Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship

The Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship was recently visited by professional trail builder extraordinaire Matt Roberts from the American Conservation Experience (ACE). Matt is Director of Ace, a trail building company located in Flagstaff Arizona. Matt came to check out the trail building scene in the Plumas and Tahoe National Forests. In addition to working on the growing trail system in Forest (located between Downieville and Nevada City) Matt spent 2 solid weeks contributing his time on several Downieville trails and on the new Mills Peak Trail. Matt is a real pro and we were thrilled to have him with us. As a token of our appreciation Matt will be receiving a soft and cozy red custom SBTS Hoodie.Thanks again Matt!

We completed 2.39 miles of trail before the winter weather shut us down. Here are some shots of the final work days on Mills Peak.

With snow blanketing the high country, we turned the attention of our November 14th volunteer work day towards protecting the Pauley Creek Watershed and winterizing the tread on Second Divide Trail; a motorized, multiple-use trail located in the Tahoe National Forest near the town of Downieville. Second Divide Trail is part of the world famous Downieville Downhill trail system and is listed as a high-use trail by the local Forest Service. This popular trail sees several thousand users per season, most of which are mountain bikers and motorcycle riders. Second Divide Trail is also part of an on-going Trail Adoption program supported by the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship and sponsored by Fox Racing Shox.
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The Plumas Forest recently received $1.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, to be used for forest wide trail maintenance and restoration work. Key components to receiving ARRA funds is to demonstrate a strong "working partnership" (SBTS and Plumas Forest) and to have projects that are considered "shovel ready" (completed environmental work). One SBTS project to receive ARRA funds is Smith Lake Trail. The scope of the work is focused on realigning a section of trail out of a wetland and installing two low water crossings over Smith Creek.

In order for us to get the motorized wheel barrow in and out safely with construction materials for the low water crossings, the Crew had to to rehabilitate the tread on Smith Lake Trail, starting from the trailhead to the work site at Smith Creek. The wheel barrow works well in the backcountry, but can be a bit tricky to handle in the rough, especially with a heavy load and at the end of a hard day of digging. For reference i have attached a photo of the strongest 120 pound man in Plumas County, Lil' Brad, making it look easy.

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