UAF Skarland Trail System Management Plan
UAF Trails 1999 User Survey Results
March 2, 2000
Comments on Allowed or Prohibited Uses - 36 Respondents had comments
Make a commuter lane - or provide winter paths for non-skier. West ridge to Smith Lakes trail is too limited.
I don't think dogs have the same negative impact on trails that people do when walking.
No user groups should be prohibited from trails, these include snowmobilers and bikers.
Seems to accept two choices. Bicycles should be strongly agree.
Provisions should be made for access for people doing research or carrying out education activities which may require vehicle use (such as getting to T-field tree farm, etc.)
I think it is most important to make the trails inaccessible to all motorized vehicles, especially snow machines. It will require a lot of effort, especially around Ballaine Lake, but should be a top priority. I agree skijoring should be prohibited, but I rather like dogs on the trails. Perhaps it is possible to require that people pick up their own dog's poop and keep dog under control; otherwise that particular dog can be banned. The trails are for recreation and dogs are an important part of people's recreation here.
Please do NOT allow the dog lovers to convince you that they are responsible and will pick up their dogs poop. They won't do it and our skis and poles will suffer from it. There are TONS of dog trails around Fbks...UAF does not need to be another one.
Protect our investment in groomed trails by prohibiting ALL vehicles except in emergencies.
If prohibit walkers and runners on groomed trails then make them some other places to go and make it clear where they can and cannot go and why.
Please keep our trails pristine for skiing. Post signs to notify people of the acceptable uses.
I feel that dogs should be allowed on the ski trails in winter, but not for skijoring. I feel owners should be required to clean up after their dogs, but as long as this is done, I don't think dogs cause problems on the ski trails. Their foot prints do not damage the trails in this climate, and their presence does not bother me or my skiing. But dog-doo on the trail does. Owners must clean up after dogs, or not bring them on trails. I ski on the trails almost every week day ALL season, and I generally bring my dog along. She does not do her business on the trails, and so, as far as I can see, she does not cause any problems to other skiers, except saying Hi to them. I also commute in, and have to travel on the groomed trails to come in. My dog comes in with me most days. As far as skating goes, I think a moose or a family with small kids does far more damage to the trails or to fast skating then does a dog, and I sure would not want to limit family use or moose on the trails!
I have heard mention of the possibility of allowing snowmachine/ATV access on campus and even the possibility of adding trails for their use. This is a completely inappropriate use for the university campus--it would be too noisy and hazardous. As it is, it's hard to get away from the things anywhere else in Fairbanks. The only reasonable exception would be to allow or even facilitate their access around the periphery of campus to other allowed snowmachine routes. This happens now and would not create any additional disturbance on campus, and prohibiting it would probably lead to abuses.
Access to the animal facilities in the biological reserve cannot be compromised
Whatever the prohibitions, they really need to be posted - similar to the way they are posted at Birch Hill.
No dogs on trail in winter, no dogs in lakes where birds nest in May and June.
Just find a way to keep runners/walkers off. That's the main reason I don't use the trails in the winter.
A kindly worded sign directed specifically at runners is needed at all trailheads!!! This sign should say something about preventing damage to ski trails such as, "Footsteps damage our trails, please run somewhere else."
I can agree with snowmachines not being allowed on GROOMED trails. I CAN NOT agree with a total prohibition with snowmachines on campus at all. If I need to go from point A to point B and the campus is there, don't stop me from getting where I want/need to be. If I endanger someone while traversing the campus, BURN MY BUTT! If I mind my manners, leave me go in peace.
Horses should not be allowed on any ski trails in winter due to the holes they create in the snow pack. (This is just common sense.) But in the summer there's no reason to prevent them.
Snowmachines and ORVs should be allowed on bike paths over UAF land along Sheep Creek, Parks Highway, Geist Road, Loftus Extension and West Tanana in winter.
Make a specific spot where people can ice skate on Smith Lake to avoid them scraping off the snow on the ski trails.
Foot traffic has made the trails compacted, rutted, and punched with holes. An enforcement plan is needed. Other uses have not been as damaging
If you groom the ski trails then skiers need to have preference. But, not that many trails need to be groomed. Maybe just groom 1 main loop or something?
There are a number of good trails at Birch Hill Ski area that are groomed and meant for just skiers. I am not a "pro" skier so it doesn't bother me at all to share the trails with other users. I like multi-use trails although I realize its hard or impossible to groom trails that are multi-use.
It would be nice to provide separate trails or parts of trails for skijorers/snowmachiners.
