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Show Page 20 The Ogden Valley News Volume I, Issue IX June 1999 FOREST (cont.) from page 19 · Day Lodge and Base Facilities: Work is expected to be initiated on the new day lodge, maintenance facilities, and completion of the lower parking lot. Forest Service resource specialists and administrators will be on-sight monitoring the construction activities, and ensuring that adequate mitigation measures are implemented to protect water quality, sensitive wildlife habitat, sensitive plant species, soils, and scenic quality. Due to construction activities at Snowbasin Ski Area and the new Connector Road, access restrictions to the Lower Parking Lot, Maples Campground, and the Upper Parking Lot will again be in place this summer. The Forest Service is very concerned with the safety of our Forest users. Efforts will be made to minimize closure areas. The closures will include portions of the lower parking lot, access road to Maples Campground, and portions of the Upper parking lot and State Highway 226. The Maples Campground will remain closed to overnight use and vehicular traffic. The Wheeler Creek Trail and Art Nord Trailhead will continue to be open and will provide day-use hike, ride, or bike access to Maples Campground. The portion of the Great Western Trail from the Upper Parking Lot over the top to Beus Trailhead will remain open. However, due to heavy construction traffic on all mountain access roads and trails, visitors are asked to use extreme caution. The closures may need to be modified based on construction timing and location. Those exempted from the closure are persons with a contract or permit, any authorized Federal, State or local officers, or firefighters in performance of official duty, and individuals authorized and accompanied by a Forest service official. Work on the Snowbasin Land Exchange continues. Negotiations on offered lands package and appraisals are on going. Projected completion date is this summer/fall. User Ethics The National Forests are public lands in joint ownership of all citizens. In order to protect these lands for the use and enjoyment of all users, we ask that Forest visitors adhere to the principles of Leave No Trace and Tread Lightly. Please become familiar with local laws, regulations, and restrictions. Obtain Forest Visitor Maps and local Travel Maps. Maps can be obtained at the Forest Service Visitor Information Office at Union Station. We all have a responsibility to protect the environment Leave No Trace Land Ethic The Leave No Trace ethic is one of coexistence with our natural environment and nurturing the land. Many recognize that remaining wildlands are fragile and finite and a continuing decline in their quality will bring about a decline in the quality of human life. As the word ethic implies, it is not a set of rules. It’s a way of thinking, an attitude. Here are some tips you can use to assure your outdoor experience is safe for you and the environment: Planning and Packing • To reduce the amount of trash, plan your menus and consolidate your food in reusable containers or plastic bags. • Use lightweight equipment that blends with the environment. • Select less popular areas or confine your use to areas that have been previously impacted. On the Trail • Stay on designated trails; don’t cut switchbacks and do not create new trails. • Travel with small groups. • Tell friends where you plan to be, • Be courteous; yield to others. Share the trail. The Picnic/Campsite • Choose a hidden campsite 200 feet or more off the trails, lakes and streams. • Picnic along side the trail and stay 200 feet from lakes and streams. • Do not ditch around tents or cut live vegetation. • Do all washing away from water sources. Sanitation • Use restroom facilities, where available. • Dig cat holes 200 feet or more from campsites, trails, streams, and roads. • Pack-out or bury all toilet paper. Campfires • Use provided fire rings or BBQ grates in developed areas. • Use a lightweight stove rather than building a fire in undeveloped areas. • Check on local fire restrictions (no fires around Pineview Reservoir and no fires along the Ogden Front, within ½ mile of Ogden City limits). • Use existing fire circles; burn only small sticks and logs to assure complete combustion. • Naturalize fire rings (remove and spread rocks and charred wood). Horses • Stay off of soft, wet trails readily rutted (particularly in the spring). • Keep stock 200 feet or more from lakeshores and streams. • Use only certified weed free hay or pellets. • Scatter manure and remove excess feed before leaving. • Clean up manure at the Trailheads. • Use hitchlines with tree straps, electric corrals, hobbles, and pickets to secure stock. Do not tie to trees for more than 1 hour. Preparing to Leave • If you packed it in, please pack it out! • Use garbage cans/dumpsters, where provided. • Never bury garbage; animals will only dig it up. • Remove unburned garbage from your fire; foil and glass will not burn or deteriorate. Pack it home. • Leave your campsite/picnic site as clean or cleaner than you found it. Tread Lightly Unauthorized off-highway vehicle use (OHV), including dirt bikes, four wheelers, and four wheel drive vehicles, continues to be a law enforcement and resource protection challenge on the Ogden Ranger District. Illegal users create noise pollution, strip vegetation from hillsides, increase erosion, and harass wildlife and domestic livestock. Gates, signs, fences, and private property are vandalized and aesthetic value of these areas is reduced. Unfortunately, the resource abuses and illegal activities of a few irresponsible users can result in greater restrictions for all users. We ask that all Forest visitors act responsibly and adhere to the principles of Tread Lightly. • Obtain a Travel Map from the Forest Service. Know where you are, learn the rules, and follow them. • Stay on designated routes (roads and trails). Off road/trail use by OHVs - four wheelers, dirt bikes, and four wheel drives are strictly prohibited on the Ogden Ranger District. • Avoid running over young trees, shrubs, and grasses — damaging or killing them. • Stay off of soft, wet roads and trails readily torn up by vehicles (particularly in the spring and during hunting season). Repairing the damage is expensive. • Resist the urge to pioneer a new road or trail, or to cut across a switchback. Do not cut trees to open up a new trail or road. • Stay off of meadows, steep hillsides, streambanks and lakeshores. • Obey gate closures and regulatory signing signs. Vandalism costs tax dollars. • Get permission to travel across private land. Respect landowner rights. • Utah State law and federal Highway Safety Act prohibits operation of unlicensed non-street legal vehicles and unlicensed operators on public and National Forest roads, unless the road is shown to be open for such use. Carefully regard signing and Forest travel Map. • Stay out of designated Wilderness. They are closed to all motorized vehicles and mechanical transport (bikes). Know where the boundaries are. This summer the Ogden Ranger District will be rehabilitating and restoring the hillsides and meadows along the Avon – Liberty Road (Public Grove area). This area receives significant resource damage each year from unauthorized and illegal off road OHV use. Spring sources have been damaged, water quality has been degraded, property has been damaged, and livestock and wildlife have been harassed. Fences will be constructed to further restrict OHV use and protect the revegetation efforts. Further restrictions to OHV use may be implemented. We ask all users to respect the closures and rehabilitation efforts. |
