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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:19:59 GMT -8
This Sunday June 1st. Some of the members of Pistons Wild motorsports club are taking members of the DNR to Browns Camp.
A group of people are working with DNR on a plan to make new trails for 4x4 trucks, cycles, quads in the Yacolt Burn east of Vancouver. This is very exciting. If you happen to be at Browns Camp on the 1st... please be in good behavior,,, because we are hoping they will be impressed with the area and we hope to fashion Yacolt after Browns Camp. Good behavior means staying on approved trails and not tearing things up too much.
Wish us luck,, if you see my truck,, come say hi.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:20:34 GMT -8
Well.. We took 5 members of the Wash. Dept. of Nat. Resources up to Browns Camp. Met with Oregon people who run the Tillimook forest and Browns Camp. They told nothing but great stories about the sucess of Browns Camp.
We drove the Wa DNR up a few fire breaks and power lines and up to crusher. The 3 ladies and 2 men absolutely loved it. None of them had any 4 wheeling experience. They imagined a bunch of people racing and ruining the forest. They saw people slowly moving around the trails being careful not to destroy their vehicles or the trees. They saw whole families of quad riders from dad to 8 year old kids. They saw communication between the users in the forms of verbal hello's to the counts of vehicles in our groups.
I heard them say ,, several times,, Why haven't we done this,, We need to do this,, This is Great. and MORE !! All Good.
We saw a few bikes go past a closed trail,, and stopped the remaining bikes,, explained the rules of the forest and further impressed the DNR.
Wish us luck,,, but it seems that we may have made an impact on future 4 wheeling in the Yacolt Burn.
Keep on doing the right things in the forest everyone,, it helps. thanks.. Dave. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get them.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:21:54 GMT -8
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:27:41 GMT -8
7/8/08 Word is back from DNR. They had an awsome time. Regarding the Yacolt Burn Area. The preliminary trail map is about to be presented to us in the next few weeks. A member of DNR hinted that we would be happy. We will be presenting the Map to PNW assoc. or arranging a meeting so all can view and comment on their proposal. Our goal was to have some trails up and running by April 2009. It seems as if our goal could be made.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:28:12 GMT -8
Also a reminder for all. Damage is happening in the forests.. we all know that and have most certainly caused some ourselves. I would like to encourage everyone to think twice before you tear something up or cause a new mud hole. The forestry dept. and naturalists think this damage will be multiplied by opening trails.
Help to encourage other users to be responsible so our areas will at least remain open and hopefully we can all help to actually cause an increase in user areas. Thanks.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:29:01 GMT -8
Yacolt Burn Trail Map has been upgraded. The Jones Creek Cycle Club did a lot of work up there mapping every trail in Yacolt Burns. They spent many hours up there with GPS units and did an overlay of the area. There are over two hundred miles of trails and roads in the Burns. We are hoping for about 40 miles for the 4x4 trucks.. ( seems reasonable ) The Pistons Wild went up there Yesterday ( Saturday Aug 2 ) and started to plan some trails for 4x4 trucks to use. The other user groups are up there as well. ( Quads, Cycles, Bikes, and horse groups ). Each group is to turn in a proposal later this month and that will be the beginning of a final trail plan. PRETTY EXCITING !!!
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:29:25 GMT -8
More trail info from Pistons Wild after the first trail assessment. This copied from an email to me. quote.. Hi Everyone, Saturday was an excellent day “wheeling” in the Yacolt Burn. We successfully mapped 6 miles of “4x4 ready” trails and found another potential 5-7 miles of trails that will need to be surveyed on quads (due to access limitations). We also noticed another potential 4-5 miles of “4x4 ready” trails that we didn’t have time to survey because we ran out of daylight. This all took place in a very small SW corner of the forest – the potential for mapping 40-50 miles of 4x4 trails is highly likely. Some will be ready to go immediately with very little prep work, some will require just some serious brush clearing and others may require major work with heavy equipment and materials (rock). Our goal is to have 40-50 miles of trails mapped for our proposal to the DNR at the next planning meeting. That meeting is September 17th, 2008. That only leaves 6 more weekends to get those trails mapped. We cannot propose a trail we have not seen with our own eyes. So – with that said – I would like to request additional “ALL ACCESS” days from DNR, but wanted to check everyone’s availability and interest before I request the permits. If your vehicle is not ready to go – or if you don’t want to take the chance of scratching your paint (some of these trails are somewhat primitive), just let me know and I can arrange a “seat” for you. Please feel free to call me directly if you have any questions or concerns at (360) 606-1648. Or toll free (800) 457-5908. I look forward to everyone’s replies and I will get this schedule set up as soon as I hear back from everyone. Have a great day! Crystal Crowder www.pistonswild.com/
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:29:51 GMT -8
Of course the above email was meant for members of the Pistons Wild group. I am sure Crystal would be happy to help educate anyone who is interested and sincere about this project and the possiblility of a properly maintained trail system.
