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The Third Fork Trailhead sign, seen Oct. 1, 2020, still stands after the Badger Fire moved through the South Hills, burning more than 90,000 acres of forest, sagebrush and grass south of Hansen.
HANSEN — A recreational-users group is providing manual labor to help in the reconstruction of several bridges destroyed two years ago in a wildfire that consumed 90,000 acres.
Members of the Magic Valley Trail Machine Association will contribute volunteer hours to support the reconstruction of a bridge on the Third Fork Trail in the South Hills that burned in the Badger Fire.
Byron Posey is vice president of Magic Valley Trail Machine Association. Posey said the absence of bridges has hampered connections on the trail network.
“When those burned it made it harder for people to access that Third Fork Trail and make a loop from Harrington down, or start from Third Fork and go on up all the way to Pikes Peak and that country, toward Porcupine Springs area,” Posey said.
Starting at 9 a.m. Sept. 24, volunteers will meet at the Third Fork Trailhead. From there, they will head to the bridge site to build foundations to support the bridges.
The foundations are called gabions and are made from wire cages that will be filled with rocks from the surrounding area, making durable support for the wooden bridges.
On Oct. 2, the Forest Service will fly in bridges by helicopter to be placed on the trail.
“On that weekend they want the club in there to help do trail safety,” Posey said, “to say, ‘Hey, they’re helicoptering bridges in, you can’t go in there,’ and help make sure people are aware.”
It's not clear when recreation will return to the South Hills or what it will look like when it does. But when it does, the people who use the area say they hope they'll be involved in making improvements.
Magic Valley Trail Machine Association was formed in 1963 to advocate for the preservation of motorized access to single-track Forest Service trails in Idaho. The organization has grown into a statewide advocacy group for dirt-bike and motorcycle users who enjoy riding on trails.
In addition to hosting regular rides on a wide range of terrain across southern Idaho, the group also regularly volunteers to clear trails in the spring and supports numerous maintenance efforts. A lot of the maintenance is supported by the Idaho Parks and Recreation Off-Highway Vehicle Certificate stickers that are required for motorized off-road users on Forest Service roads.
More information about volunteering for the bridge reconstruction and other events can be found on their Facebook page.
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The Third Fork Trailhead sign, seen Oct. 1, 2020, still stands after the Badger Fire moved through the South Hills, burning more than 90,000 acres of forest, sagebrush and grass south of Hansen.
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