East Cross Forest Cleanup

[whateverworks]

Hey All
As we all know that Burkton Pits... Old Baldy... Test Hill... Whatever name you may know it has been taken in by the Kawartha Conservation Authority and is being as we speek closed to all off-road vehicles and is patrolled by security at times to keep people off the area.

http://www.kawarthaconservation.com/conservation_areas/ecf/index.html

Ya it sounds bad for trails that are now gone. But wait...

I have been in contact with the Kawartha Conservation Authority and speeking with Kristie Virgoe (Manager, Environmental Protection and Restoration) who has been more than happy to keep me informed as to what is happening with the area.

Kristie has also let me know that they are more than willing to work with us in cleaning the area and also taking all ideas as to what will happen in 2009.

The only proposal that has gone through is that the KCA has recieved the funding to take the land and it's managment into there hands. They are now trying to do an enviromental assessment to the area to see what parts need priority ptotection and what other things with parts of the land they can also do. They have not ruled out ORV use for the future as of yet... They know and understand the area has a history of ORV use, although illegal it has a history.

Here is a link to the Durham 4x4 forum that I have been adding onto since I first got in touch with them.

http://durham4x4.com/4x4/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=363

I have been trying to schedule a trail clean up of the area so that maybe we as ORV enthusiast can be in not only the good graces of the public but also be in good graces as a whole with the comunity.

So far I have gotten good responces from KCA and in particular, Kristie Virgoe and she has scheduled a meeting with them on March 23 at 10:00am as shown on the link above. I am looking forward to this meeting as they seem to be wanting to work with us with open arms.

Anyone who has ever used Burkton Pits (Old baldy, Test Hill) wether illegaly or tresspassing know what potential this area has.
Anyone who would like to help out on this clean up endeavour we could use all the help we can get. Contact me via pm on this forum or on the Durham 4x4 forum...

http://durham4x4.com/4x4/index.php

I will do my best to respond right away.

Hope to hear from you.
Kelly Esau

[whateverworks]

Hey All
Todays meeting with the KCA turned out great!! Chris and I had John Bridgman from OF4WD join us and we went over many issues concerning many issues with the clean up as well as logistics and some great ideas were passed along from everyone. We and the KCA have not hammered out all the details for confirmation.
Kristie Virgoe made the inititial meeting a joy as she is very informative of what is going on with the area as well as future expansion as well.
We look forward to discussing more issues and ideas with Kristie as we will be having more meetings as well as comunication with Kristie and the KCA.
Once all the details are confirmed we will inform you all of dates and awareness for this endeavour.
Kristie has made it very clear that there is no promise of keeping trails open for ORV use but has promised us she will do everything in her power to try and keep some of the area open for all factions of ORV use.
Please stay tuned and we will definately keep you all informed of the rest of the details as they come to life.
Kelly

[whateverworks]

An email from Kristie Virgoe...

Good afternoon all:

Just to let you know that we now have the sign-up form on our website for
anyone interested in volunteering for the clean-up. Can you please get this
information out to your groups asap. I am asking that people preregister so
that I have an idea of how many people and what types of equipment we have.
If people don't have access to the web or a fax machine, they can call and
register at our office.

Thanks
K.

Kristie Virgoe
Manager, Environmental Protection and Restoration
Kawartha Conservation

Here is the link with information as well as registration for volunteers.

http://www.kawarthaconservation.com/conservation_areas/ecf/ECF%20clean%20up%20sign%20up2.html

Many Thanks To All
Kelly

[whateverworks]

I CAN'T SAY THANKS ENOUGH TO ALL THOSE WHO HELPED OUT!!!!!

With almost 75 people there it was AWESOME to see all those people for a worthy cause. I wish I could remember the name of the lady who was with me but she is the one donating 25 acres of her land towards the ECF and was very excited about being in a 4x4 and can now see why we have so much fun in our trucks. She even agrees the area should be made into a multi-recreational area for EVERYONE to use and enjoy.

So much trash and so little time that it will be worth the effort to go back out and do it again.

Many thanks to:
EVERYONE of course...
KCA for letting and helping to arrange this day...
Miller Waste Management for use of trash bins...
Canadian Tire Port Perry for donating gloves and garbage bags as well as tools...
Canadian Tire Lindsay for donating the BBQ and the food..
DRPS for being there...
Canadian Shield Crime unit for getting dirty and helping out as well...
All the clubs... Ski-doo... Equestrian... Quad Clubs (I wish I knew all the names)
And Of Course... All those Durham 4x4 people that came out to help... You know who YOU ARE

Many Thanks again...
Kelly Esau
And the list goes on

[Atticus]

Good on all you guys who were involved. I've never been there but have heard of it. We just lost all access to the Simcoe County Forest up here. Wish they were a little bit more understanding, like the KCA.

Anyways props to you all.