Anthony Botello This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Standard Front Page

   www.standard.net/standard/news - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/19/2002   Last Visited: 4/20/2002

   Tony Botello, the trails manager for the Ogden Ranger District of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest said it is too early to criticize where the trail is located because nothing firm has been decided yet.
   
   Existing roads
   
   Wherever it goes, though, he said it will have to respect all travel management rules already in place in the forest.
   
   Botello said the road, at least initially, will be exclusively on existing roads on public lands managed by the Forest Service.
   
   "It might basically be a signing exercise, because they knew it wouldn"t be very well received if we started talking about building a huge network of trails."
   
   Later phases, that might involve private land or building new roads, have been delayed. Any new road built on public lands would require extensive public comment, he said.
   
   "It"s not even going to come into Weber County right now," he said.
   ...
   Although the trail would follow roads on public lands, the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation is doing the planning, Botello said.
   
   No final map

2. 2. Standard Front Page

   www.standard.net/standard/news - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/17/2002   Last Visited: 4/18/2002

   "Fifteen minutes from the city, and it seems like you"re way out in the back," Anthony Botello, trails manager for the Ogden Ranger District, said.
   
   Snowbasin is still deciding whether to open about 20 miles of single-track trails to public use or wait for next year when the remaining 8 miles are finished. The Middle Bowl Gondola could be carrying bikers up by mid-June if management gives the go-ahead and the ground dries out.
   
   And various other initiatives and projects continue in what Botello calls the most active grass-roots trail community he"s ever seen. Last summer, he said, it took no more than a few hours to see the first bike tracks on newly created trails in the area.
   
   ...
   "I"ve worked with the Forest Service for 15 years, all of it connected in some way with trails, and I"ve never been in a place that is more active than right here," Botello said.
   
   That activity includes the Ogden Trails Network, a volunteer organization set up by Ogden City in the early 1990s, and Weber Pathways, a nonprofit group dedicated to expanding the local trail system and educating the public about its availability. Over the years, the network has enlisted the help of more than 3,500 volunteers to create and maintain trails along Ogden"s bench.
   
   ...
   Botello"s 10-man crew will work with volunteers all through the summer to complete the $140,000 trail improvement project near Wheeler Creek.
   ...
   Botello, working with a small crew and a timetable - the Olympic-related money expires at the end of the year - notes several challenges in Coldwater Canyon: The terrain is treacherous; the trail must be designed to blend in, leaving the terrain with as few visible scars as possible; and the work must be done by hand.
   
   But Botello says the trail is essential to complete his goal of replacing "short, little, one-segment trails" with "trail systems."
   
   "In the past, they kind of piece-mealed it. They never really designed trails; trails were made by people using them and then maybe the Forest Service would come in and put in a bridge or something."
   
   Botello explains the reconstruction, a combination of old, redesigned trails and new connectors, with the flair of an artist.
   
   "I just went out there like there was nothing there, like it was a blank canvas, and built the trail where it ought to be, not where it possibly is," he said.
   
   Trail activity continues on several other fronts. Here are a few:
   
   Weber Pathways is currently urging various planning commissions in Weber County to adopt a comprehensive trail master plan in the Upper Ogden Valley.
   
   Bonneville Shoreline Trail proponents are pushing for the trails expansion north to Brigham City and into Cache County.
   ...
   Botello, who has worked with the resort on the trail design, is enthused.
   
   "If people are into lift-served mountain biking, they have that option. For those who aren"t, they can park at the bottom of Ogden Canyon and pedal up some killer trails to the top," Botello said.
   
   ...
   For trail conditions, call Anthony Botello, trail manager for the Ogden Ranger District, at 625-5112.
   
   Stay on the trail. Cutting switchbacks or riding off-trail can cause unnecessary erosion.
   
   Ride through puddles, not around them. This prevents multiple trails.
   
   Know beforehand if the desired mode of transportation (biking) is allowed on the trail.

3. 3. Standard Front Page

   www.standard.net/standard/news - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/13/2002   Last Visited: 1/13/2002

   Tony Botello, trails supervisor for the Ogden Ranger District, said the order was issued at the request of the Secret Service and has also been made a special Weber County ordinance.
   
   State Road 226, the old road to Snowbasin, will be closed at the boundary where public land administered by the Forest Service meets private land. All trails into and through the area will be closed and guards posted to keep people out, he said. Also included are public lands one-half mile outside of the Snowbasin ski area boundary and parts of the Snowbasin ski area that are used for training and racing.
   
   That includes Wheeler Creek trailhead at the top of Ogden Canyon, the Art Nord trailhead, and all others. No cross country skiing or other winter activities will be allowed from Feb. 4 until Olympic events are done. The Forest Service"s yurt at the Maples Campground will also be closed.
   
   ...
   "They"re not even going to let me go in there to groom trails," Botello said.
   
   District Ranger Ruth Monahan said the closure also includes all areas of Snowbasin that will be used for Olympic-related practice. The new road to Snowbasin will also be closed to all public access during the games, but Trappers Loop Road from Mountain Green to Huntsville will be open, as will the Ogden Canyon road.
   
   As a possible alternative, about three miles of trail have been built in Anderson Cove campground on the south side of Pineview Reservoir. The Pineview West trail is also open. Both are free to the public.