While the rain hammered the Shotgun OHV Area leading up to the NOHVCC Great Trails Workshop on May 8-9, the weather was clear, sunny, and warm for the event itself. The workshop featured approximately 20 participants from Oregon State Parks, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, The OR Department of Forestry, Hood River County, Ptarmigan Trails, and the Emerald Trail Riders. The heavy rain leading up to the workshop made the ground a little slippery, but it also made it much easier for participants to identify areas where drainage issues existed on the trails.
OR State parks organized the workshop underneath an agreement between NOHVCC and the Department. They also brought in Scott Johnson from the US Forest Service and Jason Wells from Sasquatch Construction. These gentlemen have decades of experience designing, building, and maintaining trails across the world. Their experience and expertise were an outstanding addition to the workshop that made this training one of a kind.
The two-day workshop started off with participants riding some of the trails on the small OHV system located outside Eugene, OR. This provided ample opportunity for discussion of trail issues, identification of improper trail location, and just some good camaraderie on the trails. The second day included active participation in exercises that discussed management scenarios, developing trail management objectives (TMO), mapping, and trail layout and design. This gave the participants an opportunity to apply the concepts discussed in the course in a practical setting.
Thank you for all those who attended and to our terrific partners at Oregon State Parks for making this workshop a possibility.
