2019 Update - Letter From the President
Happy New Year CIMBA members!
We have a fresh board of directors and are preparing for an amazing 2019. To start, we’ve listened to your comments and know that we need to communicate more. We’re working to change that and this letter is the start of that improved communication. This year will have more emails, social media, and events to keep everyone up to date. Also, while we weren’t communicating consistently, there was still a lot going on in 2018.
As a club we’ve stayed true to our original goal of improving trails in the area. The 2018 Memorial Day kickoff weekend Cow Creek trailwork and campout with CITRA was easily one of the best weekends I had last year. The two groups worked really well together- the motos cut out logs and debris and the masses of CIMBA cyclists and Payette Area Comp Team athletes cleared brush and opened up the trail corridor. When we got to the two sections destroyed by landslides, everyone rolled up their sleeves and worked together. What originally looked insurmountable was rideable in about an hour. This just goes to show how much we can accomplish together.
There was also great progress in 2018 on CIMBA's biggest trail project ever- the Payette Lake Trail. 350 volunteer hours, countless hours of Dave Bingaman's time as our Trail Coordinator, $245,000 spent on Progressive Trail Design on the PLT, and almost 6 miles of critical new singletrack built. However, we couldn't really talk about this project publicly or promote it because, literally the dust needed to settle. The late start, steep cross-slopes, and bone dry conditions created a trail tread that was 6" of moon dust with a lot of erosion potential. It will be perfect later this spring!
Our work on the PLT wouldn't have been possible without LifeTime One Track Mind Foundation's amazing support. In addition to that, we also received $28,000 in grants and $24,000 in donations from individuals that were put directly into the trail's design, permitting, signage, and construction. All the proceeds from our map sales go into the trail too.
With LifeTime One Track Mind’s support we were also able to spend $150,000 to hire the ICC trail crews to work on trails all over the Payette National Forest. Major improvements took place on 20 Mile, Cow Creek ,Ruby Meadows, East Fork of Lake Fork and several others. The end result is more sustainable trails- for all user groups- that the Forest Service didn’t have funded.
Throughout the year CIMBA representatives have been a part of the Payette Forest Coalition’s Land Allocation Committee to address the two major Recommended Wilderness Areas just to the east of town. The process will be long and complicated, but hopefully the outcome will preserve trail access for us and protect the land for future generations too.
Lastly, late in the year, CIMBA’s board reached out for new members. In December, Joe Weede stepped down from the President's role after 3 years- which is why I'm the new one writing this letter. Opie Jahn replaced Jim Fitzgerald as VP. Jim moved into the Secretary role and Corinne LaBella took over as Treasurer for John Link. Look for some short bios on all of us in the future. Until then please know that we all bring different ideas and are excited to get going on a really big 2019.
Keep the rubber side down,
Wayne
Wayne Ruemmele
CIMBA President