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Source: Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UtahOct.mini storage 19--OGDEN -- Now that the government shutdown is over, Top of Utah campgrounds, facilities and all trails on federal lands are open again, but the National Forest Service still has some work to do.During the 16-day shutdown of the federal government, which ended Thursday, all Forest Service visitor centers and offices were closed, trailhead facilities like toilets and garbage cans were not serviced, trails were not maintained and while most of the trails remained open, some sections were gated.U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Jo Pollock said trail maintenance shouldn't be too much of an issue as Forest Service crews get back to work, but some tidying up, both literally and figuratively, will be in order."The shutdown was only a little over two weeks, so maintenance shouldn't be a problem," Pollock said. "But there are some areas that were locked up during that time, so we'll have to go in and clean up some of the picnic areas and campgrounds and check the trailheads and things like that."Pollock also said that Forest Service workers are playing a major game of catch-up when it comes to some administrative duties."Since we've come back, we've been having a lot of people call us, asking us what's going on and what they can expect," she said. "So we're spending a lot of time fielding phone calls and responding to people's inquiries."Rod Kramer, an outreach coordinator with Weber Pathways -- the nonprofit organization whose mission is to plan, promote, construct, and protect non-motorized trails in Weber County -- said he's been in contact with the Forest Service about some local projects and it's apparent they are busy trying to get things back to normal."I know we've submitted a nself storagew section of trail here locally for their approval and I've been told that it's going to be awhile before they get to that," Kramer said. "I know they're going to be pretty busy for the next little while, trying to catch up on everything."Kramer said Weber Pathways has solicited the help of some local school groups to perform some maintenance work on local trails during the shutdown, but he agreed with Pollock that two weeks without Forest Service maintenance on trails hasn't done much harm."(The shutdown) wasn't very long in respect to a season's worth of maintenance," he said. "But the trails are extremely busy right now with the great weather we've been having and all the fall colors that people want to get out and see. So, yeah, if it had gone on for any longer, problems could have started to develop."Local hiker Dennis Montgomery said that during the shutdown, confusion reigned for many hikers.Montgomery said he drives by the Beus Canyon Trailhead at the top of 4600 South in Ogden almost every day and during the shutdown, noticed that not only was the trailhead closed, but the entrance gate to the trailhead had also been closed and locked.Coincidentally -- or perhaps not -- the exit gate remained unlocked and hikers drove through the exit to park and access the trails as normal."I suspect some local Forest Service employee did as they were told and locked the entrance gate, but out of sympathy and common sense left the other gate open," Montgomery said.Contact reporter Mitch Shaw at 801-625-4233 or mishaw@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @mitchshaw23.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at .standard.net Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage