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Local volunteers and schools drive Emery County trail events and maintenance plans
Summary
Committee members described upcoming volunteer projects, a high-school mountain-bike presence (reported statewide participation ~7,500), a bouldering festival in October, and coordinated trail-maintenance days planned for Sept–Nov to address washouts and connector trails.
Members of the Emery County Trails Committee used the meeting to coordinate upcoming events, volunteer deployments and trail maintenance. Several committee speakers highlighted how volunteer labor and school teams support local recreation.
Speaker 4 presented photos and a report from the recent Richfield high-school mountain-bike races, noting strong regional participation and that "in the state of Utah, they have 7,500 kids doing high school mountain bike racing." He described how teams and parents supply volunteers, how NICA (the National Interscholastic Cycling Association) awards teams with volunteer-hour grants, and how local kids and families are increasingly involved.
Speaker 7 previewed the bouldering festival, scheduled for October. "We're gonna get with the BLM and decide our service projects," he said, and described planned cleanup and educational trail work with agency partners to limit inadvertent damage.
Committee members also reviewed trail-maintenance dates and project priorities. Targets discussed included a multi-day effort in Turtle Canyon and connector-trail builds to reduce roadside parking on narrow approaches such as Straight Canyon. Options included two- to seven-day crew windows, use of winches and pulleys for rock removal, and coordination with county equipment and telecom crews. Several members urged coordination on dates to avoid hunting-season conflicts and to ensure staff and volunteers are available.
Why it matters: volunteer labor and high-school participation provide labor and economic benefits to rural businesses during events; coordinated maintenance reduces safety risks and long-term erosion on popular public routes.
Next steps: committee members will finalize volunteer project dates, share photos and trail reports with BLM and county crews, and review project feasibility before committing large equipment.
