entire riding year,
NWTRA members worked with
NFJD to complete 5 bridge
rebuilds
Trail Maintenance hours were
down slightly to 923 hours for
the club
NFJD Trail Crew was very
affective and worked late into
the year on several brushing projects, specifically Cut-A-Cross trail
NWTRA has a YouTube Channel @ North West Trail Riders, check it out
Photos are now posted in albums on the club website, nwtra.com
POKER RUN 2016
POKER RUN IN THE BLUES 2016
North West Trail Riders Association, INC.
SSUUPPEERR--CCRROOSSSS SSAATTUURRDDAAYY NNIIGGHHTT 22001177:: NWTRA is moving back to the Prodigal Son in Pendleton for these events. Prodigal Son offers a larger event TV screen
and a different menu. Fox Sports has not specifically set the start times for their coverage. The events on the 2017
Schedule (end of newsletter) are slightly fluid for these supercross events, please pay attention to Facebook or your
email for any changes. Our first meeting of 2017 is January 21st, Anaheim 2, 6pm
WWIINNOOMM 110000 22001177 You may notice that this annual event is not
on the schedule. The 2016 Winom 100
was plagued once again by terrible
weather. Yes, there was absolutely ZERO
dust. But there was also a very low
turnout number. This event is by far the
most setup labor intensive event that
NWTRA does during the year. Yes, it is
even more than the great big
Morrow/Grant OHV park event. But, it is
also the NWTRA event that echo’s the club
goal of “An all-day ride”. We as a club
need to figure out what to do for 2017 and
soon for the continuation of the Winom 100.
FALL RIDE 2016
WINOM 100 2016
North West Trail Riders Association, INC.
MMEEEETTIINNGG WWIITTHH UUMMAATTIILLLLAA AANNDD WWAALLLLOOWWAA WWHHIITTMMAANN NNAATTIIOONNAALL FFOORREESSTTSS NWTRA met with trail and recreation representatives on November 14th, 2016. This was the first formal
meeting since November 10th of 2014. Unresolved 2014 items, items completed since 2014, and new
items were reviewed. Here is what was resolved:
NWTRA will continue to do trail maintenance on Winom-Frazier to have the trails open prior to
Memorial Day. This commitment helps US, due to the reality of the forest service trail crew
usually coming from college students and their availability being after the first of May. As each
of the NWTRA members report their rides and accomplishments and that data is forwarded to
the forest service in an agreed to format.
NWTRA will continue to maintain valid volunteer documentation. This commitment aids us in
keeping a voice in the management of our system. NWTRA is investigating the conversion into
a partnership agreement.
NWTRA will track and report volunteer
hours on the system. This commitment is
very important (see Volunteer Hours =
Money on Trails article)
Seasonal Use conditions on Meadow Creek
trail will most likely stay indefinitely. Other
stakeholders, from Fish and Game to
landowners see no need to remove this
restriction. NWTRA did inform the forest
service of instances of sabotage and
indications of violations of this conditional
use by the landowners. The Forest Service
expressed some commitment on
preventing these violations in the future.
Continued joint Trail Assessments: NWTRA
worked with UNF in 2015 to assess the
Meadow/Martin/Packsaddle route and
bridges. Priorities were made and action
was seen in 2016. NWTRA will continue
this with UNF and expand it to WWNF trails
in 2017. These assessments may have
additional detail with use of forest service
provided GPS units.
Forest Service expanded its campground
fee collection period to include the hunting
seasons to capture this high use time for
the campgrounds.
FRAZIER BRIDGE
BUTCHER KNIFE BRIDGE
North West Trail Riders Association, INC.
Here are items that are yet to be completed but will move forward:
ABC Trails recognition: These limited use
roads to the east of the Christensen Trail
have been utilized for decades. NWTRA
have expressed the need to recognize
them as trails and put them on the OHV
Complex map. WWNF was open to
reviewing this and a return route from
Chicken Hill Trail.
Signage: UNF has purchased a new
computer controlled sign machine and is
willing to have trained volunteers from
NWTRA help with this process. Sign
ideas from better posting on existing
trails, to cross road “return to camp”
signs, to Cell Phone service signs were all part of the discussion.
Winom CG Road: Forest Service has as part of the new grant, has funding
set aside for a major tread upgrade on the road leading into Winom OHV
Campground. Better than the hardening of the road into Big Creek, with
some modifications to the switchbacks in the road.
Trail Tools: Forest Service is utilizing the new grant for additional tools to
aid in trail maintenance. They are considering brushing attachment for their
current track-hoe machine.
Chimney Rock/105 reroute: In 2015 NWTRA and FS walked down this
proposal to reroute the trail off of the highway vehicle open 075 road to the
now closed 105. The same issues of Fish and Wildlife persist, but a push to
get away from this conflicted road use should help this process.
Cut-Across/Hwy 52 Crossing: Since 2014 this change to the road crossing
for safety and erosion has been limited by the quality of the locally available
fill, equipment, and qualified operators. Forest Service recognizes that the
condition of the bridge at this junction is bad and the new crossing will
require a new bridge. UNF committed to push forward on this project.
Butcher Knife/Private Ground: The land owner still expresses a desire to not
have this part of the trail close to his property. He is willing to have the trail
completely rerouted on his land and wishes to meet with NWTRA soon. At
issue, may be the re-routing required on the Forest Service portion of the
trail to get to the land owners desired property crossing area.
