Grant provides new way to blaze trails

BONNERS FERRY — 9B Trails recently received a grant that will significantly increase the productivity of its volunteers, thereby improve the time it will take to create the trails in and around Bonners Ferry.

9B Trails, established in March of 2018, is a nonprofit 501(c) entity that is made up of outdoor enthusiasts, with a goal to provide the community non-motorized public trails in Boundary County. They aim to encourage childhood health and social involvement by providing safe routes to school and enjoyment of the outdoors, as well as to encourage tourism and growth, furthering economic development through a connected trail system.

“9B Trails is a small group of trail enthusiasts who are dedicated to building, maintaining, and improving trails in the Boundary County and northern Idaho,” said 9B Trails Ex-officio Board Member and Volunteer, Larry M. Davidson. “This work is entirely dependent upon volunteer effort and takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to complete.”

Building trails by hand is a slow process, one that can take a physical and mental toll on the much-needed volunteers. A recent $24,000 grant changes everything, allowing them to purchase an excavator.

“Currently, our volunteers are out there building trail by hand, so this will help tremendously,” said 9B Trails Treasurer Tess Rae.

“Since volunteerism is so crucial to the success of our trail building work, we decided that the volunteers’ efforts could be better utilized if our group could purchase some essential trail building equipment to assist with the most grueling aspects of the job,” said Davidson. “To further that goal, we began actively seeking financial assistance from institutional donors in order to buy the needed equipment.”

The Equinox Foundation answered that call, providing the funds needed to purchase a Kubota Ultra-Compact K008-3 excavator, trailer, job-box, and ancillary tools and equipment needed to support the excavator’s operation.

“Equinox Foundation has long been a strong supporter of projects in northern Idaho that are beneficial to the public’s interest and enjoyment,” said Davidson. “Without strong support from the local community, and institutions like Equinox, projects like what 9B Trails are pursuing would simply not be achievable.”

Davidson explained that although small in size, the excavator has all the functional capabilities of a much larger machine.

“The excavator will enable us to significantly increase the amount of trail we can create in a given amount of time, with the machine doing the heavy backbreaking work while allowing volunteers to concentrate their efforts on finish work, thereby resulting in greater volunteer satisfaction and engendering even more volunteerism,” he said.

The time saved is significant. According to the International Mountain Biking Association, they estimate that a three person crew, utilizing only hand tools, is typically able to build approximately 200 feet of trail per day. The use of an excavator increases that ability by five to ten times. The results will be more trails for the community in a much shorter period of time.

The excavator, which was purchased from Boundary Tractor, is under three feet wide, making it ideal for trail work. It arrived recently and was assembled by Boundary Tractor. When 9B Trails picks it up, they will begin work on at least three of the five projects that they currently have on their schedule.

“These projects, in total, affect about 2,000 acres of ground upon which we intend to build and maintain no less than 30 miles of new trail, all of which will be designed for hikers, bikers, and Nordic users of all ages and abilities,” said Davidson.

With new equipment, the 9B Trails volunteers are ready to tackle the trails in a considerably more efficient manner that will save them time and energy, providing the community with more trails to fully enjoy Boundary County.