May to Mid-June ORV Newsletter
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Talk to any one of our 39 Jeep Trail Volunteers about this year’
s Memorial Day Weekend (and the week preceding it) and you’
re likely to get a four letter word hurled toward you – “RAIN”!
While most Central Washington locals were contemplating
building a U.S.S. Ark II, and visitors were heading back west to
drier climates, our volunteers were out playing in the mud (and
that was just in the campground!). The trails themselves were
fairly unwheelable due to the rain and mud.
Except for the higher elevation portions of a few trails, the
Liberty trails were snow free. Williams Creek Campground
was packed. Volunteer patrols were busy educating and
politely redirecting misguided wheelers, ATVers, and
motorcyclists.
The second busiest area on our District was the Manastash.
Campgrounds were full and people were trying to get as far as
they could on the trail system before running into snow (which
wasn’t far this season!). Taneum, as always, was full (off-road
motorcyclists).
It was good to see everyone again and, while the season was
kicked off with grey skies and a lot of rain, it seemed as though
most people were just happy to be out in the forest again -
even if it was a really wet forest
Thanks to all our great volunteers for working hard and helping
to clear our trails of winter blowdown and debris! As of June
18, we have 78 volunteers, over half of which have earned NW
Forest Passes (put in over 16 hours – or two days – of trail
patrol or maintenance). In addition, we will be offering our
regular volunteers trail patrol t-shirts and riding jerseys (more
on that later).
The total hours of ORV and Mountain Bike work hours as of
June 18th breakdown as:
Off-Road Motorcyclists
456 total hours
Individual Moto Hours
Jeffrey Eckerman – 40 hours
Jeff Myhre – 32 hours
Jeep / 4x4
1,031 total hours
Club Totals
Desert Rats – 242
High Country Cruisers – 229
Hurtin’ Units – 144
Mountain Bike
32 Hours
Al Runte’ - 32 hours
Our crew will be hosting a Volunteer Fundraiser on June 24th
between 4PM and 7PM. Everyone is invited! Go wheel or ride
all day and then stop by for food and fun. Donations will be
collected for volunteer t-shirts, jerseys, and accessories.
Events include the John McHaffie Putt-Putt Golf Tournament,
the Mini-Bike Obstacle Course Slow Race, a Fly Fishing
contest, and the first ever Trail Crew Crosscut Saw contest.
Prizes will be awarded and the laughs are guaranteed. Bring
the whole family!
E-Mail for Directions.
As many of you know, the ORV crew has been trying
to find a way to buy an enclosed trailer to serve as a mobile
educational booth. The idea is to equip a trailer with everything
we need while out in the field, including maps, NW Forest
Passes, trail guides, a communication system, etc. We could
set the trailer up at different locations each week, man it with
volunteers or crew members, conduct Kids’ ORV Safety
courses, and distribute rider and wheeler information to our
users.
Polaris offered a T.R.A.I.L.S. grant program for non-profit ORV
organizations. We applied and were granted $10,000.00 for a
mobile Ranger Station. We received the news back in April,
but like everything in the government, progress is slow.
Polaris sent a check to our district (sounds simple enough,
right?), but instead of running to Ellensburg to purchase the
trailer and start utilizing it, we had to “put the check into the
system”. I know, and I agree. BUT, that’s what we had to do.
So, to be truthful, I’m not exactly certain when we will actually
get the trailer. For reasons I may never understand, we have to
fill out a bunch of forms… and just when you think you are
finished, someone somewhere sends even more forms. But, I
will keep filling them out and doing what that someone
somewhere says to do until we (the Cle Elum volunteers and
crew members) get our trailer.
In the meantime, I wanted to again thank the good people at
Polaris for dedicating money to the preservation of Off-Road
Vehicle use! I can promise everyone that the trailer will be
used to help the sport, the land, and the users for years and
years to come…I just really wish we had it for the Fourth of
July. Oh well, an awning and a chair will have to do!
I do urge our volunteers to take time out and write a quick
thank-you to the good people at Polaris!
Polaris Industries
2100 Highway 55
Medina, MN 55340
www.polarisindustries.com
August and September will be big volunteer months!
Our crew is putting in a large puncheon on the Shoestring
Jeep trail. The Wandering Willies Jeep Club will be out in full
force.
In addition, the Jolly Mountain reroute is already underway.
We will need hand crews sometime in late July or early
August to help finish the new trail. Motorcyclists! - this is a
single track, so we could use your help!
Anyone who can get away during the week and wants to get
some nail-poundin’ ORV trail work in the bank can contact
Pete Larned at the ORV Maintenance desk (509-852-1060).
This crew has a lot of fun, so try to make it out to work with
them at least once this season.
The Education and Enforcement crew needs volunteers to
patrol trails each weekend. If you need a partner to ride or
wheel with, please call a couple of days before the weekend
so we can set something up. Think about joining our crew for
the weekend proceeding the Fourth of July. We could use
extra patrols!
As you have noticed, I haven’t mentioned any “hard” dates for
the maintenance projects. John Simon, who heads the Off-
Road Vehicle Maintenance program is working hard to pin
those dates down. As soon as he has the dates, I will poste
them on the cleelumtrails.com web page, so keep checking!
In closing, if you think there is something out on the trail that
you and your buddies can fix, let us know! Brushing is
something that always needs to be done! Let me know what
tools you need and we’ll tie in with you. Oh, and take a lot of
photos for the web page!
The Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests have hosted
two of three OHV Cross Country Travel seminars which were
designed to explain to users exactly what the policy means
and when it will be implemented. The last scheduled meeting
is set for June 24th in Cashmere.
The policy actually states that, unless posted, motorized
vehicle use is prohibited. Use will be allowed only on
designated trails, and those designated trails must be on the
national OHV system. Forests, districts, and users have until
September to submit any trail for consideration that is not
already on the official trail system (so called “user-made”
trails). Districts are mandated to close all trails that do not
make it on the official map.
Many of the concerns presented by users at the Ellensburg
meeting on June 17th centered around the lack of adequate
time to submit trails for consideration and the need for more
ATV and multi-purpose roads.
I encourage everyone to voice their concerns in writing.
The idea is to provide all our regular volunteers with the gear
they need to do there job out in the field. That’s why we are
hosting a Volunteer Fundraiser! We have already ordered t-
shirts and will order long-sleeve riding jerseys immediately
after the June 24th fundraiser. In addition, your 2006 Cle Elum
Ranger District Volunteer cards have a place to attach a
lanyard, so you can wear the I.D. around your neck when you
are patrolling campgrounds or manning the ORV – Polaris
Education Trailer. Hats will be ordered if funding can be
stretched that far.
Volunteers who have gone through the Education and
Maintenance clinic will receive Volunteer I.D. cards and a
Volunteer booklet. Once you have put in two days, or 16 hours
of work, you will receive a NW Forest Pass (good for 12
months). Our regular education and maintenance patrol crew
will each receive a t-shirt or riding jersey. You will need to
wear a t-shirt if you are doing any kind of education patrol for
the Cle Elum Ranger District. We will have extra shirts
available for volunteers who are under their 32 hour threshold
but still wish to patrol.
Volunteer supplies including Smokey Bear swag, Kids’ ORV
Books, maps, etc. may be picked up at the Ranger Station or
delivered to your camp if you make arrangements prior to your
arrival (just phone or e-mail). If you don’t have anyone to ride
with, but still want to come over and patrol, let us know ahead
of time and we can arrange for you to ride or wheel with a
ranger for the day.
We rely on our volunteers. This is your land, and we
appreciate your commitment to keeping it open to ORV use by
advocating responsible use. See you on the trail.