Volume LI | Issue 3
10
TOMMBA TRAILS
& Connections Made
P
By Jac Talcott, Watershed Stewardship Coordinator
art of our mission at the WLAC is to enhance the community’s connection to our land. Achieving this comes in many forms, yet we seldom highlight all of the relationships made throughout our work. To help us commemorate the progress we have made, the following is a reflection of how one unique project built both a personal and professional connection for myself. In May 2019, I began my work here as a seasonal Watershed Stewardship Coordinator, just as the WLAC was about to acquire a property located off of Erickson Rd. Following the closing, I was tasked to work with the local non-profit Top of Michigan Mountain Biking Association (TOMMBA) and help complete a partner MOU and Trail Use Agreement. Mountain bike trails were planned to expand on the already popular Boyne School Forest Trails. This new trail system involved utilizing property owned by the Boyne Public Schools, City of Boyne, Department of Natural Resources and lastly, our own newly acquired parcels.
As an avid mountain biker, I was so excited for this project; but unfortunately I just underwent knee surgery and was expected to be on crutches for two more months. Additionally, later that year I would have another knee surgery which would put me off my bike through 2020. Regardless of my condition, I was thrilled to be working on such a unique project close to my own passions. With that energy and my crutches strapped, I managed to help review the trail layout with TOMMBA’s trail project leads Bo Mayfield and John Cowan. While crutch-hiking through the undeveloped hills, I made a promise to myself that I would bike these trails when they were completed. After finishing the Trail Use Agreement and MOU between our two organizations, my work proceeded to basic land trust recordkeeping and stewardship. Through 2019 and 2020, TOMMBA volunteers made progress towards completing the trails on our property. Trail development like this takes a lot of time, equipment, energy and dedication. The idea of having this scope of trail work done in two years would seem ambitious to most organizations, but TOMMBA is not the typical organization. Luckily, during this time I also became a full-time staff member and further assisted
with choosing the preserve name, completing the management plan, completing monitoring reports and addressing other concerns such as wild farm animals roaming the property. Two years after the beginning of the trail project, the email finally came through declaring its completion! With a lot of excitement, and several back and forth emails with the project partners, we were able to host a ribbon cutting event. This was held on August 21, 2021 at the new Boyne Forest Trail System parking area off of Old Horton Bay Rd. As a bonus, TOMMBA and the other partners gave me, and the WLAC, the honor of cutting the ribbon since our land acquisition piece was so crucial to the project. This signified the official opening of the trail systems, and I was finally able to fulfill that promise I made myself, riding our first preserve with mountain bike trails. Beyond my own personal experience, I see the connection of people to land as a very special aspect to our organization’s mission. Our leader and Executive Director, Josephine Roberts, has a saying for this, “small lake, big impact.” The memories TOMMBA Trails Preserve will create for both local and travelling bikers will go beyond Walloon Lake’s watershed and will help expand our positive impact on the community.
