Trail Management Toolbox - Terms
Below is the agency’s online dictionary of common trail terminology, with definitions, photos and illustrations. These terms may appear in various trail publications and Forest Service policy. If there is a conflict in the definition, Forest Service policy is the authority. Many of the diagrams or illustrations are adapted from engineered plans featured on the Plans for Trail and Trail…
#Trails, #Recreation, #Infrastructure, #Construction, #Streams, #Soil, #Restoration
Trail Maintenance and Construction Notebook
This field guide is for agency staff, partners, volunteers, and all who help build or maintain trails. First published in 1996, this 2025 edition is the fourth revision of the notebook. It includes detailed descriptions of how to plan, build, maintain, improve, and decommission (or obliterate) all types of trails and trail structures. The new edition features updated construction techniques, diagrams, and sustainability concepts.
#Trails, #Recreation, #Infrastructure
From the forest floor to mountaintop: An inspiring ascent
From the trailhead, the Clear Creek trail offers jaw-dropping views of Mud Creek Falls. The summit of Mount Shasta looms in the background. (USDA Forest Service photo by Nick Meyers)
What’s a typical day like for a forest supervisor on a national forest? Well, they oversee how visitors use…
#Trails
Policy report: Dec. 27, 2023
Welcome to the Forest Service Policy Report! Our goal is to provide updates on agency policy actions, including directives, regulations and information collections.Recently issued directivesFSH 7109.52 Chapter 1 - Activity Evaluation Standards (12/13/2023)Updates terminology throughout the…
#Policy, old growth forests, #Recreation, travel, Special Uses, #Roads, #Trails
Blackwell Job Corps students apply skills across East Coast
Blackwell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center students Skylar Winters, Samarion Boykin, Justin Gatlin and Oceola Koontz take in the view from the top of Mount Washington, which is surrounded by White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. Photo courtesy Blackwell Job Corps Civilian…
#JobCorps, job corps civilian conservation centers, #PrescribedFire, thinning, #Trails
Immersive conservation education
Sam Bragg from CorpsTHAT (kneeling, left) and Angus McCusker from Velomont Trail Collective (right) providing instruction to Lexington students for trail maintenance. USDA Forest Service photo by Holly Knox.
VERMONT—Students from Lexington School for the Deaf made their annual trek to the Green Mountain…