Master plan for DuPont State Recreational Forest moves forward as visitation soars

As visitation soars, DuPont State Recreational Forest must seek infrastructure improvements to meet burgeoning demand or potentially risk irreparable damage to its natural systems, said forest supervisor Jason Guidry. The ultra-popular forest on the Henderson-Transylvania county border has named a consultant to develop its Master Recreation Plan, which will be a first for the forest, putting it a step closer to better meeting the surge of users.

"Given this level of visitation that was never anticipated for this land, how can we make it so these people can safely have a great visit outdoors?" asked Kirsten McDonald, information and education supervisor with the state forest. "And how we can also keep the outdoors safe from all these visitors?"

Previous coverage:

• DuPont State Forest sets visitation records, braces for new normal of 1 million annually

• DuPont State Forest gets $750K in NC budget for planning, trails amid soaring visitation

• In wake of 1.2M visitors Hooker Falls, other DuPont State Recreational Forest areas need repairs

DuPont State Recreational Forest, the N.C. Forest Service and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have awarded the DSRF Master Recreation Plan contract to Roanoke, Virginia-based Mattern & Craig, according to a Oct. 31 release from the state forest.

The engineering consultant has several other offices, including locations in Asheville and Charleston.

Mattern & Craig will collaborate with IBI Consulting, C2 Recreation Consultants and Terra Incognito Trail Consultants to develop the master plan.

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Guidry said the selection was initially announced by the State Building Commission on Sept. 23. After "several" statements of qualifications were received by the state, three firms were interviewed.

According to the release, the plan will make recommendations for recreational infrastructure improvements and trail system management. This could impact trails, roads and other offerings, such as docks, bathrooms and parking lots. Mattern & Craig will develop the plan using public involvement, research and direct observation of current use.

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Guidry expects the process to take 18- to 24-months, and hopes to reach final stages of planning in early 2024.

Currently, DuPont state forest and the consultants are "working on a list of deliverables and cost considerations," Guidry said.

"Once we have a full list of agreed upon deliverables established we will be able to identify future milestones. We would expect that some of the outreach efforts would occur throughout 2023."

Funding for the master recreation plan was set aside by the N.C. General Assembly in 2021. The state funds include $200,000 for the development of the master recreation plan and $550,000 for implementation.

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Guidry said the planning process will create a path toward greater sustainability in the forest and better management in the future. He added that he is confident in Mattern & Craig and their assembled team.

"I’m very excited about this because I think it's going to benefit the forest visitors and the natural resources that, as an agency, it’s part of our mission to protect," Guidry said. "For that reason, this place is very popular … with that, (it) puts a lot of these different elements at risk."

'More and more and more' visitors

The 12,500-acre state forest saw record numbers in fiscal year 2021, with a total of 1.3 million visitors, an increase of more than 50% over the previous year's 896,000, according to prior reporting from the Citizen Times.

In fiscal year 2022, McDonald said visitation numbers were around 1.2 million, putting it just below the year before. In coming years, she anticipates these numbers will continue to climb.

“The trend has been more and more and more and more,” she said of visitation. “I don’t think we will ever have a year where we don’t have more than a million visitors."

DuPont is the most visited state forest in North Carolina, with diverse trail systems and accessible, first-class waterfalls.

A steep increase in visitation, and the addition of new users over time, has put more strain on an infrastructure that wasn't originally built for such numbers.

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Guidry said they've seen damage as a result of more visitors on a "relatively small public land," such as streamside vegetation trampled, displacement of soil, trash left behind, people marking trees and more.

"What we're seeing is the natural side effects to that amount of people at this place," Guidry said. "We definitely don't want irreparable damage to some of these natural systems, and that's our probably biggest concern at this point. How do we manage that?"

Jane Dauster, recreation specialist, said there are 47 single-track trails in the forest, totaling 53.5 miles. Including the 19 roads and double tracks, there is an additional 25 miles.

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According to the annual report, the forest is managed for natural resource conservation, scenic enjoyment and recreational purposes including horseback riding, hiking, bicycling, hunting, fishing and other activities.

In addition to its trails and multiuse roads, the forest contains four waterfalls on the Little River, two waterfalls in the Grassy Creek watershed, six mountain lakes, and unique low elevation granitic domes and slickrock formations.

Among these are ever-popular Hooker Falls, Triple Falls and High Falls, all accessed from the same parking lot.

McDonald emphasized that the master plan − and the public input that precedes it − will prioritize the voices of all user groups. She said this was one advantage of an outside consultant. With a more objective approach and and fresh eyes, she anticipates the inclusion of all types of users.

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“I think a lot of people, when they’ve heard about the master rec plan, have been concerned that they will be excluded, that they will no longer get to use DuPont," McDonald said. "But that’s the plan at all, that’s not the intention here.”

She said they can't speak to what recommendations for park infrastructure might be until public outreach and research is complete.

“Whether it’s been a long time coming or not, what I do know is that it’s been needed for a long, long time," McDonald said. “We need to protect this area, but we also need to accommodate all the people that want to see how beautiful it is."

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: DuPont Forest: Consultant selected for master plan. What comes next?