Had a thought the other day. I noticed that some of my favored trails have been clearcut in the past year, taking away the nice tree cover and putting the trail out in the open. Shit happens, logging is part of our province. We're really lucky around where I am to have a great organization working on the trails, and some of the logging operations have been quite cooperative with the trail builders. We will end up being able to reclaim and re-estabish most of what was cut.
What I think makes for good discussion, is what might one want to change on a trail that was built in the shade and now dwells in the open?
Without the trees, there will be more runoff, and faster runoff. The trails will also lose their moisture much faster, and get dust ruts in places that may have previously stayed hardpack through the summer. Also, may get a lot more brush growth along the trail, creating line of sight issues. Basically, the whole trail changes.
So, how might one take these factors into account during the reclaiming and rebuilding stage so that the new trail is better prepared for its microclimatic conditions?
One (perhaps far-fetched but not undoable) thing I thought might be cool would be planting alder or some other fast growing leafy tree along the trails (maybe 5 feet off) in the now clearcut sections. THese would grow to a good height quite quickly, provide initial ground stability (perhaps helpful in some areas), and more shade. You can cut whips of cottonwoods and other similar trees and just stab them into the ground like spears at the right time of year (usually about from now through the next month until the buds burst). Might interfere with any planned silviculture plans, but whatever, would probably provide better biodiversity than any plantation crop will. Might be a good thing.
Extra rain diverting features to prevent centre ruts?
Extra armor in the berms (blocks) to prevent slideout and dust ruts?
Thoughts?