Uwharrie, The next step for NC4X4...

DRaider90

DRaider90

Uwharrie Off-Road Volunteering
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Location
Weddington, NC
I am sure this thread will get moved, etc after a few new things are put in place, but for now I figured I would go ahead and post this up.

In case some of you have been out of the loop NC4X4 has been starting to have trail work days at Uwharrie. In an effort to keep our trails open and clean it takes everyone's work and hard effort. This involves us working with the Forest Service on work days and through other venues, and we can't do it without the help of everyone (yes everyone) on here.

The Forest Service is doing their part in all this. Over the next 4 years the Forest Service will be working on doing overhauls and re-routes on current trails, and even opening new trail(s) plus re-opening old roads/trails. It is safe to say in the next 4 years+ Uwharrie will be going a lot of changes for the better.

All these actions are being taken by the Forest Service to keep our OHV Trail system open. We need to do our part also. This includes organized trail work days, individual work days, donating funding/materials/equipment, just to name a few. If everyone here on NC4X4 that currently uses the OHV Trail system and wants to be able to use it in the future decides to do their part we will be able to make a huge impact on the future of the OHV trail system.

Everyone knows what happened to Tellico, and while we currently don't face anything like that the goal is to prevent it from happening in the future. Because if we just sit back and don't do anything, in the years to come things can change for the worse. This is our opportunity to learn from the mistakes made at Tellico and keep our OHV Trail system open for many many years to come.

So keep an eye out on the forums for more info, updates, and some big changes.:beer:
 
has the Forest Service committed to all these changes in writing yet?

Seems they have an issue with talking about fixing stuff, being told by experts to fix stuff, and then not fixing stuff :rolleyes:
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
has the Forest Service committed to all these changes in writing yet?
Seems they have an issue with talking about fixing stuff, being told by experts to fix stuff, and then not fixing stuff :rolleyes:
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Dont know if you have met anyone that makes up The URE Forest Service..or , better yet OUR forest service..so let me be the first to say that in my opinion, they are 110% dedicated to keeping our trails open. They know about Tellico and will strive to make URE better for all of the new traffic URE will see in the future.

I applaud the proactive approach that Mrs. Walker and the gang have brought to the table.

If you dont think they are ''in tune'' with us, just remember, They are the ones that allowed us to hold a race in the Forest, a few years ago. If that dont convince ya, then you're a tough cookie.

I am glad to see NC4X4 finaly ''officially'' become involved.
 
It should never be "what are THEY going to do " but "what am I going to do!!"
 
As long as the trout stay out of that little creek down the hill, URE will be fine.

Good on the Forest Service though. Its really nice to hear of a Forest Service group that understands "Management" is key. With more and more people enjoying URE, expanding it in a responsible manner is the next logical move.

More info on the work days, and donations??

BTW- I wish the 4x4cross was still on the trail system. Thats were "UREcross" came from.


Rob
 
yield2me said:
As long as the trout stay out of that little creek down the hill, URE will be fine.
Good on the Forest Service though. Its really nice to hear of a Forest Service group that understands "Management" is key. With more and more people enjoying URE, expanding it in a responsible manner is the next logical move.
More info on the work days, and donations??
BTW- I wish the 4x4cross was still on the trail system. Thats were "UREcross" came from.
Rob
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Anythings possible:)
 
yield2me said:
More info on the work days, and donations??
Rob
Click to expand...

The official work days are held by the Forest Service the 3rd Saturday of every month. Back in March we first figured that we would attend bi-monthly, but after this past work day (last saturday) we are going to start attending every month.

The work days are pretty straight forward. We (our group and the other clubs that have adopted trails) meet at the Hunt Camp around 9am with the Forest Service and we go over what work is going to be done. Just about every trail day you can guarantee the work list will include trail clean up, putting trail diamond/markers up, and cleaning out silt traps etc. Some trail work days heavier work including putting up guard rail to block illegal bypasses, fixing fence, and other bigger projects are tackled.

The Forest Service has a limited supply of tools, so we do bring as many tools/supplies as we can. Also when you sign in at the Hunt Camp you will be given a free trail pass to cover your riding for the day. This past work day Shawn worked with Terry (HotdogGuy) to get some other nice little incentives besides the free trail pass the FS provides. We had free hotdogs, and free NC4X4 stickers for the volunteers that worked. Now it will probably/may be different the next work day, but we are working on getting little incentives/rewards worked out for future work days also.

Beyond the monthly work days the idea of individual work days has been brought up. We will be working to setting up a system where people could stop by, sign in and work on the trails any day they have free. Say you have a day off work and want to hit the trails, you could sign in and get supplies to possibly put up trail markers etc. I found out this will be a bit tricky to organize because for certain types of work there has to be Forest Service supervision. So it will be a process working with the Forest Service to see what all we can work out.

Beyond the work days as mentioned we are going to work with the Forest Service to accept donations among a list of other things. The money will go to help match the Forest Services applied funding and in general to pay for contracted trail work, equipment, just to name a few.

Every little bit helps, and our goal is to make it as easy/fool proof as possible for people to get involved in this. Cris (Chris?) the owner of the Outpost had a great idea that I had also been bouncing around in my head and it makes a lot of sense. The idea consists of having an actual Trail Work Group set up here through NC4X4. A simple name that came to mind was the "Uwharrie Trail Crew".

It would be a very simple set up, where you sign up to be apart of the group/volunteers, and commit to making say at least 2 or 3 work days a year. In turn for signing up you gain access to the little incentives/rewards we work out for the volunteers. Was thinking if possible we could do a private forum for the "Uwharrie Trail Crew" similar to what the clubs have on here. And in there we could cover some of the in depth information the Forest Service provides that may not be exactly public/common knowledge (specifics on future trails, trail re-routes etc).

