By Steve Stuebner
Vice President, Valley County Pathways

Our new 1/4-mile Boulder Creek Trail in Donnelly is moving closer to completion after a group of 16 volunteers built a 255-foot boardwalk in a wetland adjacent to the creek over the weekend of Nov. 5-6.
“We had a great group of people come out to help us, including several professional builders, and we built the whole boardwalk in two days of hard work,” said Andy Olavarria, Valley County Pathways president.

We want to thank ProBuild in McCall for assisting with lumber and hardware purchases, and Tim Swanson of Swanson Construction and Art Troutner of Troutner Construction for leading the boardwalk construction project.

Thanks to the rest of our volunteer work crew: Damon Yerkes, VC Pathways Treasurer, Andy Olavarria, VCP President, Steve Stuebner, Wendy Wilson, Lynn Swanson, Opie Jahn, Joel Chaudoir, Leslie Freeman (champion grand-writer), Bill Zuehl, Greg Lawley, Victoria McCarthy, Liam McCarthy, Katie McCarthy, Mike Murphy and at least three dogs.

Hand rails will be installed on the boardwalk, the area will be landscaped, and trail signs will be put up next spring prior to an official grand opening for the non-motorized trail.

The whole project was made possible by a generous property donation by Hugh L. and Georgia Ann Fulton of Donnelly and Melba, who donated seven acres of wetlands to the City of Donnelly and a pathways easement to Valley County Pathways. The wetlands are now called the Fulton Natural Area.

The Boulder Creek Trail is the first segment of a pathway planned around the edges of the community of Donnelly. Pathways officials vow to work on easements with property owners in the vicinity to add more sections to the trail.

Three grants totaling $83,558 provided funding to build the pathway, conduct streamside restoration activities along Boulder Creek and create an outdoor classroom near the Donnelly Elementary School.
Students at Donnelly Elementary have assisted with bank-stabilization work, and they’ve built and installed interpretive signs next to the Boulder Creek Trail so the general public can learn more about the nature area. Idaho Fish and Game volunteers have planted about 500 shrubs next to the creek to help stabilize the stream bank. Students also are raising trout fingerlings to release into the stream.

“The Boulder Creek project is an outstanding example of how we can blend environmental education and restoration work with the development of recreation pathways for the community to enjoy,” Olavarria said. “We have to thank Leslie Freeman and Damon Yerkes for pulling together a very innovative and exciting project that will have lasting benefits for students and the community.”

Grant funds came from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, the Forest Service Resource Advisory Committee and the Wittenburger Foundation. A long list of partners are contributing to the project, including Trout Unlimited, Central Idaho Recreation Coalition, U.S. Forest Service, McCall Outdoor Science School and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

Valley County Pathways needs volunteers for a trail work day on Saturday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6.

Start time: 9 a.m. at the Donnelly Elementary School on E. Roseberry Road in Donnelly.

Tools needed: There is no power on site, so we need generators, power tools, battery-powered tools and some hand tools. People with carpentry skills would be a real plus! We need 16-20 people to get the job done in one weekend.

RSVP: Contact Damon Yerkes or Andy Olavarria if you can come. Damon’s email is yerkes.damon@gmail.com. Contact Andy at aolava@citlink.net or 315-4991.

Background: Over the past year Valley County Pathways has been working on a new, non-motorized trail in Donnelly along Boulder Creek. This trail has been funded by various private and government grants. There is a section of this path that crosses wetland area and is a raised deck that spans 255 feet. The pier supports are in place, the decking just needs to be built. This is the last section of the trail to be completed. We have secured the lumber from ProBuild and it should be on site next Wednesday. This project is important to Valley County Pathways and Donnelly Elementary School.

VC Pathways will provide lunch and drinks. If you know someone that might be interested please forward this information to them.

Thanks for your support.

- Damon Yerkes, Valley County Pathways

Valley County Pathways is hosting a trail cleanup party on the North Valley Rail-Trail on Saturday, June 4, as part of National Trails Day.

Please join us to help pick up litter on the trail, and do some brushing and trail-enhancement work.

We’ll meet at 10 a.m. at the trailhead just south of River Ranch. Valley County Pathways will provide lunch and beverages for volunteers.

Please RSVP and let us know if you can help out. Contact Andy Olavarria, VCP president, at olava@citlink.net, 208-315-4991, or Steve Stuebner, VCP vice president, sstuebner@cableone.net, 208-484-0295.

Thanks!

www.valleycountypathways.org

Hi folks,

Valley County Pathways is busy with a number of cool projects going on throughout Long Valley in Cascade, Donnelly and McCall.

Here’s our Spring 2011 Newsletter with all of the details.

Enjoy!

