USFS plans to remove Fall River user-made roads, trails

The Deschutes National Forest is seeking public comment through June 30 on a pair of unconnected recreation and restoration projects. One involves decommissioning user-created roads in a key elk area near Fall River and the other would reroute the Storm King mountain bike trail near Wanoga Sno-Park to a safer location.

The first project aims to address issues crucial in wildlife and riparian habitat along the Deschutes River by reducing user-created road and trail densities, said Bend-Fort Rock Ranger Kevin Larkin said in an announcement issued Friday.

The project would decommission the user-created, non-system trails on the south side of Fall River, where anglers and other hikers have developed a trail on steep slopes along the river, leading to site degradation, Larkin wrote.

In addition, a large dispersed campsite with denuded vegetation and compacted soils, located downriver of Fall River Campground, would be decommissioned. A user-created road to the site will be decommissioned this summer, nearly a decade after an analysis was completed.

Crews will work to de-compact the soil and could mix in nearby rocks and woody material, the ranger said. Routes also could be blocked using boulders or partially buried logs.

Along the Cascade Lakes Highway, there are two spots where mountain bikers are crossing to access parking or trails, officials said.

Storm King Trail would be rerouted for a safer location, to tie into trails south of the highway, and the .3 miles of trail no longer needed would be obliterated. The project would require about .6 miles of new trail.

Mountain bikers parking at the Tangent-Wanoga parking lot are crossing the highway to connect to the Swampy Trail trail system using Forest Service Road 4515-040, Larkin said. A new .2-mile trail would be built to connect bikers across the highway to the Forest Service road, with a clearly signed junction pointing bikers toward the Swampy parking lot.

Here are links to the details, with maps, of both projects:

¨ Fall River and Key Elk Area Restoration – www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=51894

¨ Cascade Lakes Highway Trails Crossing – www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=51855