FoOTNotes - Vol. 2 / No 2 (Feb 2005)

FoOT Volunteers and Supporters,
The concept of FoOT has definitely taken hold. So much has been happening lately that it is difficult to keep up. I want to keep everyone up to date, as best my memory permits. First things first:

• Trail status: When Kris, EJ, and John completed their through-hike in November, Kris reported 26 miles of "Red" condition and 92 miles of "Yellow" condition. We have recorded over 400 man-hours of effort since then, and today, the Red mileage has been cut in half and the Yellow reduced to 83. This leaves over 125 miles that are in great shape. We have a couple of work parties coming up soon to further reduce the rest of the Red sections. All of us need to get out and hit our sections this spring before the warm weather starts the annual growth pattern all over again.
• Upcoming work parties:
  • Mar 5 & 6: Oklahoma (Section 2) with Green Country Sierra Club of Tulsa and Green Country Outdoor Club of Tulsa. This party will involve chain saw work, weed-eating, lopping, etc. Free camping at Cedar Lake; good camaraderie and eats around the campfire.
  • Mar 12: East end (Sections 9 & 10), outside the National Forest, in the section of trail under the management of Pinnacle Mountain State Park. This will be a large work party, doing some major clean-up. There will be a little bit of everything - chain saw, weed-eaters, tread repair, and lots of lopping.
• Other Events: FoOT can have fun, too.
  First ever "FoOT Bowl". This will be a fun event and a fund raiser. The idea is to bring together three user groups - bikers, hikers, and runners - sharing the trail near Big Brushy Campground, for a day of enjoyment followed by a BBQ. Each group will do a 2 to 3 hour loop and then come together for BBQ after. Loops in this area can be setup so the groups don't interfere with each other. A small event fee will cover the price of the BBQ, plus a donation to FoOT. The date is tentatively set for Sunday, April 17, pending USFS approval, but pencil it in and start planning now to have a fun day and help FoOT (without picking up a tool !)
• Meeting w/ USFS: Our second annual planning meeting with the Ouachita National Forest (ONF) was February 8 in Hot Springs. The forest office and most of the districts were represented. Your FoOT Board was impressed with the reception we got from the forest service and the obvious partnership that has developed with them. Some of the forest staff admitted initial skepticism about FoOT, but they now believe that we are a "real" and viable organization. The meeting addressed the condition of the trail and several mutual issues, and was highlighted by the USFS announcing yet another award representing their partnership with FoOT. The Southern Regional Forest has awarded the Ouachita National Forest their Forester's Excellence Award for Partnering, based on their work with Friends of the Ouachita Trail. The USFS also made a donation to FoOT in the form of several new tools - Pulaskis, fire rakes, and trenching tools.
  Specific issues addressed included:
  • Corridor Protection: This issue was raised by FoOT. The Forest office agreed that corridor protection, specifically as it relates to controlled burns, was not being managed consistently across the ONF. They are setting up a team to include the forest office, each of the districts, the "fire team" and FoOT to make recommendations on how to improve the situation.
  • Herbicides: FoOT recommended that ONF use herbicides in selected areas of the trail to control briars and fast growing annuals. ONF has started work on an environmental assessment to use herbicides, and believes that FoOT's recommendation will be important during the approval process.
  • Mile Markers: The ONF does not plan to replace the permanent metal mile markers that are missing. They are replacing them instead with a carsonite marker, mounted on trees, with the mile number displayed. These will not be as permanent, but they have little "souvenir value" so are less likely to be stolen. They are also relatively easy and inexpensive to replace when they are missing. They will also be a lot easier to see. FoOT recommended that no attempt be made to re-number the miles to have accurate mileages, after years of re-routing, but to maintain the current mile markers as fixed reference points.
  • Nancy Mountain Shelter: Most of you are aware that Nancy Mountain Shelter, in section 9 of the trail, east of Lake Sylvia, was completely destroyed by arson. The ONF has no funding or plans to replace the shelter. When FoOT mentioned that we had received numerous messages from people offering to contribute time, materials, or labor to replace it, ONF said they would be delighted if we could replace the shelter. They would want a shelter similar to the one destroyed, and would want to be a party to the planning and construction, but otherwise gave us a green light. See the additional information below in the "Projects" section of this newsletter.
