Forest Service officials hosted a well-attended field review of the proposed project last Saturday, May 14. The proposal includes constructing a parking area with a capacity of up to five vehicles, trail maintenance, and creating a new one-quarter-mile trail with a bridge for trail connectivity.
Recreation and trail coordinator Holly Knox requested that the feedback from the proposal and field review be submitted in written form by today, May 19. The proposed action is to designate 4.5 miles of existing trail to the National Forest Trail System; the trails would be managed for multiple uses including mountain biking, hiking and cross country skiing.
“To avoid misinterpreting or incorrectly capturing oral comments, I requested that feedback on the project be submitted to me in written format. Having said that, it is my opinion that the general response was in support of the Forest Service proposal to make improvements in the project area with a few concerns voiced regarding specific facets of the proposal (such as parking availability and trail locations close to adjacent landowners’ homes),” Knox said.
The purpose of the proposed Blueberry Lake project is to “authorize the use of existing trails by adding them to the National Forest Trail System and improve the management of these trails. In addition, there is a need to remove trails that are illegally maintained and posing long-term environmental or maintenance concerns,” according to the proposal.
In 2001, the Forest Service acquired the Blueberry Lake parcel from the Trust for Public Land in part to enable better public access. The parcel contains a manmade lake and a network of trails utilized by cross country skiers and for summer recreation.
The proposal continues, “Sanctioned recreational activities in the Blueberry Lake area are limited on National Forest System land. By authorizing existing trails and removing inappropriate trails there is an opportunity to curb natural resource damage and to improve the recreational experience.”
In order to bring the trails to Forest Service standards, trail segments may be rerouted, constructing new switchbacks to attain sufficient grades, modifying drainage structures, de-brushing and rerouting around wet or otherwise sensitive areas.
“Activities may include standard actions such as installing new water bars, ditches, or other structure for improved drainage and to prevent or reduce soil erosion,” according to the proposal.
The proposed parking lot would be constructed east of Plunkton Road and west of Blueberry Lake. It would be graded and a coarse surface like gravel will be applied. The site additions and restoration project was designed, according to the Forest Service, to “be consistent with the goals, objectives, and forest-wide and management area standards and guidelines.
The environmental analysis will identify extraordinary circumstances that exist and could result in significant effects to the environment including threatened or endangered species, floodplains and wetlands, municipal watersheds, inventoried road areas, cultural or archaeological sites, or research areas.
The USFS will consider the public comments made during the environmental site review/analysis including interdisciplinary resource specialists’ input. The responsible official, District Ranger Gregory Smith, will decide whether the proposed project will proceed as proposed as well as what specific resource protection or mitigation measures should be implemented.
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