Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship announces a $19,940.20 grant from Yamaha Motor Group’s Outdoor Access Initiative to help fund the continued restoration of the Mount Hough off-highway vehicle recreation area in the wake of the 2021 wildfires, which left lasting and extensive maintenance issues.
SBTS said the grant will help fund restoration work primarily on the Mount Hough, Tollgate and Indian Falls Ridge trails, which each sustained significant damage when the high-intensity Fly Fire started burning Mount Hough on July 22, 2021, then eventually merged with the Dixie Fire. The Dixie Fire burned nearly 1 million acres across Plumas County throughout the month of August. Mount Hough burned from its base all the way to the lookout on the peak at 7,232 feet.
Some locations on Mount Hough were lightly burned but most of the trail system received high-intensity fire activity, leaving exposed soil and many dead standing trees.
“After the fire, the ground was totally exposed with tons of ashy soil on top, which created a huge sheet flow of water moving the soil down,” said Henry O’Donnell, SBTS pro trail crew boss. “That’s slowed down now, but the brush is coming back really thick and there are still dead standing trees that have been there for four years. They are getting really rotten beyond the point where we can safely fall, so they’re coming down on their own and we’re moving them off the trail.”
Since the fire, SBTS crews have worked through the entire trail system for a full three seasons, focusing efforts on enhancing drains, constructing new drains, filling in burned-out stump holes, addressing sheet flow impacts and mitigating safety concerns such as hazard trees and punji sticks. Crews clear large debris and repeatedly clear after wind events. Last season alone, SBTS reports that crews cleared 1,164 downed trees and removed 150 hazard trees throughout 45 miles of the Mount Hough trail system, accumulating 510 crew hours.
The nonprofit reports that this restoration work will continue in an effort to mitigate three main fire impact concerns:
- Accelerated erosion due to additional sheet flows
- Brush returning at an accelerated growth rate
- Hazardous trees that are destined to fall on the trails
The Yamaha grant will support this work through the initiative’s efforts to create safe, sustainable trail systems and improve OHV access opportunities on the Plumas National Forest, said SBTS.
“The Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative combines the strength of Yamaha’s national dealer network and customers to create a unified force supporting safe, responsible riding and sustainable, open riding areas,” said Yamaha in its grant award letter. “We are pleased to continue the partnership with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship in its efforts to create safe, sustainable trail systems and improve OHV access opportunities in the Plumas National Forest.”
This year’s Yamaha grant is a continuation of a partnership that dates back to 2020 when SBTS received a $26,822 grant that enabled SBTS to purchase an enclosed trailer and stock it full of tools to host volunteer trail days. In 2023, a second grant, totaling $30,885, allowed the trail crew to purchase a portable fire suppression unit for on-trail fire suppression and a water source for trail work. The second grant also funded the purchase of a powered wheelbarrow and covered the cost of a dozer rental, trail signs and crew staffing costs to complete recovery work on the Cleghorn Bar OHV trail, which burned in the North Complex Fire in 2020.
More information about Yamaha’s Outdoor Access Initiative is available at YamahaOAI.com.
Information provided by Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship
