For the week of June 9, 1999  thru June 15, 1999  

Forest Service offers free passes in exchange for trail work


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

The Forest Service’s equivalent to Sun Valley Company’s season discount pass program—both offer locals a financial break—will begin on Saturday, June 12.

The Sawtooth National Forest is offering the opportunity for volunteers to work on trails on the Ketchum Ranger District. In return, the Forest Service will give volunteers free, annual trailhead parking passes.

The project, the first of what could be several this summer season, will take place on the Mahoney-Lodgepole Loop trail in the Greenhorn Gulch area, south of Ketchum, according to Ketchum District ranger Kurt Nelson.

Twenty to 30 volunteers are needed for the project’s success. Volunteers are asked to call or go to the Ketchum Ranger District office on Sun Valley Road to sign up for the project.

"We need at least twenty people to make this project worthwhile," Nelson said. "People will be given the details as to where and when to meet when they sign up at out office. If we don’t get the 20 people signed up, the project will be canceled and those that have signed up will be notified."

All tools and necessary supplies will be provided by the Forest Service. Volunteers are asked to provide their own drinking water, lunches and to wear clothing and footwear appropriate for hiking and working.

This work project is the first offered by the Forest Service on the Ketchum Ranger District and Sawtooth National Recreation Area this summer. Another project will definitely take place in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area later this summer, said Sawtooth National Forest spokesman Ed Waldapfel, and if the first projects are successful, more may follow.

"We want to offer an opportunity for people who would like to earn a pass rather than pay for one," Waldapfel said.

When the 1999 fee demonstration project for the Sawtooth National Forest was announced just under a month ago, Forest Service officials said such a volunteer-oriented project was in the planning stages.

The parking passes are good for one year from the date issued and are required for 38 designated trailheads in the Ketchum Ranger district and Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

More than $170,000 in user fees were collected during the first two years of the Sawtooth National Forest’s fee demonstration test. This summer marks the third year of a five-year test period.

The Sawtooth Forest significantly modified its program this year, eliminating the requirement for individual, general user passes and implemented vehicle parking passes for specific trailheads. The modification was largely in response to input from forest visitors.

 

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