Update: South Fork Snoqualmie Road to Trail Conversion

Just a quick update regarding the backcountry trail project I'm working on. I submitted the initial application for an NRTP (National Recreational Trail Program) grant today. Tomorrow's deadline is just the first phase of a multi-step application process and primarily serves to introduce the project to the folks at the RCO (Resource Conservation Organization) and to lay out the project cost estimates, matching funds, and grant request. The next major milestone comes on August 1st -- the day I leave for Leadville -- and requires several pages of narrative in the form of Q&A, and will also require a finer level of specification. I was asked to present the project details to the BBTC Board at their next meeting to get the organization to sign off on a volunteer commitment, so that will be another first for me. I continue to hear that this is one of the most important projects in BBTC's history so I imagine it won't be hard to get the Board's approval.

The following is the project description I wrote for the grant application. I was limited to 1500 characters including spaces and forced to be very concise. Not necessarily my strongpoint, I admit, but I think it came out pretty good.

The Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club will use this grant to help design and develop a network of multi-use trails following road decommissioning in the South Fork Snoqualmie River Basin, along the south side of Interstate 90 between Olallie State Park to the west and Hansen Creek to the east. Development is expected to take place in three phases in coordination with road decommissioning by Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and will ultimately yield a 22 mile network of backcountry trails. This trail network will dramatically increase the total mileage of trails open to mountain bikes along the I-90 corridor and tie into the existing John Wayne Pioneer Trail and the to-be-constructed Mount Washington Trail in Olallie State Park.

This project was initially proposed in 1995 and has received support from numerous agencies including the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Washington Trails Association, all of whom identified a growing demand for new mountain bike trails in the region. Since the initial proposal, the USFS has acquired all necessary land from Weyerhaeuser and has scheduled 50 miles of roads for decommissioning beginning in 2009. This grant will ensure that we are able to coordinate efforts to transform existing roads into a significant recreational outlet for the growing population of the Seattle metropolitan area.