Legacy Trails Program Awardee

Hauf Lake and One Horse Lakes Trails

Hauf Lake and One Horse Lake trails have not been fully maintained or improved in over 10 to 20 years. These projects will conduct deferred maintenance that will remove downed trees, restore trail tread, repair water bars, brush the trail corridor, and eliminate social trails. The deteriorated condition of these trails exacerbates erosion and creates public safety hazards and route-finding risks. The anticipated outcomes will be reduced erosion and sedimentation in pristine wilderness trout streams, improve trail sustainability, safety, and resiliency to flooding.

Applicant: Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Project Location: West Fork Bitterroot Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest and Payette, Salmon-Challis and Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest, Idaho
Amount Awarded: $8,341.00

Partners:

The work will be planned in coordination with the USFS, Bitterroot National Forest, West Fork Ranger District (BNF WFRD). The SBFC Volunteer Manager has coordinated with Mark Smith, trail manager at BNF WFRD, to identify the priority projects described below. Calendar details and implementation logistics will be coordinated in 2023.

On-the-ground work will be carried out by individual and group volunteers led by the SBFC Lead Wilderness Steward, an experienced wilderness leader. The SBFC VM recruits volunteers, ages 20 to retirees, from Montana and across the nation. Volunteers are placed on projects compatible with their physical ability and time constraints. All SBFC leadership and Fellows have Wilderness First Responder and primitive tools training certifications. Each work day starts with safety training and safety monitoring is continuous. Training for volunteers includes the use of primitive tools and USFS trail maintenance standards as well as practical lessons in Leave No Trace camping, backcountry safety, proper food storage and behavior in bear country.

Catrock Ventures will partner to accomplish one of the two projects. These youth come from underserved communities in the Bronx, NY. CatRock provides transformative outdoor experiences, community service-learning opportunities, and academic support to help young people become socially responsible change makers. Their participation on this SBFC/USFS partner project is a transformative experience that teaches self-confidence, team work, and instills an appreciation of the importance of caring for the ecosystem and Wilderness.

2023 Timeline:

January: Meet with USFS partners.

Feb – May: SBFC Volunteer Manager builds project calendar, writes project plans, recruits and communicates with volunteers and partner groups.

June – August: SBFC Wilderness Leader implements project, communicates with USFS, provides on-the-ground volunteer leadership, supervises trail work, and records project accomplishments.

Outcomes:

SBFC will plan and lead two, 7 to 8 day projects that will repair trail on two trails within the BNF that have not received maintenance in 10 to 20 years. Trail work includes repair of erosion control structures, removal of social trails, reestablishment of trail tread, brushing the trail corridor. Accomplishments (metrics), recorded daily, measure the length of tread repaired, yards of trail brushed, number of water bars replaced or repaired, number of downed trees cut out of the trail.

The outcome of these projects will be to remove 4.3 miles of deferred maintenance on BNF trails, improve access to the S-B Wilderness, improve trail safety, and to eliminate badly eroding trail and social trails in order to protect stream habitat in pristine wilderness trout streams and lakes.