What affects us the most here, on our trails

[Magic City Matt]

What ecological and environmental issues affect us the most right here at home, On our trails?

Discuss

[Lostsheep]

If I'm following you right, I'd say to two biggest environmental factors would be the heat & water supply.

I'm not worried about trail conditions, wildlife, or location (it's all better than the office), but my concern is can I make it, and can I make it safely? And will I be absolutely miserable?

[Joshua Szulecki]

The biggest issues I see regarding Alabama's trails are:

- Damage done to forests due to logging. In most cases, this is more of an indirect issue, as most of our best trails run in areas that are no longer logged, but may have been in the past, or are adjacent to logged areas. The loss of diversity, increased fire and erosion risks, and the spread of various parasites are all taking their toll on the trail system in Alabama. The deadfall in some areas due to the Pine Beetle and the hurricanes is downright dangerous, both for bi-peds, and for fire risk.
- Horses. Yes, I'm serious. I was appalled to see the state of some of the former road trails in Sipsey this Spring. Some of them were harder travel than bushwhacking due to the ruts from the horses.
- Dumping at trailheads. Almost all of the major trailheads and parking areas I've visited in Alabama have at least some garbage dumped on them. Somebody constructed a full fire pit in the parking area for Nubbin Creek, and I've even found dead goats discarded at some. Does anybody patrol any of these sites, and more importantly, do they have a cleanup protocol? There has been a refrigerator on the road to Borden Creek Trailhead for at least three years now, and a Forest Ranger drives past it in a pickup EVERY PATROL. You mean to tell me they don't get cleanup crews, ever?

[Magic City Matt]

I think we should definitely all vote pro environment Jay. Sometimes it is hard to tell who is going to be the most effective after the elections are won though. Politicians promise only what is necessary to get elected.
I am more concerned with what things are issues that we can lay hands on. I am thinking of starting some projects for AlaTrails to help get our trails in shape. If it ends up me taking a shovel and trash bag to the trails heads then so be it but I am starting to feel the urge to help out more.
You had a lot fo really good suggestions Josh. I am going to put those on the list.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Matthew,

I think that trailhead cleanups would be a great "project" for Alatrails. Less politically involved than starting or maintaining trails themselves, but still makes a huge difference on trail conditions. Maybe a good start would be for one of us to start a thread asking people to report large collections of garbage at trailheads, so members could go clean up when they get a chance, or so garbage reports could be made to NFS in large lump reports per forest, to increase the chances they'll take notice.

I still have no clue where I'm going to end up by this winter, but I'll keep any eye out for any chance I can get down there, because if it is still their, I'm figuring out how to remove that fridge on my next Sipsey visit. Well... I think it is a fridge. It is a large white appliance.

I'm going to get back into hiking next week when I'm finished with the bar, because I owe it to myself and Scipio. I've found a few good TNC properties in the area, and a private pay preserve, and I've been itching to get out. One thing I have noticed is that the trails tend to be cleaner up here, despite the significantly higher weekend numbers. My guess is that there is just more organization in place for cleaning and fixing trails. That said, NY has a lot of issues that bug me. The biggest being that State Parks are almost totally no-parking zones, and trails are marked but no maps are around, so visiting most areas comes down to knowing somebody who visited it in the 70's and 80's before NY went gestapo on parking. Seriously, almost all roads near anything interesting here are no parking, and no trespassing signs are the rule, not the exception. Very unfriendly to the exploration-minded around here.