Program on the Environment

Urban forests are an important resource for cities and ecosystems, but they are prone to being overrun with invasive species. Restoration work, which involves removing invasive species and replanting with native species, is one way that this can be prevented. However, for this to be effective the sites must be maintained and protected. The purpose of this study was to research how to prevent social trails, which are informal trails in parks and natural areas that can result in trampling, erosion, compaction of soils, and potentially unsafe recreation conditions. Preventing social trails is important for protecting sensitive restoration sites and contributing to a healthier ecosystem. For my internship with Friends of Lincoln Park and Green Seattle Partnership (GSP), I restored a plot of urban forest that had a known social trail running through it. For my research in preventing these trails, I interviewed seven GSP Forest Stewards who had experience with social trails and studied surrounding literature on social trails and other related recreation concerns, like messaging as a way to prevent harmful behavior. Through this, I found out that a combination of physical barriers and messaging together are most effective at preventing social trails, along with proactive trail management like ensuring there are adequate formal trails in place. These results are important because they can help inform how to best protect restoration sites, which contributes to healthier urban forests and cities.