Trail stewards and land managers gathered in Santa Barbara February 19th to 21 to participate in the Central Coast Trail Stewardship Summit for Multi-Use Trails. The summit was organized by Chris Orr, locally based trail advocate and International Mountain Biking Association’s Trail Solutions team member and was hosted by the Los Padres National Forest, the Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers and the Los Padres Forest Association in partnership with the International Mountain Biking Association.
The first two days of the seminar took place at the Los Padres Forest Supervisor’s Office and drew forty attendees from diverse milieu including multiple Los Padres ranger districts, the City of Santa Barbara, the City of Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo County, Montecito Trails Foundation, California State Parks and the Los Angeles area Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. IMBA staffers Jill Van Winkle, Chris Orr, Jordan Carr and Lani Bruntz joined forces with Garrett Villanueva, Los Padres Regional Trail and Travel Management Program Leader, to educate and advocate for contemporary trail management, conservation and maintenance techniques and discuss evidence based and effective means of providing trail visitors with quality trail experiences . The need for and means to develop partnerships between agencies and non profit organizations to maximize quality trail maintenance and user experiences was covered as well as the link between a healthy trail system and economic and community health.
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Garrett Villanueva up front. |
View from the back. |
Jill Van Winkle on bikes |
The subsequent two day part of the seminar found attendees at the Los Prietos Ranger station in intensive in class training on sustainable trail design and maintenance techniques. From the classroom, they were sent out onto Aliso trail and had the opportunity to design, flag and dream of a perfect trail. Pin flags in hand, erosion issues were noted and attendees endeavored to reroute a trail in a sustainable fashion thinking of how to maximize the trail experience for hikers, trail runners, equestrians and mountain bicyclists.
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IMBA Trail Specialist Chris Orr |
Los Prietos Classroom |
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IMBA TCC Jordan Carr |
IMBA TCC Lani Bruntz |
A lot of knowledge was shared over the four day summit and most attendees had a chance to practice what they learned in the classroom on trail. All in all, it was a quality learning experience in both trail management techniques and the possibilities inherent in collaboration between agencies and between user groups.
Four days of trail love. Thanks IMBA!
Click here to see all pictures from the day
