Called Fairbanks Trails Inc., it was incorporated as a non-profit with the State of Alaska in January by long-time trails advocates and Larsen Hess, Barbara Lorz and Stan Justice.
“I became aware that other communities like Juneau and Sitka and Mat Su have a trail organization and we don't have one here,” Justice said.
Justice says this is not a hiking club, but a trail maintenance group. He says there is lots of networking among local organizations, like Running Club North, Fairbanks Cycle Club, the Alaska Dog Mushers Association and Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks, who all contribute to maintaining the thousands of miles of trails in the Fairbanks Area.
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“And each one is kind of focused on their activity, but there was no organization that was really doing what TrailMix does in Juneau and what Sitka Trailworks does in Sitka,” Justice said.
So, the group was formed for Fairbanks. It is focused on maintenance right now. It mostly connects people on the Fairbanks Trails Inc. Facebook Page to take suggestions for projects and organize trail maintenance.
There is a work party scheduled for Thursday evening on the Skarland Trail, north of the University of Alaska.
“Well, we're going to meet on Red Fox Road, and it's where the Commuter Trail and Skyline Ridge Trail cross Red Fox,” Justice said.
Justice says people interested in helping should meet at 6:00 p.m., and bring sharp shovels, hoes or Pulaski's for leveling the trail bench. As well as gloves for hands and boots to protect feet. Justice says everyone who volunteers gets a club patch.
Justice says his own attraction to trails in the Fairbanks area came from the first year he arrived in Fairbanks as a student and cross-country skier.
CUT 4 “The first, first winter I went out and found my, I was just amazed I found like 50 miles of trails. And then the next year I went out and I found 50 more miles of trails,” Justice said.
He fell in love with local trails and now spends a lot of time clearing and leveling in the summer, and grooming in the winter. Starting the group is an extension of his networking with other trail users. He’d like to see it grow and serve more people, and more trails, across the Tanana Valley.
