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Wednesday, February 4, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Trails advocates honor volunteers
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
The Sisters Trails Alliance
(STA) held their annual meet-
ing last week, and there was a
lot to review from 2014. STA
President Chuck Humphreys
began the program by outlin-
ing STA’s significant accom-
plishments in trail work in the
Sisters area.
He forcefully drove home
his biggest point that “the
trails are for everyone.”
STA supports trail use by all
non-motorized trail users.
Membership is comprised
of hikers, bicyclists, and
equestrians.
Humphreys also applauded
the launching of STA’s quar-
terly speaker series, which is
designed to highlight outdoor
recreation in the Sisters area.
He also announced that the
organization has passed the
100-member mark, a notable
milestone. Many of those
members, he noted, devoted
considerable volunteer
time to build, maintain, and
upgrade the area’s trails, 95
percent of which are on pub-
lic lands. One of STA’s chief
goals, he said, is to “promote
public stewardship and appre-
ciation” of those lands and
resources.
Humphreys’ exuberance
was tempered by what he
termed as “two setbacks”
during the year, specifically
the collapse of plans for
public connector trails to the
Crossroads and Black Butte
Ranch developments. He did
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not hide his disappointment,
nor did he mince words, call-
ing the successful opposition
to the trails “a victory of self-
ishness over the best interests
of the community.”
Gary Guttormsen, chair-
person of the trails commit-
tee, gave further specifics on
2014’s trail accomplishments
and also touted the success of
STA’s adopt-a-trail program.
The real meat of his presen-
tation, however, focused on
STA’s many trail goals for
2015; and their plans are quite
ambitious.
One very significant
project — among many —
involves the Sisters Tie Trail
as part of a 25-mile loop
that would join the Indian
Ford and Cold Springs
Campgrounds and loop back
to Sisters parallel to the
Metolius Windigo Trail. The
Sisters Tie Trail would also
be rerouted farther south and
west to provide separation
from equestrian traffic on the
existing route.
The guest speaker for the
occasion was Marv Lang,
recreation forester for the
Deschutes National Forest.
Lang’s topic was “Sustainable
Trails,” and much of his
emphasis was on the contri-
butions of STA to the greater
community. In reference
to Humphreys’ “trails for
everyone” talking point, he
observed that STA is unique
among trail organizations in
that it focuses solely on a spe-
cific area (Sisters Country)
and, instead of a single
trail-user group, includes a
broad scope of trail users —
hikers, bicyclists, and eques-
trians. In reference to STA’s
public role and inclusiveness,
Lang said, “STA has been a
great example in doing this
and continues to be a vital
part of this community.”
Regarding the bureaucratic
hurdles necessary to achieve
many of STA’s goals, Lang
conceded that “much of the
process is glacially, molas-
sesly, slow.” But, he said,
“It will always take people,
groups, stakeholders, etc. to
make trails happen. And it is
important to do it the right
way...”
Ann Marland, STA’s com-
munity outreach director,
conducted the final business
of the evening and recognized
some of STA’s many volun-
teers. She pointed out that 69
different members contrib-
uted 2,294 hours of volun-
teer work in 2014. Volunteers
contributing 16 or more hours
were awarded free Forest
Passes for the year; but much
of the praise was reserved
for a couple whose volun-
teer work was singled out as
exemplary. In recognition
of their outstanding work,
Mike Armstrong and Bev
MacDonald received STA’s
Volunteers of the Year Award.
Marland also reported that
STA has applied to the Oregon
photo by Craig F. eisenbeis
Bev Macdonald and Mike armstrong receive the Sisters trails alliance
“Volunteers of the year award” from ann Marland (center).
State Parks and Recreation
Department for a “Scenic
Regional Trail” designation
of the Peterson Ridge West
Trail, and she hopes to receive
confirmation of approval
soon. “It will be an economic
boost for Sisters just from the
Parks and Recreation national
advertising, as well as Travel
Oregon,” she said. “I’m very
excited.”
The Sisters Trails Alliance
is a community volunteer
organization dedicated to the
planning, constructing and
maintenance of walking, hik-
ing, cycling, and equestrian
trails in Sisters Country. The
STA believes that trails are
an indispensable ingredi-
ent for the quality of life and
economic vibrancy in Sisters
Country.
At the close of the
meeting, Dixie Eckford chal-
lenged each STA member
to recruit one new member
in 2015. Volunteer help and
new members are always
welcome.
For more information
about STA, call 541-719-
8822. Additional information
can also be found on their
website at www.sisterstrails.
com.
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