Friends of Clifford Park

Exactly what proof do you have that this person was “clearing a new trail?” I was there that day (Sunday) and saw the person going off on the guy that was clearing an ALREADY EXISTING path. Let me add that I’m quite tired of walking through garbage, needles, foul graffiti,and whatever else people feel they can leave around. Yet, we’re flipping out about a good citizen taking the time to actually improve the park? Instead of posting things that are completely untrue, why don’t we gather the facts and then post accordingly? Exactly how does clearing leaves off existing trails encourage people to go off trail? That sounds made up. People are more likely to follow the clean trail, which is now easily found, as opposed to before where you felt like flipping a coin would give you the best chance at the correct direction. Let’s not forget the safety concerns, as well. Jagged rocks, hid under the leaves are dangerous. We should be encouraging care of our parks and environment.

All should be glad that there is now some form of stewardship over Clifford Park. I’ve been going back there since the late 70’s. It’s been the Wild West back in there. It’s come along way. Pot shots can be taken at the stewardship, but gets no where. I’ve exchanged many emails and messages on this personally with the leaf blowers and the steward who came upon it happening. There was good intent from both sides. I’m not sure what happened regarding recovering or blocking off of that trail after the fact. Let’s work together to make something of that situation. And make the park usable for all. Clifford Park has come along way with action from Parks & Rec, Rec Commission, Heart of Biddeford, Friends of Clifford Park and countless number of volunteers on organized events and those back there just cleaning up own there own durng a walk or ride. The heart of it all starts w/ working with all those fine folks in keeping the park open. Also respecting any current rules and regs. Don’t like it, let’s talk and try to change it. There’s a meet up @ Barreled Souls in Saco, tonight 5/9 @ 6:30pm. It’s intended as a MTB meet-up to discuss the local MTB community's uses of the park. And how we can help to keep that use and future help w/ the City on the matter. All are welcome to come along. I’m picking up a few pies from Otto’s if you want a nibble and talk bikes and trails. I want to hear “Clifford Park” mentioned in a positve note for outdoor fun as much as I hear “Smith Preserve”, “Bradbury”, “Gorham” and “West Side”.

This is Joel Bailey, the current chairperson of the Friends of Clifford Park. Clearly there is a discussion which needs to be had here. Wally is meeting with several mountain bikers tonight, and hopefully we can all meet and be on the same page going forward. To be clear, the concern here is that there are only eight 'official' trails - these are marked with blazes and/or metal tags and are maintained regularly by numerous volunteers, which is greatly appreciated. However, there are also numerous unmarked paths and cut-throughs, many of which are not entirely safe, the continued use of which could add to the erosion and disintegration of park ecosystems and wildlife habitat. This is not to say that such paths cannot be used by bikers, but that there needs to be an understanding of what practices are acceptable to maintain the park for the enjoyment of ALL users, as well as the natural denizens which make it their home. Personally, I have no problem using power equipment in the park for maintenance, but it should be a limited practice which disturbs the park environment as little as possible. Regarding unmarked paths, a limited amount of clearing is acceptable for safety purposes (rocks, logs, etc.), but this can easily be done by hand rather than with power equipment. We all want Clifford Park to be an enjoyable place to experience the outdoors and wildlife for generations to come. By setting some general guidelines and best practices to be understood by all, we can ensure this and share the park in the best way possible.

I’ve been riding these trails since I was 15, there has been one new trail made and that was about 6 years ago. Not even sure anyone uses it. The more disturbing thing is that some has taken it upon themselves to sabotage a trail creating injury to a rider.

Cynthia Wood Dawne Glover Provost Darlene Eldredge

So excited to see how it looks now. And can’t wait to see what happens next🤗

Awesome