Adopt a Trail Greens Mountain
By Brian Sibbles
In Mid May the OF4WD received an on-line trail report stating one of our popular trails had been closed. The trail, Greens Mountain, was visited by our members who were confronted by a large chain across the trail and a sign stating 4X4 truck traffic was prohibited due to environmental impact. The members backed out and reported this issue via the Online Trail Reporting System. In this report the members were descriptive about the chain and how it was lagged into the trees. They also highlighted safety and environmental concerns, a number of large lag bolts and spikes into the tree will likely kill the tree eventually and the height of the chain and dark colouring could really injure other user groups such as ATV’s or motocross if the driver didn’t see it in time.
Peter Wood, OF4WD President, immediately called the MNR office in Minden reporting the information provided to us by the members. The MNR took some time to investigate and returned to the OF4WD stating that this was in fact an un-lawful closure of public lands and that the person who did this was unknown. The MNR gave permission to the OF4WD to have the sign and chain removed.
In early June, the OF4WD Vice President, and a volunteer from Durham 4X4, set out to remove the sign. Upon reaching the site it was found that other user groups had cut in a new trail to the right of the blocked trail removing two trees. The chain was lagged into the tree with approximately 10 inch ½ diameter spikes driven into the wood in about 5 to 6 different placed around each tree.
Care was taken to remove as many of the spikes as was possible in hopes that the trees will survive. The chain was removed and the cut trees cleared.
The Greens Mountain incident, while unfortunate was handled very well by our members and board of Directors. With proper use of trail reporting we can ensure ourselves a positive future in a safe and sustainable trail system on public lands for all user groups.
On behalf of the OF4WD Board of Directors (BOD) we would like to thank our members for utilizing the tools provided in the Adopt-a-Trail program. The online trail reports and email info sent to trailconditions@of4wd.com has been a positive and progressive step in forming a sustainable trail system for all user groups.