Designing Sustainable Off-Highway Vehicle Trails Part II
This online engineering PDH interactive presentation provides an updated version of the original “Designing Sustainable Off-Highway Vehicle Trails Part II”.
A 10-element management framework allows basic trail sustainability and trail fundamentals to be applied systematically. Taken together, the 10 elements provide managers with guidance on information collection, data evaluation, decision-making, and program development and implementation.
Out of the 10 trail management elements, in this part 5 elements will be discussed which are:
- Preliminary status assessment
- Environmental analysis
- Trail Management Objectives
- Documentation of trail location
- Trail condition assessment
A preliminary assessment is a snapshot of the trail status, based on readily available information. This assessment is particularly useful when little is known about a trail, its environment, or its management history. Environmental analysis documents the impact, issues, and concerns that off-highway vehicle trails and their use pose for the surrounding environment. Furthermore, The Forest Service defines Trail Management Objectives (TMOs) as “the documentation of the intended purpose and management of a trail based on management direction, including access objectives” (Forest Service Handbook 2353.12). The TMOs document the desired management and condition of the trail, which may or may not coincide with the existing management and condition of the trail.
In addition, an accurate map of the trail location provides information that helps answer four important questions:
- Where is the trail, exactly?
- Whose land does the trail cross and what features are located nearby?
- What is the character of the physical environment surrounding the trail?
- Does the trail have sustainable design and layout?
Finally, A trail condition assessment is a detailed, on-the-ground inventory of the character and physical condition of the trail tread and associated trail structures.
This 2 PDH online interactive presentation is applicable to Transportation engineers, Forest Service employees and their partners, designers, managers, recreation professionals, and technical staff who are interested in ensuring inclusive outdoor recreation opportunities and designing sustainable off-highway vehicle trails.
This continuing education interactive presentation is intended to provide you with the following specific knowledge and skills:
- To learn designing sustainable off-highway vehicle trails
- To learn how to do preliminary assessment of the trail status, based on readily available information.
- To understand how to do environmental analysis to document the impact, issues, and concerns that off-highway vehicle trails and their use pose for the surrounding environment.
- To learn about trail management objectives
- To explore the importance of the documentation of trail location
- To understand the importance of trail condition assessment
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