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Residents, volunteers ask Howard County delegation to let DNR authorize mechanized trail work in Patuxent Wildlands
Summary
Local riders, volunteer trail builders and search-and-rescue members told the Howard County delegation that state "wildlands" rules prevent volunteers from using mechanized tools to clear trails and reach injured people in Patuxent River State Park, and they urged a narrowly tailored change to allow user agreements for safety and maintenance.
Peter Framson, a Howard County resident and president of the Howard County Ironbridge Hounds, told the delegation that volunteers and park users need better access and the ability to use mechanized equipment to maintain trails and to assist with rescues in the Patuxent Wildlands area of Patuxent River State Park.
"What we would like very much to see happen is have the ability to have better access to the park ... whether it's me on foot or me as part of an organized ride ... that we need the ability to use some different kinds of equipment," Framson said, describing an earlier incident when a small off-road vehicle could reach an injured person only because the park was then more accessible.
Volunteers and organized groups told the delegation that routine trail maintenance in the park has depended…
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