The sky is the limit really. There should be some more details released here by the moderator/admin team soon. (As Mike mentioned in another thread) :beer:
 
Eli or moderator or someone in charge, i think it would be a brilliant idea to make a new index area on the nc 4x4 page in the events category....like a whole new subject called "volunteering" or "work days" something like that...i am not to creative but i thkn that needs to happen

so there will be "upcoming events"(existing), "past events"Existing), and "volunteer dates"(new subject)

for example the thread for this last weekend's work day was posted in general chit chat and upcoming events.

we need just one page for volunteering info so it will be easier to update, take count, and to keep up with

just my though:bounce2:
 
oh btw, i havent missed a single workday at ure since i have joined nc4x4 and i am only 17

i went to all of the work days because i thought i was gana meet a ton of people from the board. so far i have only met about 9 or 10 members from the board.

i know we can do better than that
 
oleblue said:
Eli or moderator or someone in charge, i think it would be a brilliant idea to make a new index area on the nc 4x4 page in the events category....like a whole new subject called "volunteering" or "work days" something like that...i am not to creative but i thkn that needs to happen
so there will be "upcoming events"(existing), "past events"Existing), and "volunteer dates"(new subject)
for example the thread for this last weekend's work day was posted in general chit chat and upcoming events.
we need just one page for volunteering info so it will be easier to update, take count, and to keep up with
just my though:bounce2:
Click to expand...

Shawn and Mike have some ideas along the lines of what your thinking, but I am waiting on them to post something official. Mike posted in another thread that there would be an official announcement soon.

And yes we can do a lot better as far as attendance goes. A big hurdle we have to cross is raising awareness about these work days, and the impact we can have on the future of the OHV Trail System. Its obvious the closure of Tellico has sparked the interest in the greater involvement in keeping our trails open. But there are a lot of people that are still lackadaisical at best about getting involved.

There are a lot of ideas floating around between myself and others on here (Mike, Terry, Cris, John, and others) so we have the creativity side down. As the ball gets rolling we will be putting more and more of these ideas to fruition. It is just a matter of how many people get on board with it. The idea of helping keep the trails open in itself should be a big factor in getting people involved, but we also have the incentives/rewards to give an extra push to motivate more people to participate.

There are some big plans in the future for the OHV system, and its up to us how much of apart we play in it. :beer:
 
oleblue said:
oh btw, i havent missed a single workday at ure since i have joined nc4x4 and i am only 17
i went to all of the work days because i thought i was gana meet a ton of people from the board. so far i have only met about 9 or 10 members from the board.
i know we can do better than that
Click to expand...

Nick I love your enthusiasm! Keep up the great work dude! I'll see you at the next work day. I sooooooooo would have rather been there than at a wedding!!
 
Beyond the monthly work days the idea of individual work days has been brought up. We will be working to setting up a system where people could stop by, sign in and work on the trails any day they have free. Say you have a day off work and want to hit the trails, you could sign in and get supplies to possibly put up trail markers etc. I found out this will be a bit tricky to organize because for certain types of work there has to be Forest Service supervision. So it will be a process working with the Forest Service to see what all we can work out.
Click to expand...

Really like this idea. Haven't been able to make it to a volunteer day yet but always pick up what I can. It would be nice to have somewhere to log that type of stuff so the FS can have record of it.
 
It is logged and acounted for every time there's a workday, Oleblue......I thank you personaly for your dedication! I'll say this, it was good to set down and toss some Ideas around after the work was done. Much better than faceless print on a screen! I'd like to stay involved as long as it works out for the good of the volenteers and the trails. I'm there to help rather than just make a dollar!
 
Some (well everyone that is reading this) will have noticed we have our new section re-guarding trail work days and other Uwharrie information. This is just the first step in many things to come, and it isn't even completely set up yet.

The biggest project I would like to see move forward is the "Uwharrie Trail Crew" idea. I have to give credit to Cris (outpost owner) for this idea, he got the ball bouncing around in my head by mentioning it at our last work day. I have a separate thread up for people to post ideas/comments etc on so please make good use of it.

Beyond the UTC project one of the biggest hurdles we face is setting up the "Individual Work Days". We have to keep in mind that the Forest Service has to supervise a lot of the more heavier work, so we will have to within the boundaries that the Forest Service sets up for us. Right now the beginning focus will be on trash pick up, silt trap cleaning, and posting up trail markers/diamonds. From there we will be working with the Forest Service to find what other smaller projects that can be added to the IWD list.

Speaking of a list this will a critical part of the entire operation. We will be working on assembling a list that contains all the small projects that extend outside of routine trash clean up, silt trap cleaning, and trail marking/diamonds. This will go hand in hand with the sign in sheet that will be set up also. Right now Janet Becker at Arrowhead is the contact for groups that cannot make the regular monthly work days. They go to her, sign in, and she gives them trail passes/supplies etc. I am going to talk with her about helping us with the IDW project, so she would be a reliable point for people to go to.

And beyond all this Mike (Yager) brought up a great idea during the last work day. We have trail clean up days, but it seems the Forest Service Roads are being neglected. Something we will be looking at is also working with the Forest Service on cleaning up the Forest Service roads that serve are our "trail connectors" at Uwharrie. We may also be able to work out road work/repairs as many of you may notice the pot holes and other issues with the roads that develop over the year.

And this is just scratching the surface. We are only limited by the amount of time and effort we choose to put into the OHV Trail system. :beer:
 
I was just reading this I think this is an excellent idea. Defiantly let me know where I can sign up to volunteer. And I believe I can get several members from my club to also join.
 
I think this is awesome!!! I will run this across at our next meeting and see when we can make it up there...Will keep you posted....We are all about this kinda thing...
 
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