[morc] Stony River Project

[Hans Erdman]

At the request of Northern MN IMBA Rep Kurt Lange, I spent a good deal of time this morning on the phone with the US Forest Service folks in Ely (Superior National Forest-Kawishiwi Ranger District) and the new owner of The Bike Shop in Ely. This comes on the heels of having spent the weekend up there doing GPS-ing in the Nickle Lake area.



What we were discussing was what I will call for now, the "Stony River Project." The Forest Service has identified an area of roughly 300 square miles between Isabella and Babbit as being potential mountain biking terrain. They are looking for new trail building, existing trail mapping and trail development proposals for mountain biking and equestrian use in this area. Currently there are 8 dispersed, backcountry campsites inside the project boundaries, and MacDougal Lake and South Kawishiwi USFS campgrounds are immediately south and north of the area. There is an "window of opportunity" here to greatly shorten the amount of time required to formally approve a trail, but we have to get these proposals on paper and in the hands of the Forest Service as soon as possible. (We originally thought the deadline was tomorrow, but that has been relaxed a bit. We have about a month to get the act together.)



The folks from The Bike Shop are trying to get local riders together to help. I am posting this to the MORC forum and list, and sending it to COGGS, as well as the MTB folks on the North Shore. We need people who have been through IMBA's Trail Building School and know how to survey and set up a new trail, who are willing to spend the time riding the forest roads and trails in the area to come up with a plan we can submit to the USFS. Obviously, the Backcountry Trail Patrol is going to dive into this project, because this is what we were made for. We need your help. If you can commit to working on this project, please get ahold of me ASAP by e-mail.



This is our chance to be part of a new, major trail system from the ground up. Let's hit the ground rolling, and see what "Superior" riding await us!



Ride safe,

Hans Erdman, WEMT
NMBP Regional Representative, MN, WI, ND & SD
Patrol Director/Sr. Instructor
Backcountry Trail Patrol Association
Robbinsdale, MN
www.trailpatrol.org



"Explore on two wheels."-Adventure Cycling Association

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