Opinion ID: 3036664
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the trail

Text: Musselman’s accident occurred at a sudden and steep drop on the Big Sky Trail. At the time of the accident, there were no signs warning of the hill or instructing riders to slow down. Numerous witnesses suggested at trial that it was unusual for such a drop not to be signed and that a trail of such abrupt steepness was rare. The Forest Service has sole responsibility for identifying and correcting hazards on the Big Sky Trail. To identify hazards, the Forest Service engages in a process called “warranting.” The program manager for the Gallatin National Forest described the process as “identifying the hazards that our average, prudent, reasonable rider would not expect based on a spectrum of users that we had out there.” Forest Service employees identify hazards during warranting by riding the trail at 35 mph during the day. Upon identifying a hazard, the Forest Service closes the trail, corrects the hazard, or warns the user. The Forest Service does not warrant trails at night, OBERSON v. USDA 2875 on the assumption that reflectors and a rider’s judgment as to the appropriate speed will provide sufficient protection. The Forest Service originally warranted the Big Sky Trail in 1993, at which point it did not identify the hill as a hazard.4 The speed limit at the site of the accident, as on all other trails in the region, was then 35 mph. A month before the accident, the Forest Service implemented a new speed limit of 45 mph solely for consistency with the speed limit in effect in adjacent Yellowstone National Park. The Forest Service did not warrant the trails at 45 mph. Sixteen days before Musselman’s accident, two snowmobiles and a snow grooming machine were involved in an accident at the hill in question. The snowmobiles were traveling in clear weather at night, going 35-40 mph, which the investigation report characterized as too fast based upon the conditions. The two snowmobiles collided with the grooming machine immediately after coming over the crest of the hill. In a Forest Service re-creation following the accident, an observer 100 feet back from the hill could not see the grooming machine, equipped with two headlights and a flashing light on top, when it was at the bottom of the hill. Although the collision caused only minor damage to the involved machines and no personal injury, the district court found that the accident could have resulted in serious injury to the riders.