Trails are not closing.

[WR_Dave]

Our group got the complimentary lights and registration check from the ranger at Bar C yesterday and here is what he had to say about closing trails. He said that they(rangers) are GPSing trails and cutlines with quads and are trying to get some skilled motorcycle riding rangers to GPS the single track. They are doing this to determine which trails, cutlines ect. are " a 1 foot deep rut or a 10 foot rut" and they will make their closure decisions on this info. He said that we could GPS trails and submit the info(he didn't know where) and the SRD would check them out and make a decision on them. He also said the the "Trail Closures" will go like this, 4x4 traffic will have to stay on designated road type trails(big cutlines ,forestry roads etc), quad traffic will get to ride the 4x4 stuff plus 2 track and cutlines and that motorcycles will get to ride on all of the above plus the single track that we are trying to protect. He told us that there will be "some" trails closed but that the closures are more of an effort to keep the different types of vehicles from using areas that they don't belong in(quads on single track,4x4's on small cutlines).Our trails will be marked motorcycle only and anyone caught on there with a quad or 4x4 will be fined.He also stated that alot of this TRAIL CLOSURE talk was being misrepresented and blown out of proportion by some of the quad and 4x4 groups because they have the most to lose. If this is true then we as dirt bike riders may have won some sort of a victory here. Maybe Darryl knows where GPS info can be submitted and get that info on the board or have a place to submit GPS trails to on this website so it can be presented as an organized group effort. I hope what the ranger said is true and that this clears up some confusion. Remember this info was from the fish and wildlife ranger, I am just reporting what I was told. WR Dave.

[dirtyboy]

RMDRA has sent some GIS data to SRD. I am working on more right now that will be sent this week. They want the GPS data pretty exact (for example a track point every 10 meters). There is a bunch of requirements that they have.

If you have a Garmin GPSMAP unit and want to do some mapping I'd be interesting to work with you and get it to the SRD. Whether they will actually use it is a question that I can not answer.

[thumper-darryl]

No confusion on massive closurs. The GAMP draft put foreword to stake-holdes April this year had aprox. 30 km of single track. There are an estimated 1200km of single track used by the biking community at present. This is a HUGE reduction in my books. Yes we will have access to designated truck & quad trails. Part of the problem was that SRD had not done a recent trail inventory, so are now frantically trying to do so. RMDRA has already started a trail inventory of single track, but have only done a small percentage of what is out there. GAMP motorcycle reps completed a "lines on a map" inventory for SRD a year or so back, but it appears this was pretty much ignored in the draft plan. Some of the Gov. trails built by SRD to their own standards did not even make it on to the draft plan. Local SRD is talking about getting a couple of bikes for their people to use for gathering info, but as any experienced bike person knows there is no way that will work. You need experienced riders to cover the single track system, not a rooky. With all the flood damage many of the quad/truck trails are not passible by quad at this time, so the reality is that the only way to get proper coverage of the trail system is by experienced people on bikes. There is no sence in everybody running out and GPSing trails. This project has to be co-ordinated, as RMDRA has started. This project may move foreword again, or not, right now we do not know.

[WR_Dave]

Remember this info was from the fish and wildlife ranger, I am just reporting what I was told. WR Dave

[DirtGirl]

Has anyone heard anything new on the GAMP??

[rooster]

According to the post at the top the Fish and Wildlife Ranger said a "10 FOOT" rut is not acceptable but a " 1 FOOT" is??? We can only hope that some sort of baseline or benchmark they may be using for what goes and what is ok can be counted on. I doubt that is the case based on the lack of guidelines they seem to be using or sharing with anyone. I personally won"t believe anything I hear until I see it in writing!!!

[Brent]

Its not the government, SRD or rangers we need to worry about. Its the huge multi million dollar dirt bike, quad, truck haters (environmentalists). Now don't get me wrong, environmental concerns are important, but it's the activists from the states, may have never even been to alberta, that just want closures period. They have full time educated employees, lawyers, agendas and millions of dollars and supporters (this is all very depressing to me) and they just want areas shut....Y2Y(yukon 2 yellowstone).
RMDRA is very important, we have just started to learn what is really going on out there. We have our own knowledgable, educated members who are doing what they can-extra cericular. For now we are dealing with the government, actually working together, which is great, GPSing trails and giving our own recognized opinions at stake holder meetings.
RMDRA is only 11 months old and have made huge impacts locally already, every member that joins and all of our collective efforts is what is going to save our trails or even our racing circuit. Imagine what we will look like in a couple of years.
I find the RMDRA meetings to be informative and everybody that shows up, shows support and adds motivation, this is very important, so come check it out. I think our next meeting is in october some time, it will be posted on the web site.