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Planned Trail Not A Fit In The Forest?

    Recreational trails have been a public focus in recent years, with a system of paved biking and hiking paths being conceived and built throughout the state.  In Lake County, governments have joined the bandwagon, funding planning and construction projects designed to provide links to trails leading throughout Florida.  While a generally popular concept, enthusiasm isn’t universal here.
    The public gathered last Thursday evening in Umatilla to provide input on the continued development of a recreational trail through the area.  The event, hosted by Lake County, included representatives from the US Forest Service, the latter of which isn’t being shy about its concerns regarding another trail in the forest.
    Carrie Sekerak, District Ranger for the Ocala National Forest, attended last Thursday’s public session on behalf of the Forest Service and afterward voiced concern about the prospects of creating another paved ‘road’ in the forest, on any of the three proposed routes currently under discussion.
    “Lake County is an important and valued partner and the Ocala National Forest is working to find ways to accommodate the recreation access they and FDOT are pursuing, but it is not a benign proposal to one of the last great relics of real Florida and the FS ability to manage it for the public trust.”
    Of special concern to the Forest Service is the potential damage to the forest ecosystem and impacts on forest operations.
    “The stated objective of the trail proposal is to fill a gap in the Florida trail system," Sekerak said.  "The trail maps at the public meetings did not show ecosystems, rare species occurrences, waterbodies, or wilderness that the trail is affecting."
    The goal of linking a north/south trail to east/west trails around the county, including one under development along SR 40, has been a goal of the trail plan since its inception over a decade ago.  Going through the forest and providing a way for bicyclists, hikers, joggers, and other users a way to interpret the forest has been a featured goal of the project, but ongoing abuse of existing trails and other public use sites has Sekerak concerned that another trail, wherever it goes, will increase the risks to the fragile ecosystem of the forest. In addition, Sekerak fears more paved roads will increase the reach of those who inappropriately operate vehicles in the forest.
    "The Ocala implemented an OHV trail system in 2004, and yet we continue to observe the OHV and 4-wheeler destruction of ancient sand dunes, deposited by the waves and winds of an ancient sea, along County Road 445 and throughout Paisley Woods in the fragile and increasingly rare subtropical sandhill longleaf pine forest. As we commute to and from the forest, our employees are vigilant to avoid the teens and young children riding OHVs out of forest neighborhoods onto county roads and into the woods. The unintended consequence of the proposed investment is a concern for us in a rural area where residents own more OHVs than bicycles and hundreds refuse to stay on the designated trail system.  OHVs and motorcycle users who refuse to stay on the motorized trail system are frequent and destructive forces on the existing mountain bike and hiking trails, destroying expensive wooden bridges and boardwalks, widening the trails, and rutting through the forest floor making the trails too deep and sandy for a bicycle. We must assume the multi-use trail proposed would similarly serve as a paved OHV trail connecting forest neighborhoods despite its intended purpose."
    Additionally, users trying to follow the rules could find doing so more difficult once a trail is constructed, according to Sekerak.
    “The trail zone is where hunters currently pull safely on and off the road to catch their hounds during deer season. After its construction if they feel forced to pull into the intact native forest to chase and catch dogs it would cause widespread erosion and invasive plant colonization. We have asked that these concerns be considered by the trail proponents and a commitment to a plan to deconflict recreation uses, sustaining the zone from the highway to the forest as an ecologically healthy interface area despite many high pressures and multiple stressors, provide for rapid and safe ingress and egress for active land management and other uses, and include analysis of the cumulative ecological impacts of fragmentation, impervious surface, and heat signature created by an additional 14-foot corridor of asphalt along the highway.”
    Lake County officials on Thursday estimated the cost of constructing a paved trail is around $1 million per mile, a big investment that Sekerak fears could be damaged during regular forest service operations, in addition to providing a barrier should an emergency arise.
    "Ecosystem management in the Ocala is an active process that requires hundreds of trips by 80,000-pound trucks entering highways as we remove sand pine for the regeneration of a young scrub forest, thin crowded disease and fire-prone flat woods, and to support vital forest products economy; it requires rapid deployment of heavy equipment like dozers with plows from the roadside to catch wildfires, and our firefighters' ability to run engines along the highway - often doing U-turns and being nimble as fires spot and spread; it requires us to prescribe burn Florida ecosystems generating varying intensity fires along the roads in order to sustain Florida's remnant fire-dependent ecosystems and protect homes from severe wildfires; we work to sustain the rich diversity of plants in or ecosystems and must control non-native invasive vegetation threatening Ocala's ecosystems that mostly come from roadside areas prone to infestations as they are rutted and mowed to the soil surface.
    "As we responded to the wildfire in Juniper Prairie Wilderness and worked to control its escape across State Road 19 throughout the month of May, I envisioned the impact an engineered trail and swale system would have had on our nimbleness and ability to rapidly move and deploy,  the damage the trail would have sustained, and the damage the paved and swaled system would cause a 16,000-pound fire engine to have to traverse it multiple times a day and how the trail would have slowed our responsiveness."
    In the coming months, planners with Lake County, the State of Florida, and the US Forest Service will continue to develop ideas for connecting the trail from Altoona through the forest to SR 40.  How close to SR 19 should the trail be?  Should it pass by Alexander Springs, and if so, how would the trail cross the Alexander Springs run?  Is the cost to build such a trail in the area worth the potential negative impacts on the forest?  And finally, is there a real expectation of a large number of people coming to ride or hike a paved trail in the rural forest on a regular basis?  Will the economic benefits seen in some more urban locations be reproduced in and around the Ocala National Forest?  And if so, does that benefit outweigh the potential cost to the forest?
    The trail has backers who feel the benefits outweigh the concerns, led by the Friends of Lake County Trails.
    “Paved multi-purpose trails offer a tremendous improvement in the quality of life for their surrounding communities, but they also offer several economic impacts as well,” said Michael Stephens with the Friends of Lake County Trails, citing data that trails support jobs and bring money to communities, including increased private investment. 
    "Trails offer a great return on their investment, both in terms of a local economy and the community's quality of life.  They are a clean, environmentally responsible way to connect with your natural environment, and a great way to get out and enjoy what publicly-owned lands have to offer.   There are numerous examples of paved trails that have successfully been built in national and state forests, that have contributed to and supported the local communities that surround them," said Stephens.  "The county is spending millions of dollars to make sure the North Lake River to Hills Trail is built correctly through a full National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) study and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), working together with the USDA Forest Service.  The North Lake River to Hills Trail has now been upgraded to a State Priority Trail that can receive State funding, and it will be a tremendous asset for all of Lake County, as well as the surrounding counties that it will connect to"
    Whether a person is in favor of, or opposed to, the idea of a new trail being built through the forest, a deep dive into its real-world impact needs to be considered, says Sekerak.
    “The tradeoffs of paved trail gap-filling should be fully analyzed and presented for public awareness.”