Although the subject of past abuse by ATV’ers, the site has not deteriorated appreciably and there has been some unofficial trail work done on the site.

Dave M. is a long-time Steward of the area who, due to circumstances, has not visited Telfordville for a number of years. This report is based on his return in late September, 2023. Unfortunately, photos are not available.

1. Inspection Report

Inspection Report

Question	Q##	Response
		General Information
Date/Site/Submitter:	Q21/22/12	2023-09-27: Telfordville (PNT); Dave Morden
Guest Names	Q14
SAPAA Member	Q16	Yes
		Over all Impression of the Site
What is the Naturalness of the Site? 4=Great, 0=Terrible	Q31	3
How Natural?: comments	Q32	Still lots of off-road use on the existing trails but hasn’t really changed much over the last few years. Lots of water in the trails in low places where tire ruts are deeper
		How was your visit to the PA?
Trip Duration	Q41	< half a day (e.g. < about 4 hours)
Why Did you Go?	Q42	Visit nature, PA Site inspection for SAPAA
Visit Details	Q43	It had been a bit of time since I’d last been out. So I wanted to just check out the general condition of the natural area since I hadn’t been out there for a few years. I wasn’t able to go through the whole area but the parts I did see hadn’t changed much since the last time I was out there. Strawberry Creek was actually very clear, but running lower than normal for this time of year due to the lack of rain, etc. The south entrance to the natural area still has the one big mud hole, making it impossible to go through there properly or easily without getting muddy. The north entrance has had work done to the trail leading in making it more possible again.
		What is in the Site?
Ease to Visit	Q51	Other (see comments)
Biological Observations	Q52	I didn’t see any deer or coyotes this trip out although I was hoping to see the resident moose that’s usually in an area. I did, however, notice the remains of a cow moose and a calf moose that have been dumped in the bush at the north entrance. I’m hoping that wasn’t the resident moose that I’ve been seeing for years in the past and I hope the carcasses were not a result of someone poaching in the natural area. Access to the natural area at the north entrance has improved due to someone doing repairs to the washout on the trail leading in.
Submissions to iNaturalist	Q53	What is iNaturalist?
Geological Observations	Q54	No real change other than someone improved access from the north entrance by fixing part of the washout on the trail.
Designation as a Protected Area	Q55	None Noted
Comments	Q56	This area has been designated as a natural area for as long as I can remember. I’ve spent many many years going out to this site even before I was a Natural Area Steward.
		Human Activities/Disturbances
Agricultural Activities	Q61	Other (see comments)
Resource extraction	Q62	Other (see comments)
Motorized disturbances (ATV or vehicle activity).	Q63	Off Highway Vehicles (e.g. quads, motorbikes)
Animal or self propelled activities	Q64	Hiking Trails, Bird Watching
Gathering and Dumping Activities	Q65	Other (see comments)
Infrastructure encroachment	Q66	None Noted
Comments	Q67	There’s an unofficial picnic/camping site down by the creek that has been there for quite a long time. It was very clean and not showing any signs of misuse or vandalism. The garbage can that is down by there is used quite frequently by the looks of it, so there isn’t trash or empties all over the place. I did remove some garbage, etc. that had been left on some parts of the trails but overall it wasn’t too bad.
		What Needs to be Done?
Remediation/Protection Activities Needed	Q71	Other (see comments)
What Have you Done Recently to Help the site?	Q72	Visited and Submitted This Report!, Cleanup
Nearby Stewards?	Q73
Comments	Q74
Last Words	Q82	It was really nice being able to get out to the natural area after a few years of absence. My visits to the area will be increasing once again and I’m looking forward to getting out there and spending time.