trails, creating a forest-wide interactive online map of the trail system and indentifying unauthorized trails and opportunities to incorporate new system trails on the national forests. A professional assessment of 200 miles of trails is already underway and thousands of volunteer hours have already been invested. According to Debbie Crowe, CTHA USFS Liaison, CoTrails Work-
ing Group, “We are all the same—we have a love of outdoors and our hobby and we recognize the need to protect our public lands.” T e goal is far-reaching—to protect watersheds, improve forest
health and contribute to local and regional economies that depend on forest-related recreation. “Collaboration between all user groups is possible and can be successful,” said Crowe. For more information, you can visit the Chat ahoochee Trail Horse Association at
www.ride-ctha.org
Volunteers from Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma Lend a Hand at Robbers Cave State Park Members of the Oklahoma Equestrian Trail Riders Association,
Inc., (OETR ) came out in full force in March to perform much-needed trail repairs at Robbers Cave State Park in Wilburton, Okla. With 48 volunteers on hand representing four states, every trail was worked at the 60 plus miles of equestrian trails. One of the most challenging projects was rerouting a trail called “Big John 2,” that runs practically straight up a mountainside. Over
the years, the trail was badly eroding and becoming downright dangerous, said Lesa O’Hair, who co-chaired the workweek with her husband P.D. The “Magnif icent
OETRA members work the Big John 2 trail to try to provide erosion con- trol for the steep moun- tainside horse trail.
OETRA President Teri Wyat (second from leſt ) handles the pick ax to dig out the dirt for railroad tie placement.
Marvelous Mule” gang led by Charlie Cook brought Lesa’s dream to reality of fi xing this hazardous trail. Bring- ing a truckload of rail- road ties and landscape timbers, a generator and a drill along with other equipment, the crew placed railroad ties strategically down Big John 2 to help prevent further erosion. Mules pulled the railroad ties down the hill. Volunteers used pick axes and shovels to make beds to place the ties in. Aſt er each railroad tie was positioned, rebar spikes were hammered into the ends of the ties to hold them into place. Heavy rocks and dirt were shoveled to further hold the railroad ties. Rocks and brush were piled to slow water runoff and to divert the water off to the sides of the trail to prevent erosion. Other volunteers cleaned up brush, cut out brambles, picked
Using mule power, railroad ties were pulled from the top of the mountain down to where the trail has eroded.
up trash, trimmed branches, hammered up new trail numbers and spray-painted yellow on the trees to denote horse trails. T e weather was unseasonably hot and some of the outlying trails were worked by trailering horses and riders to those far away trails to keep them from having to ride so far to return to camp. At the board meeting held during the work week, OETR board
Mules drag the railroad ties into place. T e crew then used rebar to keep them locked from movement.
members voted to spend an additional $5,000 of which $1,500 was a grant from the STEP program funded by Tractor Supply to purchase $700 of screenings and the rest spent in corral panels. OETR has commit ed to provide horse pens throughout the equestrian camp and has spent almost $15,000 in improvements at Robbers Cave during the last four years. OETR originally put the camp and trails in at Robbers Cave State Park in 1974 and the trails are its offi cially adopted trails for the 350-member club. For more information on OETR , visit
www.oetra.com
96 | June 2012 •
WWW.TRAILBLAZERMAGAZINE.US
Members of the Chat ahoochee-Oconee National For- est Co-Trails group learn how diff erent users can work together to help maintain the trail system.
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