Any prohibitions on motor vehicles should not include emergency medical vehicles. Although I agree that the trails should be open to skijorers and pet walkers, I do not believe that they should be used by dog mushers. Dog mushers usually do not clean up after their dogs, whereas skijorers are a more courteous, given their use of skis. Also, all dogs should be on leashes and not just under owner's "voice control." The trails are a valuation community asset and should be open to all low-impact users. Allowing recreational motor vehicles (snow machines, ATV's etc.) will add to the daily trail maintenance and increase the possibility of accident and injury. I have had many close calls on the ADMA trails with snow machines.
Snowmachine owners would contribute CASH if they were not treated as outsiders on the trails
T'would be very nice to have someplace in the Fairbanks area where skiing and dogs were not mutually exclusive.
Today, as always, I wanted to go skiing with my dogs on a loop which takes off from the trail that hugs the back fence of the caribou enclosure. As far as I know, that is legal. The only problem is, how to get to that trail. Since I can't fly, I always have to take the groomed ski trail for at least fifty yards in order to get around the caribou enclosure. Well, with my luck, a certain skier today seemed to want me (and especially my dogs) to fly the fifty yards. I did explain to him I was going off the groomed trail very shortly and that I was on the groomed trail only due to the fact that the caribou enclosure is hugged on both sides by ski trails. He still seemed to think that I should fly, or rather, not ski here at the university with dogs at all. Therefore, I request that you make those fifty yards legal for dogs. Otherwise you have a catch-22 situation: the ungroomed trails are legal to have a dog on, yet we can't get to them. What made the situation even worse was that this person is not even from the University. He suggested that I go to the river or elsewhere, yet the point of the trails here is that it is very easy for university people to get some exercise. I don't see why, after spending long hours holed up in the GI, I should drive the car for fifteen minutes somewhere else in order to breath exhaust, when there is plenty of available space right here in the back yard. Now don't get me wrong: I think having the trails open to the public is a great idea. But I also don't appreciate getting a lecture, when I was sincerely trying to minimize my impact on the groomed trails, by a non-university person, who gets more than the effective 5 bucks an hour that I get and who works probably only 8 hours a day. Are the trails meant more for the public than for university people? So, from now on, a) I can write but can't read, in particular not the letters d,g,o,n, and s b) that is especially true for the fifty yards on either side of the caribou enclosure c) but also (until I stop being mad at this guy) anywhere else, since that way I will contribute to the above-mentioned balance of dumbheads, d) I think the trails committee should make it clear that it is legal to *GET TO* the ungroomed ski trails, even if it means dog people use fifty yards of the groomed ski trails (would posting signs help?) e) I challenge you to make a long ski loop where dogs can go also, especially since the ski trails are meant to keep (university) people's lives sensible and dogs do likewise and a sizable portion of university people have dogs. I am sorry this came out at you, however, I am not sure if my comment about making fifty yards of ski trails would make sense without recounting the incident, and also because I could not find anyone close to what I remember of the guy's name in the phonebook. Just because he has lived in Fbks for twenty years doesn't give him a right to be unreasonable and expect me to fly (though, if HE could, I would welcome it!).
In the places where the trail is wide enough to have both tracks and a packed area for skating, the use of dogs for skijoring, or jogging should not seriously deteriorate the packed area. However, if not enough time is spent packing the trail, then that is the problem, not the dogs. You could request that people skijoring, please stay away from the tracks.
Do not ban horses from winter trails, there's nowhere safe to ride... certainly not the roads. Okay to keep certain groomed trails sacrosanct, but allow some trails for riding.
At least the outer loop and trails near the GI should be groomed and maintained for skiing only in winter. They should always be closed to motorized vehicles
Last year when suddenly my ski boots disappeared and my skis cracked, I realized how limited I was in what I could do: except for walking next to one of the roads, nearly nothing else was "legal". At last I discovered some small trails in the woods, but even to get to those, I had to walk illegally on the "ski only" trails. I don't think it is fair that as a UAF student, without money to replace my ski equipment, I cannot use the trails. Even people who don't have skis should be allowed to relax in winter: walk (somewhere else than the road), jog, run, bike, snowshoe, play in the snow in T field or wherever (of course they have to get there somehow) or walk/run/ski with their dogs running next to them (again, not next to the road). I think you should make at least one loop open to these uses.
Let trails be open to everything.
I was neutral on the motorized access because of the Rifle range road. This is also a recreational area. Change "no plow for 200 feet" to Maintain a n 18 inch snow depth (most trucks can pass over that). There will be traffic there. What about snow shoers?
Enable campus police to issue "infractions" and small fines for people violating the rules; especially motorized vehicles and dogs.
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