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Missoula to deploy trail counters, expand river use counts and grow volunteer ambassador programs
Summary
Staff said the program will deploy eight trail counters on the North Hills, expand Clark Fork river use counts with partners and run larger Trail and River Ambassador seasons this year.
Missoula Conservation Lands staff told the advisory committee the program will expand visitor monitoring with passive counters and restart river use counts this summer as part of a multi-year effort to measure total and seasonal use across properties.
Peter, program specialist, said the program will deploy eight passive infrared trail counters on the North Hills next week, keep counters in place for a year to capture seasonal variation and then transfer counters to other properties such as Mount Jumbo, Sentinel and Keystone. He said the counters are not cameras and that they record timestamped passes rather than identifiable images.
The city will also work with the Clark Fork Coalition to repeat river use counts conducted in 2015–2018. Staff said volunteers and coalition staff will conduct timed counts at beaches and bridges to better define peak season timing and total river users. Those counts will help staff plan crossings and other infrastructure improvements.
On Mount Jumbo and other high-use sites, staff described a mix of passive counters and targeted observational surveys to develop correction coefficients (for example, to adjust counts for dogs or small children that can trigger infrared devices). Peter said the program will use a combination of pedestrian infrared counters and magnetic bicycle counters where differentiating modes is important.
Staff also reported expanding volunteer programs. Mike said the Trail Ambassador program will run early May through September with training planned for early May; about 35 people had expressed interest. He added the River Ambassador program continues into its fourth season and that the program is hiring a seasonal trail steward this year to increase outreach on evenings and weekends.
Why it matters: The expanded monitoring will produce baseline and comparative data to inform trail planning, signage, crossing infrastructure and targeted maintenance. Committee members asked about the limits of the counters; staff clarified they are passive sensors with timestamps and that some sites will be supplemented by randomized observational counts to calibrate the data.
Staff asked CLAC to note privacy concerns: Peter emphasized counters are non-imaging and that any camera deployments would be temporary and removed in the summer.
