Status
In 2016, Y2U adopted the 1.2-mile Limber Pine Trail in the Bear River Range in the Logan Ranger District of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. This trail is a heavily visited location near Bear Lake and receives over one-hundred visits per day during the summer months. By adopting this trail, maintaining the educational signs, and visiting with hikers, Y2U engages users by creating a dialogue regarding the surrounding wildlife, watershed and human impacts. In September 2017, we received a grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) to conduct three (3) youth environmental education events at the Limber Pine Trail in 2018. During the summer of 2018 Y2U hosted educational events for over 75 students from rural northern Utah and southeastern Idaho, teaching the students about forest ecology and succession, watershed services and bird and animal identification. Y2U put together an extensive guide for each participant and encouraged the students to go home and “teach” their family what they learned at the event. In 2018, Y2U hosted 3 education events for 6th and 8th grade students from rural schools in Northern Idaho and Southeastern Idaho at the Limber Pine trail. The Herald Journal featured Y2U in an article about our adoption and maintenance of the trail and youth education programs. Unfortunately, Y2U did not host any youth education events at the Limber Pine Trail in 2019 due to the high volume of EA, EIS, and other Forest Service and BLM proposed project involvement requiring immediate attention and staff time.
Work Plan
- We will continue to raise awareness of the trail with social media and newspaper publications.
- Procure funding to host additional education events in 2020.
Expected Outcome
Continue using the trail for adult and youth environmental education opportunities.