Greetings to everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed traveling on St. Joe trails this past summer to review our past improvements.  Thanks to your support with the grants we have been getting,  we funded 60 days of the Idaho Dept of Corrections Trail Crew (IDOC) in the upper St. Joe on the Peggy Peak, Fly Creek and Simmons Ridge Trails.  Peggy Peak TR28 was logged out (this was extensive due to past fires the blowdown was extreme) and brushed.  Fly Creek TR629 was brushed, logged out, tread repaired & widened in places along with bypass routes around two bogs.  Fly Creek was being abandoned by the motorcyclists due to its condition but it is ready for your wheels again!  Give it a try.  The bottom of Simmons Ridge TR78 leaving from the Red Ives Road was re-routed for a more user friendly route; we did not get as far as I might like so you still have a section straight up the ridge to challenge you.  The trail was also logged out and some areas were brushed.

This coming summer because of your support, we are already funded for Turner Peak Trail 191, Dunn Peak TR58, Prospect TR30 and Delaney TR273.  There is a minimum of 50 days allotted to this task.  We are excited to begin this work.

For this year’s grant proposal,  I am proposing work from the IDOC crews to restore Daugherty Hill TR252 and Ames Ridge TR570 in the Big Creek area; these two trails are in desperate need of brushing and make for great loops in this trail system.  We also are proposing work on Malin Ridge TR197; this is a recently authorized single track trail off of the St. Joe River that is in need of a full restoration (trail hazards, tread, drainage repair and log out).  TR197 makes a loop with a little bit of road riding with Quarles Peak TR385 and Craddock Peak TR83.  TR385 and TR83 were recently designated as motorized and were brushed and repaired last summer 2016:  try them out!  Also we will be widening tread on Heller Simmons Divide TR77 in the upper St. Joe; this trail provides loops with Simmons Creek and the State Line.

So in summary,  I am proposing work on 17.3 miles of trail for Daugherty TR252, Ames Ridge TR570, Malin Ridge TR197 and Heller Simmons Divide TR77.  Please send your emails of support as soon as possible and feel free to forward this message to your friends.

I need those emails that have enabled this trails program to put over $700,000 (since 2007) back into restoring your single track motorized trails.  Help me keep it going.  All I need is a sentence or two in an email, fax (208-245-6052) or letter.  I am always happy to answer questions or just talk trails;  208-245-6042.   Happy holidays to everyone.

Tracy Gravelle
Trails Program Manager

Forest Service
St. Joe Ranger District

p: 208-245-6042
f: 208-245-6052
tgravelle@fs.fed.us

222 S. 7th St. Suite 1
St. Maries, ID 83861
www.fs.fed.us