Dear Friends,
We are reaching out to all of you who signed the petition supporting equal access for all trail users, including cyclists, on the Canyon Trail at the Placerita Nature Center. Here’s an update.
About 25 of us met with three park officials from LA County Parks and Rec on August 19 to express our outrage about the recent closing of the Canyon Trail to cyclists. At this meeting, the County officials explained that the previous signs allowing cycling on this trail were a “mistake” and also cited environmental and safety concerns relating to off-road cycling on this trail. However, the County officials admitted that this is a matter of policy and that policy can be changed. Kimel Conway, the senior official present at the meeting, agreed to schedule a meeting with Russ Guiney, the Director of LA County Parks and Rec, if we would prepare a “brief” summarizing our concerns and the possible solutions to their concerns.
Since then, we have formed a committee to press on with our cause. Here’s what the committee has resolved thus far.
1. We have prepared a “brief” as requested by the County in preparation for our meeting with the Director. We are now working on scheduling that meeting at the earliest possible time.
2. We recognize that the issue is much bigger than the Canyon Trail at the Placerita Nature Center. Recently the trails at Vasquez Rocks were also closed by the County for much the same reasons. We need to advocate for safe and equal access to ALL SCV TRAILS.
3. We believe our best position is to advocate for safe and equal access for ALL USERS, not just cyclists. Even though others in our community want to exclude cyclists from the trials, we believe an inclusive position is most likely to succeed.
4. We have named our group the SCV Trail Users and will use the slogan, “Safe and Equal Access for All”.
5. We need to build a database of supporters as we will likely need to mobilize larger numbers at future public hearings. We will be using our Facebook Group, The SCV Trail Users – Safe & Equal Access To SCV Trails, our current petition, and this email list for this purpose.
6. We will be designing and distributing a flyer and a business card (to carry with you when out on the trails) with information about the Facebook Group, the petition, and our email list. We plan to make the flyers available at all of the local bike shops.
What can you do to help?
Please help us build our database of supporters. We believe this will be critical to our success! Join our Facebook group, sign our petition, and add your name to our email list. Please ask other supporters to do the same. And be ready to show your support!
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/saveplaceritatrail/
Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/canyon_trail_mtb_access/
Email SCVTrailUsers@gmail.com to add an email address to our list.
