Here’s a gift with a bow for trail users – a new Kubota mini-excavator for trail building and maintenance.
The equipment purchase by Bainbridge Metro Parks was supported by a $25,000 grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.
The mini-excavator is the second piece of trail-building machinery funded by the Parks & Trails Foundation for the Park District.
A 2018 grant supported purchase of a PierTech “anchor-auger” system, used to safely sink steel pilings for boardwalk construction in environmentally sensitive areas. The PierTech system has been used to build boardwalks at Sakai Park and Hawley Cove Park, and a small footbridge on the Old Mill Trail near IslandWood.
“Trail building can be pretty labor intensive, requiring whole crews of summer park staff and volunteers,” says Mary Meier, Parks & Trails Foundation executive director. “Supporting the Park District with new equipment like this will increase their trail-building capacity while ensuring environmentally sensitive practices islanders want to see.”
Says Dan Hamlin, Park District Supervisor: “We and the Parks & Trails Foundation share the goal of seeing more trails built, quickly and efficiently and to high standards for users. The new mini-excavator will definitely help that.”
Park staff rolled out the new Kubota for the first time this past weekend, for the comparatively modest task of planting a memorial tree at Winslow’s Cave Family Heritage Park.
Sean Smith Sell, the Park District’s Trails Coordinator, and Park Maintenance Coordinator Chris Newlin guided the machine through its paces. Quiet as a churchmouse and purring like a happy cat, the Kubota glided around the park grounds, dug a neat hole and deposited the white oak into the earth with grace.
“I don’t ever want to get off it,” Smith Sell said. “Can I take this thing to lunch?”
A boost for trail building
The mini-excavator purchase signifies a steady ramp-up of Bainbridge Island trails construction.
The Parks & Trails Foundation will launch a major fundraising campaign in spring 2023, with a goal of expanding the mileage, connectivity and access of public trails islandwide. The Park District, meanwhile, is about to hire a third full-time worker for its trails team.
Bainbridge Island now has some 48 miles of public trails, a number that grows each year through the combined efforts of Parks & Trails Foundation (trail easement planning and acquisition, funding for construction and seasonal maintenance) and Bainbridge Metro Parks (planning and permitting, trail construction).
The Parks & Trails Foundation, City of Bainbridge Island and Park District are also collaborating to plan the next six miles of the Sound to Olympics Trail, from Winslow to the Agate Passage Bridge. A route study is now underway.
The focus responds to clear public demand, both locally and across the state, for more trails for active recreation and non-motorized transportation.
A new survey by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office found that 79 percent of respondents want more public trails for recreation, health benefits and connection to the outdoors.
Trails are also an economic driver. A study commissioned by the WA RCO found that trails contribute more than $8.2 billion to the state economy each year and support 81,000 Washington jobs. Spending related to trails use accounts for 1.45 percent of the Washington state Gross Domestic Product – 11 times more than commercial logging, and 7 times more than (!) brewing.
Bainbridge Island has become a “trails destination” on online travel websites and guidebooks.
Smith Sell said the Kubota mini-excavator was the consensus pick among new equipment showcased at last year’s Professional Trail Builders Association conference.
The machine is touted for its sure-treadedness and agility when building trails along grades and slopes typical of Bainbridge Island parks. The tractor-treads can be hydraulically narrowed to about 36 inches, for less intrusive access to remote park reaches.
“The idea is you go in and scrape the organic layer off with the excavator blade, then flatten out your trail tread,” Smith Sell said. “You need a couple people, maybe just one person to clear brush and that’s it. It can do the work of a trails crew much faster.”
A photographer festooned the Kubota with a seasonal red ribbon befitting the timing of the equipment delivery and first use.
Says Smith Sell, “I can’t wait to do some trail projects with it.”
Soon! The Park District’s monthly trails program and volunteer trail building events resume with the new year, supported by the new equipment.
GIVE THE GIFT OF TRAILS: Support trail construction and maintenance with a year-end gift to the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.