Unofficial trails raise questions for future county park
April 26th, 2009 by cdunaganIt appears that local trailbikers have taken it upon themselves to upgrade makeshift trails on state land in the Newberry Hill area of Kitsap County.
Without permits, a boardwalk was
built on state land destined to become a county park.
Kitsap Sun photo
The work — including installation of wooden boardwalks, concrete pavers and plastic culverts — was all done without permits or review by state or county authorities charged with protecting the environment.
So are these unofficial trail-builders good guys or bad guys?
That is, are they well-meaning folks who just happened to bypass the approval process? Or are they a calculating group trying to ensure that their wishes for the land become stamped into the landscape before anybody can question whether trails are appropriate for certain areas?
Kitsap Sun reporter Brynn Grimley raises this question in a story in today’s Kitsap Sun.
The state property in question is destined to become part of Kitsap County’s park system, thanks to a proposed land exchange. Those working on the Newberry Hill trials apparently are part of a group that deserve thanks for volunteer work on trails at another county park — Banner Forest. But there appears to be an important difference: Banner Forest went through an extensive planning process to decide what uses were desirable and appropriate given environmental constraints.
I have not been to the property nor discussed it’s environmental values, and I promise to keep an open mind. It does seem fair, however, that when the county goes about planning this park, no priority should be given to keeping open trails that were built illegally — or, to put it more kindly, trails not officially sanctioned. After all, trails can be removed if that’s what people want.
From Brynn’s story:
Planning for the future of the park could get tense as officials wade through the differing opinions of how the land should be used…
The county also probably won’t remove the trails once it acquires the land from the state, said Chip Faver, Kitsap’s parks and recreation director.
But Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown said the public will determine the uses of the park, not one interest group over another.
“An individual or a group doesn’t get to squat on county property and determine its use,” he said. “I don’t want to in any way discredit the work of volunteers, I appreciate their enthusiasm, but they need to work through the public process like the rest of us.”
Tags: Kitsap County Parks and Recreation, Newberry Hill Heritage Park, trailbikes, trails, Washington Department of Natural Resources
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
April 27th, 2009 at 7:07 am
The county has done nothing with the place and has no money to do anything any way.
The brush will grow back, if it comes to that.
Mountain bike trails are better than tangled brambles, even for the horse people, who seem to be the most sketchy of all the interest groups that normally argue about trails.
If the county ever finds some cash hiding in the mattress and decides to do something then the existing trails don’t really get in the way.
Its freaking trails through the woods. Let the bikers go.
Seriously, there’s no other emergencies?
April 28th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Basically, the county wants its cut with all the fees and permits.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:51 am
One of many things I learned from the FS is the importance of HOW trails are built.
Built without regard for location, terrain, weather and use, they can do the same damage as folks cutting switchbacks.
Sharon O’Hara