ALMOST there

Here’s a brief update on our trail building progress. Grant agreements are being drafted and signed, crews scheduled out and we are on track for our ground-breaking on July 15th! One hitch, though: because of some unforeseen costs and increases in diesel fuel prices, we are short at least $25,000 to complete Phase I of the project. Phase I involves the construction of 8.5 miles of singletrack. We will still be able to build trail, but unless we can come up with more funding, we might have to shorten the project.

This is an appeal to those of you who have not yet contributed to the trail project. Please consider donating generously. Please also consider asking your colleagues, business associates and friends for contributions on our behalf. Some businesses offer incredible programs to contribute. BP employees, for example, may request a contribution from BP through its “Fabric of America Fund.” That means that BP would pony up to $500 per employee simply by requesting a corporate donation to the trail fund! Please inquire about other such opportunities at your work place.

Donations made to us through Alaska Trails are tax-deductible. Donations made online directly to Singletrack Advocates are not tax deductible. To donate online please go to www.singletrackadvocates.blogspot.com and click on the “Donate” button on the right hand margin. To make a tax-deductible donation, please send a check made payable to ALASKA TRAILS to us at: Singletrack Advocates, PO Box 240574, Anchorage, AK 99524.

Let’s give it one more big push and raise the rest of the money to build a showcase singletrack trail!

Illegal stunts damage FNBP

Renegade stunt builders started cutting trees and attempting to build a wooden, banked turn in Far North Bicentennial Park last fall. They also built a dirt jump, but didn't get far before the snow fell. The damage they caused is now emerging from the snow, and people are starting to complain to the Parks & Rec department.

One trail user went to this week's meeting of the Far North Bicentennial Park user group to show photos of the vandalism, and to express concern that it poses a hazard to other park users, especially since the unauthorized project resulted in holes that were later hidden by snow.

If you know who is involved, or if you are among those building the structures, please make it stop. Please disassemble and clean up the debris. Then find an area that may be suitable for building these kinds of features, make a plan, learn what it will take to build it. Contact Singletrack Advocates. Contact the Parks & Recreation Department. Get a permit and build some legal structures.

But don't step on the goodwill that has been built by others who have worked to get other user groups together so that we can have legal, sustainable, challenging singletrack right here in Anchorage.

Mountain bikers who are available to do volunteer work during National Trails Day on June 7 might consider offering to clean up this site.

Bike commuters unite!

There’s a new cycling organization in town, one that advocates for safe bicycle use and sharing the road. The Bicycle Commuters Alliance of Anchorage solicits members to give voice to the scores of cyclists forsaking the high price of gas for the practical and recreation benefits of commuting to work. Learn more about BCAA at www.anchoragebicyclealliance.org.

Tank Trail citations

Fort Richardson MPs are issuing citations to unregistered users of the Tank Trail. A couple of weekends ago they set up a post and wrote tickets to recreational users one by one. These folks got off with a warning but, according to military police, the penalties are as follows:

1st offense: Ban for 1 year (this applies base-wide to all property on Fort Rich, including the base itself)
2nd offense: Ban for 5 years (base-wide)
3rd offense: Ban for life (base-wide)

How to Obtain a Permit
1. To use the Tank Trail or any other Fort Rich property for recreational purposes you must obtain a USAG-AK Recreational Access Permit available at the main Fort Richardson Gate. Permits are good for 2 years from the issue date and must be carried with you. For information call 384-0296 or 384-2916.
2. Check in by calling the USARTRAK automated system BEFORE entering the training lands and you will need your RAP number to access the system. The system provides daily training closures. The Phone Access System number is 384-3181.
3. Check out upon leaving the training lands for the day. Call the USARTRAK number and enter your RAP number for automated check-out. 384-3181.

For more information, click here.

Park Foundation grant

The Anchorage Park Foundation has awarded us $7,500 for the Hillside Singletrack Project. This wouldn’t have been possible without your donations to the project. There will be a congratulatory celebration this Thursday, April 24th at 11 a.m. at the Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich Park, Corner of 4th and E Streets. Please join us!

Thanks again for your support of STA and this project.

We’re On the Way!

Because of our exceptionally well-planned and organized proposal, and overwhelming support from other user groups, the Parks & Recreation Commission on Thursday night approved our proposal to build Phase I of the Hillside Singletrack Trail Project.

The Parks & Rec staff recommendation to the commission was to limit us to a single, 4-mile loop trail this summer, would could have jeopardized the overall project by forcing us to build a majority of the trail network in 2009. If the extra workload, weather, or other factors kept us from completing the work by the fall of next year, we would be at risk of losing funds from grants with sunset clauses.

By the end of the night, the commissioners were so impressed by the project and its broad-based support, they rejected the staff recommendation and voted unanimously to approve our proposal.

The Phase I work that the commission approved involves the area above Hilltop Ski Area and the Spencer Loop ski trail. It consists of two loops, one intermediate and the other advanced, for approximately 8.5 miles of finished singletrack. This will be done as a “pilot project” while the Far North Bicentennial Park Trails Plan continues through public process and is finalized next spring. Phase II of the project (north of Campbell Creek) will go through an approval process once the Trails Plan is complete.

We are committed to working with the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage to come up with an optimum alignment of a groomable multi-use trail connecting the Gasline at Hilltop Ski Area with Prospect Heights in Chugach State Park. Effort will be made to make efficient use of the acreage in order to maximize the amount of space for singletrack.

Thank you to all the people who attended Thursday night’s meeting to show support, and to those who spoke on our behalf, including representatives of the orienteering and Nordic user groups.

And an extra-large thanks is owed to Janice “Queen Bee” Tower—who has waded through a morass of bureaucracy over the past three years while doing an unbelievable amount of work to get us to this point—and to Lisa Holzapfel of the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. Lisa is an invaluable ally and supporter of our efforts.

And thank you to all of you who have donated money, attended STA fundraisers, testified at public meetings and otherwise given your moral support toward the effort. All of this is greatly appreciated.

We are still on schedule for a targeted ground breaking on July 15!

Time to be heard

On Thursday, April 10, at 6 p.m. in the Spenard Recreation Center, we are on the Parks & Rec Commission Agenda as an action item. The request is to go forward with building ½ of the total scope of the project—essentially the entire southern section of the project area. We will need a lot of supporters at this meeting, so please be there to possibly testify on our behalf, emphasizing not only mountain biking but the multi-use aspect of the project. Let’s show that we’d like more singletrack in Anchorage!