I get more excited each time I get more information
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:30:22 GMT -8
Pistons Wild are going back up to Yacolt Burn on both Saturday and Sunday , Aug. 16 and 17 to map trails for our proposal to DNR. I will be going with them on Sunday. I will let you know what we find and how it looks.. maybe even some pics.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:31:06 GMT -8
Spent the day following trails mapped for us by DNR and volunteers... every one dead ended into tank traps or just dead ended. was frustrating.. we were there to pick trails to have for the 4x4's. We wanted more than old logging roads.. Looks like gonna have to take some roads,,, make them more challenging with a little cat work. then continue to propose trails in the future. We did follow one trail,, that was not mapped. It turned out to be really awsome. We did a little trail restoration on that one.. to make it driveable. Made it connect to a logging road and tentatively called it Whipper Snapper. ( from all the times we got snapped in the face by tree branches in the jeeps.) More to come. Dave.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:31:34 GMT -8
Went back up on Sunday of Labor Day Weekend. Found and repaired a few trails. We now have a decent plan to present to the DNR. will include trails and play area. Also going to try to get the power lines as legal trails with the understanding that wheeling will be kept a safe distance from the towers to prevent any erosion or undercutting of the footing for the towers. This is a concern of BPA and the reason power line roads are typically considered trespassing.
Again,,, pass it on to Washougal area wheelers to stay out of the mud for a while. We are very close to getting something out there and we need not remind the greenies that areas will get tore up by mudders. Some people are very receptive and respectful of this situation. Some people still think they can tear up anything and have no consequences.
We met a group of wheelers on Sunday that were mudding and explained what was going on. They were very nice and asked what they can do to help.. Then we met a couple who had trailered in a couple of mud trucks,, explained the situation to them and they got nothing out of it... were jerks and were more upset that we had wrecked their day... Think Long Term everyone.. Thanks again for reading this. Dave.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:32:10 GMT -8
Yacolt Burn is a Dept of Natural Resources forest east of Vancouver and north of Camas-Washougal area. It has a popular set of trails for motorcycles and quads called Jones Creek. here is a link to the cycle groups site and directions to the area. jctra.orgContact me if you would like more info on our motorsport club that is active in working on this. ( pistons wild ) pistonswild.com
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:33:34 GMT -8
Again,, Invite any interested to attend a meeting of pistons wild. It is a club. with all the business and responsiblilities that go with a club. but it does work for getting things done. maybe a little more so than a user group like us at PBOR.
So if you are interested in the political and active side of the sport and / or like quads,, snowmobiling,, and 4x4 racing,, this is what the club also offers.
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 14:33:52 GMT -8
I got the following from Crystal Crowder of Pistons Wild Motorsports Club. kind of long.. but worth it to see what volunteer effort is worth for the cause. Help anywhere you can because it does help our cause in the end.. here is the letter..
" Dear Piston’s Wild Club Members & Guests:
For those of you who missed the fun – here are some pics from the November 23rd stolen vehicle recovery in the Yacolt Burn.
Here’s the story:
One 1992 Jeep Cherokee with throttle wired wide open and shot off a cliff in the Yacolt Burn forest -- courtesy of local thugs.
4 Club Members (Dave Huttula, Bill Manbeck, Darel & Crystal Crowder)
1 Law Enforcement Officer (Steve Rhodes)
4 Spectators (owners of uninsured stolen vehicle)
2 Winches
250+ feet of cable
6 tow straps
10 clevis’
4 snatch blocks
35 degrees Fahrenheit (high temp for the day)
45 degree hill surface
9 (nine) hours recovery time
1 little Jeep that could
Picture # 4671 – my view from the cheap seats (in the Jeep) just inches from the edge -- PRICELESS!
We missed you all very much– NO REALLY – we missed you more than you will ever know…
FOLLOWING the recovery
1 dead battery (in the Jeep)
8 screaming quads (not ATV’s)
4 aching backs
2 thrashed winch cables
and a piece of crap Cherokee still in my front yard
ta ta ta
The reason we do this crazy shit:
- We donated 48 hours to the Department of Natural Resource which comes out to approximately $750 in matching grant value
- We saved the DNR approximately $500 (what they would have been charged by the tow truck company to remove it from the forest)
- The owner donated the vehicle to our club (scrap may only be $50 – but it’s the thought that counts)
- For a net benefit of over $2000 that can go towards building trails in the Yacolt Burn Forest Area – now that’s what’s PRICELESS…
If this sounds like fun to you – stay tuned…
Steve has shared with me that there are approximately 5-7 vehicles being abandoned in the forest EVERY WEEK. DNR is currently out of funds to recover these vehicles and is not expecting much funding for the 2009 budget – only the abandoned cars with full coverage insurance will be removed by a tow company. The rest will be left until some good stewards of the land step up to clean them out of the forest.
Happy Holidays!
Crystal Crowder Club President Piston’s Wild Motorsports
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2009 15:09:45 GMT -8
Pictures of Jeep recovery on 11/23/2008 1st.. see that little silver speck down there? Thats the Jeep. 2nd.. this is a view over the cliff.. Steep Cliff.. Jeep is below hoodline and would be about at bumper if you drew a line. We started on this at 9 AM.. This is about 1 PM.. the truck finally crested the edge of the road at dark,, 6 PM.
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