The Olen Family recently installed a new and very special bench on the north end of the Crown Point Trail, near Cascade, to honor the late Erv Olen. Erv was a great advocate for pedestrian trails and an awesome worker bee for Valley County Pathways. We are calling it the “Erv Olen Memorial Bench.”

The bench is located in a beautiful spot that overlooks Lake Cascade near Vista Point. It also just happens to look up at Erv’s favorite elk camp on West Mountain.

Part of the reason we picked that spot is that Erv had put a lot of work into that section of trail. The Putman family had donated a quarter-mile of private property to Valley County Pathways on the north end of the Crown Point Trail.

To marry that section of trail with the existing Crown Point Trail, we were required by the Bureau of Reclamation to build a fence along the eastern boundary of the pathway to keep ATV’s off the trail.

Erv and I worked with Russ Perry of Cascade to build the A-frames for a continuous line of buck fence along the pathway. Jeff Halligan and Damon Yerkes cut a bunch of post and poles in the Boise National Forest and delivered them to the project site. And Clint Kennedy’s Cascade High School science class helped us finish the fencing project by drilling and screwing in the poles to connect the A-frames in a matter of several hours in the fall of 2007. Way to go Cascade High! Those kids rock!

As a longtime runner who had completed the Race to Robie Creek 22 times, Erv was a big fan of pedestrian pathways. He knew the public loved pedestrian pathways. “Build them and the people will come!” he always said.

When we first started talking about forming Valley County Pathways in 2003, I discovered that Erv had been talking to several agencies about trying to build a pathway from Donnelly to Tamarack. I didn’t know him, at the time, but I gave him a call and noted that a bunch of citizens had been meeting and wanted to plan a valley-wide pathway system. Would he like to join us?

Erv thought that was fantastic, and he joined our efforts immediately. We worked together for five years on a variety of projects, including several grant applications to the Idaho Transportation Department to build a pathway from Tamarack Falls to Donnelly. Unfortunately, the topsy-turvy terrain along a narrow strip of land along the lakeshore raised too many questions in the minds of ITD engineers, and our applications were never funded. Someday, they will be.

Erv’s widow, Shirley Olen, a long-time runner and pathway advocate herself, has stepped up to serve on the VC Pathways Board of Directors and she’s our membership coordinator. We are fortunate to have her.

The people who contributed to the bench construction project include Shirley, Shirley’s daughter, Christine and her husband, Emil, Wendy Wilson and Steve Stuebner, and Shirley’s second husband Manuel. Thanks everyone!

In the meantime, the next time you go hiking, biking or cross-country skiing on the Crown Point Trail, take a moment to sit on the Erv Olen Memorial Bench and enjoy the view.

- Steve Stuebner

We had a perfect number of volunteers show up for our work day on the North Valley Rail Trail on Saturday and ideal weather (hey, it didn’t snow!).  The hiking and biking trail is now officially open, so feel free to get out there and check it out.

Start from McCall City Hall, River Ranch or the Activity Barn. (See map)

We installed 15 new sign-posts over a 4-mile area and brushed out several miles of the trail, particularly the new sections of the North Valley Rail-Trail through DeBoer property by the Activity Barn and another section to the south, formerly owned by the Whiteman family.

My arms were so tired after the work day that I could barely lift my right arm to drink beer Saturday night! :0

I went out and rode the full length of the trail Sunday morning, and it just felt super cool to see all of the new signs along the trail and experience the trail like never before. By god, it looks like a trail and it rides like a trail.

It is truly a beautiful ride. Much of the trail is bordered by pine trees, so that provides an intimate experience with nature as the old railroad right of way swings through the pastoral countryside south of McCall. You’ll see hawks, eagles and ospreys flying overhead and songbirds in the trees. I heard sandhill cranes off in the distance.

Valley County Pathways encourages hikers, bikers and runners to check out the new trail. The distance and the terrain are great for just about anyone — particularly families and kids. The trail is mostly flat, with a couple of short hills when you bypass an old irrigation canal.

Enjoy!

- Steve Stuebner, Vice President, VC Pathways

Volunteers Needed!

Please join us to help get the Valley County Pathways trail cleaned up and ready for the upcoming season.

When:
Saturday May 8th at 9:00 AM

Where:
Meet at the green construction trailer at River Ranch.  River Ranch is located on the West side of Mission Street, South of the Smoke Jumper base.  The green construction trailer is just South of the main River Ranch Clubhouse.

Please RSVP if Possible

Email Steve Stuebner at sstuebner@cableone.net

It was a special day for Valley County Pathways (VCP) today. Everyone loves hiking and biking trails, right? We certainly do.

