[Worldwide] Success Stories - Keeping Trails Open, Clean Ups, etc!

[Road]

We're looking for stories of people and groups who have made a positive impact with their efforts to keep trails open, keep public lands clean, and helping others change their minds about low-impact land use and responsible recreation.

Please post your own stories below, as well as what you know about what others have done.

Thank you!

 

[uss]

With permission I would send these to the Sharetrails magazine to be published and even shared on the Sharetrails socials.

Todd

 

[uss]

This is from the work to keep the Rubicon trail open for everyone.
@Del Albright can provide even more info on this.

Friends of the Rubicon was formed to save the Rubicon when the county wanted to install a gate.
Potentially having the ability to close the trail on a whim if they wanted.
Rubicon Trail is technically a registered county road.

Friends of the Rubicon was formed and people from many organizations, clubs and individuals worked side by side to save the trail, eliminate high profile resource damaged areas and help the surrounding environment all in the name of keeping the trail open.
I have lead, helped and oversaw a few work parties on the trail over the years.
After a while they formed the Rubicon Trail Foundation as a 501.c.3 so they could collect donations, funds and other material things to help preserve the trail.

Some of the same people involved here have also helped form other Friends groups to preserve trail access in other areas.
It is a proven method that has worked.

Within this group and the others, they usually have a "Trail Boss" that is assigned to coordinate things, but no true formalized leadership hierarchy exists.

 

[uss]

The club I was a member of in Cali, every summer helped with a group that took special needs folks to the mountains for a fun filled camping weekend.
Most of the folks would ride in the Jeeps up the mountain and the trail into the camp spot.
The campground was on the start of the Ducy Ershim trail in the Sierra National Forest.
We would pick everyone up on Sat morning, head up the hill. Some of us would have a trailer to help haul wheel chairs and other stuff.
Another group would go up on Friday and work on setting up tents and sleeping pads and stuff for the folks.
We would meet at the trail head where we would get a bag lunch and then head in the trail to the camp area.
Once at the camp area, we would off-load our charges and we would setup our tents and stuff.
After everyone was settled, we would head over to the main camp area to see who wanted to go up on the trail and climb Chicken Rock on the start of the Ducy Ershim trail.
The views from the top are amazing. See the attached photos.
The folks that would attend would have a smile their entire weekend.
Usually, most of them had never been out camping or off-roading at all.
On Sunday, we would break down our camp, and head over to main camp to pick up our charges again, and load them and their personal stuff back up.
Head on out of the trail and then head down the mountain.
When we returned them to their families, they usually had tears in their eyes from all the fun they had on the mountain.
The Thank You's and Hugs are amazing from an adventure like this.

Helping others while asking for nothing in return.

Todd

 

[Jeff Knoll]

In 2006 I issued a challenge to the Off-Road Community after reading an article about an environmental activist who was cleaning up the mess left by 4 wheelers during the annual Red Rock 4 wheelers Moab Jeep Safari. While not a sanctioned event during Safari, the popular Potato Salad hill climb became a mecca for spring break college revelers visiting Moab during the iconic Jeepers event. The Challenge was simple; Give up one hour, one morning and clean up the area, before the environmentalists could. What started as a way to marginalize the negative press, turned into a massive collaboration of both environmentalists, and 4 wheelers working hand in hand to keep Moab beautiful. In the end, green activist Sara Melancoft had her perception of offroaders shattered, and she quickly became an activist for multiple uses of the area surrounding Moab.



Today Rocky Mountain Extreme carries the torch and raises money every year to keep this idea going. Every year raising $2000.00 to pay for trash cans and porta potties.

http://www.rme4x4.com/PSHcleanup.php



In 2006 my 12-year-old daughter Katrina walked the shoreline of the creek that flows through the area and asked why people would break glass all over such a pretty place, today after years of dedication the shoreline no longer glistens from broken glass but has been returned to its natural state. What seemed like an impossible task, was made easy by many people working together.

Follow this link to see how it all started.



While my family does not visit Moab as much as we used to, we are still very proud that our simple idea continues to give a little bit back to Moab.

 

[kappels]

Every fall in and around the Chattanooga, TN and surrounding areas there is one Saturday dedicated to Tennessee River clean up. There are anywhere from 8–10 different locations from varying points on the river, and a utility trash truck is provided. Individuals are encouraged to clean up all trash on the shorelines, as well as bring their boats/kayaks/canoes and paddle out to retrieve plastic and other debris floating in the water. The Tennessee River is a gorgeous river, but sadly, infested with a lot of trash. This is a great community wide effort.

http://tennesseeriverrescue.org


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk