26 April 2008
Trail Restoration
Posted by kris under: Tips & Tricks .
One of the most important things about enjoying the outdoors is to make sure that we don’t destroy the very thing that we are trying to enjoy. Part of this has to do with trail restoration and maintenance.
Growing up in the mountains, we actually did a few projects in junior high to help restore some paths that had been cause by erosion from a road up the hill as well as people cutting trough. We went outside and moved some branches and rocks through to path and along the edge to discourage people from using it any more. As a group we planted some seeds to help grow some of the plant growth back and help stop the erosion. We also did some work around the road to help with runoff so that it would not continue causing erosion. I think doing these kinds of things is what living in Colorado is all about.
Recently my company sponsored a trip to the Garden of the Gods Park to help restore areas around the trails. Here they did some replanting and added netting to help with erosion. This was done in conjunction with other similar activities as we did in junior high to help stop the erosion. It is nice to be working for a company that does care so much about the environment that we work in (Garden of the Gods is less then 5 minutes from my work). You even have organization like the National Trails Training Partnership, which have training courses on how to restore unused trails as well as fixing used ones. Part of this same organization they have the Colorado Outdoor Training Initiative (COTI) which can help Colorado locally.
So, I would encourage anyone that enjoys hiking, whether you live in Colorado or some other state or country, to look into this kind of opportunity to make their trail areas better. This way we can continue to enjoy getting outside and doing the things we love for decades to come.