Well, we just signed a new access agreement with Judd and Diane DeBoer and McCall River Ranch Co.  that will extend a public walking and biking path 1.8 miles from the end of the existing River Ranch pathway and continue south past the Activity Barn, a winter venue for tubing and cross-country skiing, to the existing VCP trail.

Linked with the city of McCall’s existing bike path that currently ends by the McCall Airport, the newly created North Valley Rail-Trail will provide a 5-mile continuous public trail corridor from McCall City Hall to Heinrich Lane, one mile short of Lake Fork.

Now, the most important aspect of this news: Valley County Pathways is organizing a volunteer trail day on Saturday, May 8, to clean up, brush out and sign the North Valley Rail-Trail for the 2010 summer season. We’re going to meet at 9 a.m. at the construction entrance to River Ranch, 1/4-mile south of the main entrance.

If you’d like to help out with the trail work day on Saturday, May 8, please contact Andy Olavarria at 208-315-4991 or aolava@citlink.net. We’re going to meet at 9 a.m. at the construction entrance of River Ranch, a 1/4-mile mile south of the main entrance.

So we had a little press conference today at the River Ranch clubhouse to let the DeBoer family know that we really appreciate their generosity. Judd and Diane were there along with their daughter Tamara and son-in-law Brian O’Morrow.

“We’re thrilled to be getting official public access to these pathway segments from River Ranch and the DeBoers,” said Steve Stuebner of Valley County Pathways. “This trail is going to become a favorite place to walk, bike or cross-country ski. It’s a pretty flat trail so it’s easy to use for just about anyone, particularly kids and families.”

The North Valley Rail-Trail will be managed as a non-motorized trail, as stipulated by the access agreement with River Ranch and the DeBoers as well as Idaho Power and other parties with which Valley County Pathways has access agreements along the old railroad right of way.  That means it will be open to walking, running, biking and cross-country skiing. Horseback riding will be allowed to the south of River Ranch.

“We’re excited to extend our pathway in River Ranch along the old railroad right of way and on our ranch to connect to the North Valley Rail-Trail managed by Valley County Pathways,” DeBoer said. “Diane and I and our kids have been involved in the recreation business for our whole lives, so we’re happy to be a part of expanding public pathways in the McCall area.”

The DeBoers have been involved in Brundage Mountain since the beginning and have directed its expansions for the past 25 years. The family also owns the McCall Activity Barn and developed River Ranch in partnership with the Dennis Hart family.

The trail segments on DeBoer and River Ranch property will link to existing trail segments to the south that Valley County Pathways manages through access agreements with Lake Irrigation District and Idaho Power Co. Last year, Marvin and Carol Whiteman donated a key piece of property just southwest of the Activity Barn near Nisula and Moonridge.

“Slowly but surely, we’re putting the pieces together to fulfill our mission of creating a public trail along the railroad road of way,” Stuebner said.

The following is and op-ed piece from the Idaho Statesman.

Let’s work together to improve the valley’s future
April 25th, 2009

By Steve Stuebner

Valley County Pathways, a group working to create a series of public pathways between McCall and Cascade, is gaining momentum.

We recently received a property donation south of McCall along the old railroad right of way from the Whiteman family, which adds value to an existing access agreement with Idaho Power, and we’ve developed a new trailhead on the north end of the Crown Point Rail-Trail near Cascade.

It’s unfortunate that Tamarack Resort has gone into bankruptcy and has shut down until a new buyer can be found. But in my opinion, it’d be great if Valley County citizens can work on shoring up and building on the resources we have to improve our community. The recent cash gift for the Cascade Whitewater Park, and the work by energetic volunteers and the city of Cascade to make this project a reality, is a classic example.

Most of us have no control over what happens to Tamarack. But we can put our energy into projects that will add value to the community in the long-term.

Valley County Pathways is working to create a 25-mile rail-trail from Cascade to McCall, and someday we hope to develop other pathways in our master plan, including a trail around Payette Lake and Lake Cascade. Once realized, these projects will add to the vitality of the recreation scene, and lead to further economic development.

If this is something of interest to you, consider getting involved. Right now, we need some worker-bee volunteers in the following areas:

* Membership
* Our web site
* Monitoring planning and zoning meetings
* Fundraising and grant-writing

Pathways has a nine-member board of directors. Three of our longtime board members have moved on – one died of cancer, one has retired and another one is working on other interests.

In the coming year, we will work on trail-development on the railroad right of way south of McCall, building a new trail in Donnelly, holding a fund-raiser, and developing a pathways master plan for the city of Cascade.

If you have an interest in getting involved, please contact me, Steve Stuebner, Pathways President, sstuebner@cableone.net, or 208-484-0295. For more information, go to www.valleycountypathways.org.