FoOTNotes Vol. 3 / No 1 (Feb 2006)
FoOT Volunteers and Supporters,2006 is off to a great start. We have had several major accomplishments and some good publicity. Publicity has included stories in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hot springs Sentinel, and Hot Springs Village Voice -- and these are just the ones I saw. Thanks to those of you who made these happen.
- Nancy Mountain Shelter Completed on January 5: On January 5, the new Nancy Mountain shelter was opened for business. Many thanks to the USFS for leading this project and to the volunteers who helped build the shelter. Special thanks to Robin Vaughn, Jessieville District, for buying the materials and obtaining the services of Mike Bean and Larry Ross to spearhead the construction. Mike Sims coordinated the FoOT volunteer effort and about a dozen of us put in a day (or more) to make this happen. I was by there last Saturday and there were already five entries in the log book - all of them very complimentary and glad to see the shelter back in business.
- AmeriCorps Team: The AmeriCorps Project 2006 has been completed. The Project results are nothing short of totally amazing. The team consisted of nine members (7 women; 2 men) all in their late teens or twenties. This was a great opportunity for FoOT, who shared the team with Lake Ouachita State Park. Under the tireless leadership of Kris McMillen, the 7 women and 2 men (accompanied by FoOT volunteers) put their youth and enthusiasm to work and accomplished several big, ugly jobs for the trail. Kris Reports:
"The Team and some Dreaded FoOT Patrol members went above and beyond. Many good things were completed on the Ouachita Trail both on the Jessieville/Winona Ranger District and Mena/Oden Ranger District. There was a lot of hard work, headaches, rain, snow, mud, cold, cross-ties!!, rocks, sunshine, scenery, moments of peacefulness, blue skies, good weather, good times, good sweat, good food, and GOOD FRIENDS.
There were a number of indispensable people involved in this project. However, I must mention two in particular that helped make it a success: Billy McMillen and Glenn Wortham. Many thanks also to the talented, dependable, hard-working Dreaded FoOT Patrol members: John Burns, Seth Buys, Martha Doty, Ed Hawkins, Todd Henne, Bo Lea, Brenda Lea, Glen McClain, Loretta Melancon, Marie Michalets, Bill Mooney, Lynn Moore, Andre Ruoti, Mike Sims, the Ouachita National Forest, the District Captains, Lake Ouachita State Park, Bobby and Donna Price, Ben Glazer, Jim Gifford, Duane and Judy Woltjen (guest workers), Susan Wortham (cook), E.J. Pangle (bookkeeper) and Lenny Melancon (tool sharpener).
As we all hike or bike and enjoy this beautiful trail you will see what was accomplished by some dedicated people.
I love this AmeriCorps Pledge and I think it sums up this project:"
AmeriCorps Pledge
I will get things done for America
To make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member and I will get things done.
- Annual Meeting with Ouachita National Forest: One of the reasons that FoOT has gotten off to such a strong start was our commitment to work with the USFS, as partners, sharing a common goal. In January of each year, we have held a meeting at the Forest Supervisor's office for an assessment of priorities and working relationships. On January 27, several of the FoOT Board members met with the Ouachita National Forest and had a very good meeting. Some specific actions were agreed to and hopefully some additional changes will further improve our working relationships.
We started with a summary of trail conditions, as reported in the FoOT Trail condition Report, which is kept current on he web-site. The Oklahoma Districts representative agreed to have the Choctaw office work the one "Red" area left on the report - the west flank of Wilton Mountain, near mile 36.
A great amount of time was spent on how we could better manage the processes in the forest that threaten the trail, such as logging and controlled burns. The USFS provided us with copies of the management standards from the new Forest management Plan, which deal with these items, and we discussed better ways to work at the District level to keep awareness of trail protection on the surface when other work is being done in the forest. The ONF participants accepted the general premise that when a forest action does damage a trail, that they should repair it, not volunteers. Our FoOT District captains will get more information on this soon.
One of the frustrations FoOT voiced was the inability to get chain saw certification classes scheduled. We have more members who are willing to become certified sawyers, and yet the last class was over two years ago. By late this spring most of the FoOT certifications will expire, leaving the FoOT Patrol with a dilemma. Tom Ferguson, our primary FoOT counterpart in the ONF office is obtaining the "Class C" certification, which will allow him to teach the certification class, and has agreed to work with us to get a scheduled class this spring. It is also likely that another USFS employee in the Jessieville office will obtain the certification to teach, providing even more flexibility.
FoOT has requested the limited use of herbicides for several months. Their are a few areas where the loss of forest canopy has made growth on the trail too fast to keep up with. A test area has been agreed to and an environmental impact statement is in work. The USFS has agreed to help us set up some locked tool caches in strategic areas along the trail. This will be worked on a district by district basis, but should make it much more convenient for FoOT volunteers to get the heavy tools needed for tread work in particular. An agreement on a single shade of blue for blazing was reached and the color definition in both Wal-Mart and Lowe's formulas will be distributed to each district. This should, over time, eliminate the "various shades of blue" that has been reported in at least one newspaper article.
We mutually agreed to co-host a National Trails Day event again this year. More details will be provided soon. Finally, the USFS has agreed to purchase and install recognition signs acknowledging FoOT as the organization maintaining the trail. The signs will be generic, rather than identifying specific adopters, and will be installed at each of the major trailheads. All in all, it was a good day. - Ouachita Forest to Sell Land: The FY 2007 President's Budget proposes to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools program for another five years. To help fund this initiative, the Administration recommends selling a limited number of acres of National Forest System lands around the nation. Information from the forest service on the program can be found at this site: http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/rural_schools.shtml
Lands that are potentially eligible have been identified and are displayed in a table at the following link: http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/spd.html
This list includes a large number of parcels in the Ouachita National Forest, both in Oklahoma and Arkansas. It is a little hard to tell where these areas are actually located, and newspaper accounts indicate that they are mostly isolated plots, which means they should not effect the trail. We will see if we can find out what the specific plans in the Ouachita Forest are and keep you advised. - Maintenance Corner: As Spring approaches, we can start looking toward getting out on our adopted sections before the summer growth gets going. It should be getting easier each year (except for those unscheduled tornados). If we have any more cold, wet afternoons, you might pull out your FoOT Maintenance Guide and re-read it. There is some good information in there.
- Feeling Good About What We Do: If you just want to raise your spirits, take a look at the web page link below. This is a trails journal site and the link is to a hiker, trail name "Skeemer", who hiked the Ouachita Trail in January of this year. Skeemer liked the OT and found it to be well-maintained.
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3977
Take a few minutes to read this and you'll feel good about FoOT and our mission!
And as long as you are on the web, check out the FoOT web site ( www.friendsOT.org ). Web-master Mike Sims has done a great job and would appreciate any comments you have - either to make it better or just to pat him on the back.
©2008 Friends of the Ouachita Trail
