"good intentioned trail gnomes" (i.e., illegal trail builders)

Is that authentic "doublespeak", or just another dishonest euphemism?

Mike


From: brian _
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2012 20:27:42 +0000
Subject: What happened to the Northwest Timber trail up at Tiger?

has the DNR suddenly become cooperative? im actually surprised that they did not close their entire area to bicycle use, the last time they got wind of unauthorized trail work they shut down everything, making clear that they are land owners as opposed to land managers... you know, out there on the peninsula we've ran in to good intentioned trail gnomes at finn and at paradise and as you know, its an ongoing problem and will always be a problem.. As there will always be new mountain bikers, so there will always be a pain in the neck... my proposed solution is a 3 step plan... Well thought out signage at trail heads that strongly recommend IMBA and or BBTC / EMBA and or WTA training and education before preforming trail tread modifications or 'improvements'... inexpensive, mini, disposable, biodegradable signs that can be put at trail "improvement" sights thanking the person and tricking them in to calling or emailing by offering a less labor intensive and more sustainable method of trail tread improvements.... the idea is to make contact so you want to make it sound as appealing as possible lastly, little business card sized info packs could be given to area bike shops that a bicycle salesman can include with a new bike. the mission statement used to be of education and awareness of mountain bike trails, all we need to do is continue with that by targeting new mountain bike owners, we need to work more closely with bike shops because that's where all the bikes are... as a matter of fact, there should be evergreen awareness, education and contact information at every bike shop... we have a symbiotic relationship, i'm sure bike shops would cooperate with just about anything we ask.... The more successful we are at creating excellent riding opportunities the better future bicycle sales will be. thank you once again for all your excellent work Brian
To:
From:
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:24:18 +0000
Subject: What happened to the Northwest Timber trail up at Tiger?






























Hi all,



We (Evergreen, DNR, Tiger team) would really like to get ahold of the guy who has been doing the work. No chastising... just need some teamwork. DNR took a deeper look and found that some of the work was unsustainable and in one section even dangerous (sticks with rocks & dirt on top of it that definitely won't last, but could give way and send someone over the edge). DNR had to tear out and restore what they could.



We really do appreciate the good intentions and really want to channel that energy into positive results. If anybody knows our STTG (secret Tiger trail gnome), please let him know to contact Evergreen (mwestra-at-evergreenmtb-dot-org). We'd love to have him at a work party. We could even give him some tasks to tackle on his own. That goes for everybody, btw. Evergreen or DNR are out there working almost every day... it's very easy to put peeps to work on productive tasks.



All Mt Bikers.



There is a big plan in the works for Tiger that does include rocky rooty gnar... both technical DH and climbing. Longer loops, long sustained 1-way only DH, singletrack climb to the summit are all things being considered. New schtuff that is as difficult, more difficult and less difficult than anything out there now.



First step: finish the summit trail that will add 1.5 miles of almost all downhill from the E Tiger Summit at 3000ft to the top of Preston at 2500ft. That'll start out very buf, fast & flowy, but will root up / gnarl up over time.



Second step: connect Preston to NW Timber via a 3+ mile new trail which involves re-routing the old closed Silent Swamp trail out of the swampy, steep fall line and unsustainable areas.



Hope you took the DNR survey. Get involved to get your input into the plan. Join a work party. Attend the DNR's Snoqualmie corridor recreation plan meetings. Ask Evergreen or ask DNR how you can help or get involved.



Huge thanks for all the help we've been getting lately! Huge boost to progress at the summit. I hope I can git a ride on it this fall.



Cheers,

Mike