• Membership / adoption status: Membership has continued to grow after the great publicity we received in January. We now have over 110 individuals on our roster, plus 13 clubs/organizations. The entire trail is now adopted. Please do not let this discourage you from encouraging new volunteers, however. This is a very dynamic process and we always need new volunteers. Some pieces can be re-arranged; some people are willing to "share". Our web page has a list of sections that might be available. www.friendsOT.org
• Volunteer Resources:
  • FoOT Maintenance Guide: Our guide has been redone and will be distributed in the next couple of days. It is a much better product than the one hurriedly put together a year ago. Everyone on the mailing list will receive a copy.
  • Tools: I already mentioned the new tools. We also have several weed-eaters, hard hats, loppers, and other tools available to our volunteers. Contact Billy McMillen (501 922-4994) to gain access to the tools. You can also request tools from your District Ranger office, although they can not guarantee availability.
  • Web site: www.friendsOT.org Our web site is slowly growing in utility. You can now obtain FoOT work report forms on the web site. You may print the form directly from the web site, cut-and-paste it into an e-mail, or save it as a file for future use on your computer. A schedule of upcoming work parties and the contact points will also be kept on the web site. As mentioned previously, a web page will identify sections of trail which might be available for adoption, if you know a new recruit, or if you want to swap sections yourself.
• Legal progress: FoOT has passed several major milestones in the past month toward giving the organization permanent life and ultimately achieving non-profit status with the IRS. February 8, Friends of the Ouachita Trail was recognized and recorded by the State of Arkansas as a non-profit corporation. At the same time we registered use of the name FoOT. We have been issued a Federal Taxpayer ID, which allowed us to open a no-service-fee bank account. We are now working on the application for 501c status with the IRS. This will take a little longer.
  This stuff is the least enjoyable part of creating a new organization, but it is terribly important and in the long run benefits each of us as well as the organization and the Ouachita Trail.
• Funds: The Board has taken a look at expenses and estimated that our administrative expenses will run between $1500 and $2000 this year. We have less than half of that on hand at the current time, so we will be emphasizing fund raising. The operational web site will help a lot by giving us broader visibility. The first specific fund-raiser will be the "FoOT Bowl" in April. If we could get a hundred people to participate at $10 each, we would be done. If you know of anyone who shares our objectives, but can't work on the trails, let them know that they can be a FoOT member by contributing at least $25. In late May, we will be looking at the situation and deciding if additional fund raisers are necessary. Remember that our by-laws specifically state that no trail volunteer will be required to contribute money for the privilege of working on the trail. Your time and effort are your membership dues. We are considering, however, a category of membership that includes both volunteer effort and a cash contribution which would have additional privileges (yet to be determined).
  Martha Doty and her "Committee for Resources" is looking at funding grants that might be available to pay for trail work itself and a few major projects. Anyone with experience in grant writing would be welcome. Contact Martha at mpdoty@aol.com . She could also use ideas for projects that would be suitable for grant money.
• Projects:
  • Nancy Mountain Shelter: Now that the ONF has called our bluff on the Nancy Mountain Shelter, we need to perform. If FoOT can successfully replace this shelter, it not only will help the trail and trail users, it will also significantly enhance our credibility as an organization. The shelter destroyed, however, cost $ 8000, so this is no slam dunk project, regardless of the initial enthusiasm. We are looking for someone to take charge as a "Project Manager". Ideally this will be some one with easy access to the Jessieville district office, as they will work closely with that office. In the meantime, we will determine how much support is really available and how much we can get in contributions of material from building suppliers or corporations. When a formal plan is ready, we will go back to the forest office to get the final go-ahead. We have the first $50 in the "Nancy Mountain Shelter Fund" already in the bank. Cash, materials, or volunteer time for construction will all be needed. Any one wishing to help, please contact us at friends_OT2003@yahoo.com.
  • Americorp Team: FoOT has applied for an Americorp team in January 2006. The team will be here for six weeks beginning in early January. FoOT will have them for 2 or 3 days per week, sharing this team with Lake Ouachita State Park, near Hot Springs. We will need people to take them out and supervise all-day projects during this six week period. Kris McMillen, our VP of Maintenance, is compiling the project work list, which of course will change over time. At this point, the concept is that the team will mainly be doing tread work, but general maintenance and blazing are also candidates. Right now Kris needs two things - specific recommendations for projects the team can do while here and volunteers to be work supervisors. For additional information, or if you think you can help, contact Kris at bamkm@sbcglobal.net.