Carr Fire & Snowmagedon

In the summer of 2018 our community was rocked by a natural disaster.  Natural makes it sound like it’s something that should happen, something we are used to, but for those that live here in Redding the Carr fire was anything but natural.  The fire burned an estimated 90% of our 200 mile trail system, exposing golden paths of dirt through blackened hillsides as illustrated in the image above. Something else it exposed was how essential trails are to our community.  While the fire was still raging to the north, stumps still smoldering locally, and a thick layer of smoke blanketing us, people constantly questioned when the trails would be open.  

As soon as the area was no longer a fire zone we went to work.  Working hand in hand with BLM, COR and volunteers, we cleared downed trees and replaced burned out culverts and bridges to get the trails opened back up. In a short amount of time the trails where open and being used. Unfortunately the fire created not only an immediate need for trail work, but maintenance issues that have continued to develop.  The fast growing grass and brush crowd out our trails every spring, requiring that every trail get trimmed.  Dead trees not only continue to fall across the trail, but over time their branches slowly sag into the trail requiring constant attention.  Everywhere the lack of foliage and ground cover has lead to increased erosion.  All of these issues have created a need for us to grow our budget and our volunteer engagement in order to address them in a timely manner.

If the Carr Fire was a blow to our trails, only months later an atypical snow storm delivered an uppercut!  Our entire region was blanketed with an unprecedented amount of snow.  The resulting damage looked like a tornado had passed through.  Every one of our trails were completely blocked with broken trees.  This damage took multiple crews working 5-6 days a week a solid month to get the trails cleared. These crews were comprised of BLM employees, RTA employees and volunteers.

While these disasters created many challenges for our organization, they also presented unique opportunities.  We were awarded a grant from Shasta Regional Community Foundation for the purchase of a specialized trail dozer.  This dozer has proved invaluable for maintaining our existing machine built trails.  Another thing the disasters did was foster a spirit among trail users of wanting to be involved in taking care of the trails they love to use.   Our volunteer email list grew from around 20 to over 130 and continues to grow weekly.