Butter Gap Project Update

Since our last Chapter Update & Social, Pisgah Area SORBA (PAS) has continued to make progress on the Butter Gap Project. We’re excited to share the most recent project updates and keep our community informed.At the end of February, Pisgah Area SORBA formed a selection committee consisting of Board Members and Trail Crew Leaders who are well versed in trail maintenance and our local trail systems. This committee developed a criteria for selecting a trail builder and will be evaluating each bid for the project on an individual basis. The evaluation criteria includes; portfolio of work with an emphasis on trail character and workmanship, organizational stability, communication, and proposed cost of construction.  After finalizing the selection criteria, PAS posted the Butter Gap project to the Professional Trail Builders Association Website on March 15th. Interested builders were invited to attend a pre-bid meeting and walkthrough of the alignment, which occurred on April 6th. The Butter Gap alignment had been previously walked and flagged by individuals from the USFS, PAS, and TPC in the months preceding the pre-bid meeting several months in the winter of 2023. There was a substantial amount of interest in the project from multiple qualified contractors. Bids from qualified contractors will be submitted to PAS in early May.  Pisgah Area SORBA will select a contractor by the end of June. Construction will not begin until the required NEPA decision memo has been issued by the U.S Forest Service (USFS). NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act, requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed actions prior to breaking ground. In late December of 2022, PAS was informed that one of the environmental analysis and a separately required archeological analysis were delayed. In order to help keep the project moving forward, PAS contracted an outside environmental consultant to work on the required environmental evaluation. The USFS anticipates the NEPA decision will be confirmed by the summer. An official start date for the project will be communicated once the NEPA decision memo has been issued and a contractor has been selected. The selected contractor will have one year from the NEPA decision to complete the project. Pisgah Area SORBA recognizes high caliber contractors often have multiple opportunities for taking on trail projects. Securing a contractor and extending the completion timeline prioritizes securing a high quality contractor as opposed to relying upon who is available in a constrained time period.Lastly, PAS will be hiring a Field Inspector to ensure quality construction, stewardship, and trail character are being fulfilled during the build. After years of volunteer-led project management, we are looking forward to taking this professional step in our organizational structure. If you are interested in applying and want to see further details of this position, please see our job posting!