TRAL Monthly Meeting  

February 2, 2010 

In Attendance: Chari Ainsworth, Grace Aycock, Joe Aycock, Perri Bachini, Don Covert, Patrick Frawley, Paul Gieske, David Grunlund, Mike Housley, Deborah Mayo, Betsy Moore, Joe Osuch, Amy Racki, Dan Scheske, Rich Smith, Dennis Stadel, Kevin Thompson 

Rich Smith called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM. 

Event Updates 

Mesquite – Don stated that Sycamore Creek did a lot of damage from the storm last week.  Trees and boulders are missing, sand bar mid stream, deep pools, and drop offs along the banks.  Couldn’t get across the Sycamore to see if signage was still up in the Hanging Gardens area. 

Pobrecito – Joe needs volunteers to help cement posts in the ground.  The holes have been drilled and the pipe has been cut.  A date has been set for Saturday, February 13^th at 8:00 AM.   

Bulldog East – The area is staying clean.  The gate was hit sometime late Saturday or Sunday and the Forest Service made repairs. 

Bulldog West – The double A pit still needs to be fenced.  On Usery side, people are going around fencing and making new roads.  Seems to mostly be from the night users.  The storm last week blew about 40 to 45 Saguaros down along FR10 from Bush Gate to 3554.  

Forest Service Updates 

Travel Management - Amy reported that the Travel Management plan is on track.  The Environmental Assessment should come out this summer.   

Forest Service would like help GPS’ing dispersed camp sites along Forest Service roads.  Specialists will be in next week to start defining what qualifies the camp site.  They would like to begin sooner rather than later. 

A gate at 4 Peaks was ripped out of the ground over the weekend.  Forest Service has no plans to fix it at this time. 

Amy would like volunteers to design the layout for the new kiosk we installed this past weekend.   

Other Events 

Set up for the annual “Four Peaks Pick-up” will be at the parking lot.  We need to do as much educating as we do recruiting.  Forest Service will provide us with an OHV poster, Travel Management information, and information on when you do and don’t need a Tonto pass. 

Pot-Luck – A question was asked if everyone would like to do a pot-luck each month in conjunction with a clean-up, project, or training.  Everyone thought it a great idea.  We would need to organize food, or the organization could provide grills and everyone could bring their own food.   

A Board member asked if it would be possible to take the orientation training on the road and visit some of the other clubs to help draw volunteers for projects.  Amy had a concern that the group receiving the training wouldn’t be aware of who we are or what we do, and that the turnout wouldn’t be all that great.  Dennis said that ATV Riders has about 250 members but only 30 show up to meetings.  He would like to post TRAL’s minutes to the ATV Rider’s web site so word would get out of who we are and what we do.  Dennis will let Rich know when he can come out and do the training.  Same with Dave and Rock Stars.  A suggestion was made that the training could be rotated so a Saturday was included so those that had to work late shifts could attend training.  Dennis also asked if someone would need to go through the orientation if they were only going to work one project.  Rich said no! The person should be fine signing  a volunteer agreement form. 

Training – Amy will find out what is required for First Aid and Radio training.  Rich will get with Amy outside to discuss. 

The monthly Board meeting will be changing to the 2^nd Wednesday of each month due to Tuesday conflicts with some of the Board members. 

Rich opened the floor to discuss possible training topics that would follow the Board meeting each month.  The training would be optional, and more of an informational session than anything.  Possible talking points included discussing staging areas and where we like to stage, or routes we like to take, places we enjoy going to, etc. 

Virtual Jeep Tours has heard that Maricopa wants to close dirt roads for dust abatement.  Amy said it mostly affects the Globe Ranger District more than the Mesa District.  Basically, the EPA came out several years ago and told the State that they wouldn’t fund transportation projects unless they fix the air quality.  The State passed it on to the counties, and the counties passed it on to the cities.  A perfect example is Scottsdale and the Granite Mountain area that closed.  

Board Updates 

Rich recapped the Board of Directors meeting from January 27^th. 

With no other business to address, the meeting was adjourned at 8:11 PM