SWECO: Commitment by WWNF to allow UNF to utilize their Sweco prior to
Memorial Day in 2017. NWTRA with agreement of the Trail Crew boss
would like to use this time to make Tower Loop from Winom to Woop-De-
Doo a “Gold Standard” trail. Early in 2017, NWTRA will get a plan together
on this project.
TOWER MOUNTAIN LOOKING EAST
North West Trail Riders Association, INC.
VVOOLLUUNNTTEEEERR TTIIMMEE == MMOONNEEYY OONN TTRRAAIILLSS One of the benefits of having a detailed meeting with the forest service, both that manage our Winom-Frazier and
Desolation Complex’s, is that NWTRA gets to “see” how our volunteer time is used and how important it is to our
system. With all the budget battles on the national level, the forest service funding is a low priority. This means that
the budget amount for non-wilderness trails is less than it was for 2014. To able to function at all, both the Umatilla
and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests reach out to Oregon State Parks and Recreation, for grant funding. These
grants require a matching fund component. This is where NWTRA and our volunteer hours come in.
Each hour of volunteer time has a specific value. For 2016 our work was $23.56/hour. NWTRA was over 900 hours,
which is over $21,000 in value. The federal budget for non-motorized trails in UNF/NFJD was only $28,000. So our
hours effectively doubled the forests matching fund ability. They match 28% of the grant, so the grant suddenly goes
from around $100k to $200k just with our recorded volunteer hours. Therefore, it is so important for everyone that
does work on the trails to have that work recorded.
These hours also give NWTRA a voice on how these trail dollars are spent. In 2016, NWTRA members rallied the forest
service onto specific bridge and tread work, conducted meetings at the Forest Supervisor’s level on how current
national forest service projects could affect us, and worked together on plans for our future. If our investment of our
time is not recorded, we will eventually lose the influence that was one of the reasons the club was formed.
The most obvious room for improvement is the lack of recorded hours on the Wallowa-Whitman side of the complex. Of
the hours recorded, less than 10% is on these trails, which equal close to half the trail miles. These trails are obviously
being cleared each year, but documentation of this hard work is not happening. The WWNF side of the complex is the
most likely area of improvement in the system prior to the controls that are yet to be in place with the next Travel
Management Plan. But if it looks like NO time is spent there, this improvement will be hard to do.
IITTEEMMSS IINN TTHHEE WWOORRKKSS FFOORR 22001177:: The NWTRA/Forest Service meeting did spell out several items on the plate for 2017 and beyond. This is not all the items
in the works for 2017.
NWTRA is still pursuing more significant trail expansion and improvement that time in that meeting did not allow for discussion. At issue is the costs for funding for the environmental surveys required (NEPA). NWTRA is reaching out to
local clubs with experience and direct conversations with Oregon State Parks and Recreation to better understand our
options. Oregon Parks and Recreation is creating a “trail tool checkout” process that is still in its infancy. The big items will be
track-hoes and SWECO type trail dozers that can be checked out of this pool. The desire from OPRD is to have a specific project spelled out with a good number of hours on the equipment needed but not months of time. Again, lots
of details to be worked out. RecConnect Trail Consultants will be conducting a “Great Trails” seminar in LaGrande in May 15th-19th, field workshop on
Mt Emily. Other than the subject and the date not much is known, except the fantastic source material linked above.
A NWTRA sub-group is considering Emergency Response and the club’s liabilities. At minimum, plan on seeing a better first aid/trauma kit at NWTRA events and hopefully some upcoming training opportunities.
Pendleton Bike Week in July is an ongoing success. NWTRA is considering the possibility of being involved, specifically at the hill climb event, to further our outreach. Other than being a spectator this year and observing, not much is known
now.
Mother’s Day Ride; NWTRA will return to Morrow/Grant County OHV park for this event in 2017. Since there is very little “poker” involved in this large-scale ride, it is up in the air on the right title. The club learned a lot from our first time
around and will fix our problems, plus we are looking at some enhanced events as well. Stay-tuned for several items NWTRA is pursuing as well.
Finally, NWTRA needs to express a heart-felt Thank You to Geoff Reiff for being our president for 2016. North West Trail Riders Association grew in membership, is more solid financially than it has ever been, and has set the seeds for
further growth and strength in the region. Geoff is stepping back (a little) to support the graduation of his daughter in 2017, but don’t expect him to stop supporting NWTRA. Thanks Geoff.
North West Trail Riders Association, INC.
CCAALLEENNDDAARR OOFF EEVVEENNTTSS 22001177 JJAANNUUAARRYY 2211SSTT 22001177
SSUUPPEERR --CCRROOSSSS SSAATTUURRDDAAYY NNIIGGHHTT Prodigal Son, Pendleton 6pm
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CCLLUUBB MMEEEETTIINNGG Mac’s Bar & Grill, Pendleton
6pm
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MMOOTTHHEERR’’SS DDAAYY RRIIDDEE IINN TTHHEE BBLLUUEESS Morrow-Grant OHV Park
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CCLLUUBB MMEEEETTIINNGG Mac’s Bar & Grill, Pendleton
6pm
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CCLLUUBB PPOOKKEERR RRUUNN Frazier Campground 8:45 Pre-Ride Meeting
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CCLLUUBB MMEEEETTIINNGG Mac’s Bar & Grill, Pendleton
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CCLLUUBB MMEEEETTIINNGG Mac’s Bar & Grill, Pendleton 6pm
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OOCCTTOOBBEERR RRIIDDEE Frazier Campground
8:45 Pre-Ride Meeting