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Jul 20, 2007
The Mt. St. Mary’s Trail is now being realigned and has been renamed the “Nancy & Dick Riordan Trail.” The trail will be completed in, approximately, November 2008. Until then, the Trail will be closed to the public due to construction hazards. The Riordan Trail, however, has already been officially dedicated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and half of the new trail has been constructed. For more information go to www.canyonback.org
May 8, 2007
The State of California is currently in the General planning process for this fairly new State Park. The plan calls for some of the existing trails to be closed to all users, some trails will be open to hikers only. The Old Santa Susana Stage Road may be closed to Mountain Bikes due to its Historic Status. There are also some trails near Oakwood Memorial Park that the Park Service may be considering closing to bikes and Horses to protect cultural resources.
We need your input. For more information, please go to the State Parks Site and check out Preferred Plan on the right side of that page. This is a PDF map of the area and it shows the trails. If you ride this area and know of trails that are not on the map (if they are not on the map they may be closed)and you feel they should remain open for Mountain Bike use or have other feedback, CORBA would like to hear from you. Please contact Hans with any feedback or concerns.
April 30, 2007
The most extensive formal appeal in IMBA’s 19-year history has culminated in an agreement that will maintain widespread bicycle access in four National Forest units in Southern California. With hundreds of trail miles at stake in the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino forests, bike advocates embarked on a lengthy appeals process to a Forest Service decision to close dozens of trails to bikes.
The decision was the culmination of five years of mountain biker participation in the Forest Service planning process. “Even when the documents and alternatives didn’t favor us, the Forest Service staff welcomed our participation and encouraged us to keep working toward a solution,” says IMBA Rep Jim Hasenauer, who began working on the issue in 2001 when the four forests first announced a joint planning process for trail management.
According to IMBA California Policy Advisor Tom Ward, strong partnerships with state and federal agencies hold the key to bike access throughout the state. “IMBA’s approach to mountain bike advocacy is to build strong relationships with land managers throughout California. We promote quality riding opportunities and work hard to create fun, environmentally sustainable trails that all users can enjoy,” says Ward.
IMBA Filed Extensive Appeal
In 2004, after three years of preliminary work, the four Southern California forest units jointly released alternative plans for forest and trail management. IMBA’s action alert generated hundreds of messages and letters urging that trails be kept open to bikes. “Although there was much that we liked in the original plan, we had concerns about some of the proposed Wilderness areas, the treatment of bicycles in ‘critical biological zones,’ and the ambiguity of language regarding bicycle use only on formally designated ‘system’ trails,” says Hasenauer.
In 2005, the forests issued a revised plan that addressed most of IMBA’s initial concerns. New Wilderness additions would have little effect on mountain bike opportunities, bikes would be allowed on trails in the “critical biological zones” unless specifically prohibited, and the Forests promised to deal with the “unofficial” trails issue with public participation, over time.
In Oct. of 2006, the San Bernardino National Forest indicated its intention to close all “non-system trails” to bicycles. “We felt that was inconsistent with the 2005 plan,” says Hasenauer. The Forest disagreed, but met with local bicyclists to inventory and keep some of those trails open. The local mountain biking community stepped up to help the Forest identify important trails for mountain bikes and the Forest agreed to delay the closure.
At the same time, Hasenauer worked with fellow IMBA Rep Daniel Greenstadt, IMBA’s Gary Sprung (then Senior Policy Adviser, now an independent contractor) and Washington-based policy advisor Kirk Bailey to develop an official appeal. “The appeal was the most extensive public participation document that IMBA has ever developed,” says Hasenauer. “Most appeals are quickly disqualified, but ours went forward.”
Meetings Lead to Withdrawal of Appeal
In Nov. 2006, Hasenauer met with the Southern California Forest Supervisors and staff. “We agreed that the three other forests had a more reasonable approach and we’re in fact, a more reasonable interpretation of the new plans,” says Hasenauer. “We agreed that there would need to be a process and a Forest Order before trails were closed. Bicyclists could continue to ride such trails unless specifically prohibited. They also indicated that generally if non-classified trails were to be closed, they should be closed to all users.” That understanding resulted in the December 2006 withdrawal of IMBA’s appeal.
“This is a great example of how steadfast advocacy inside public participation processes can save trails. IMBA is quite satisfied with the resolution and we look forward to working with the Forest Service on trail management issues again,” says IMBA Government Affairs Director Jenn Dice.
For more information, Contact: Mark Eller, Communications Director, markeller@imba.com, 303-545-9011
March 29, 2007
The National Park Service hosted a Listening Session at the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles. With the Centennial of the National Park Service approaching in 2016, the agency hosted Listening Sessions nationwide to hear from the public to help craft a vision for the next century. NPS Superintendents from all over the Western United States including the Western Regional Director, Jon Jarvis, and many NPS rangers and managers were in attendance to facilitate discussions and take public input back to be compiled and presented to the White House as part of the Centennial Initiative, a ten-year plan to invigorate national parks and prepare for the next century. The Centennial Initiative provides $100 million per year to the NPS above and beyond the annual budget for investment into the National Park system. There is also a provision of up to $200 million per year additional funding, whereby the federal government will match philanthropic donations of up to $100 million to the NPS for signature projects.
Three main questions were asked by the NPS including: what are your hopes and expectations for the future of National Parks; what role should the National Parks play in the lives of Americans and visitors from around the world; and what projects and programs would you like to see completed. Despite these questions, a handful of anti-mountain bikers were in attendance suggesting that mountain bikes not be a part of the future of our National Parks. Fortunately, CORBA board members Jeff, Louisa and Gary were there to add balance to the discussion, provide input and also note how successful multi-use trails are in our local National Parks (i.e., Cheeseboro) as well as the amazing experiences that are available at parks such as Joshua Tree and Chaco Canyon.
We also shared our vision for a National Parks system with more opportunities for responsible mountain bicyclists. Bikes get people out of their cars and into the parks. Mountain biking is a sustainable, low-impact, human-scale form of recreation that is healthy for individuals, families and communities. We know from our experience in the Santa Monica’s and other National Parks that bikes belong. We thank the National Park Service for hosting the Listening Sessions.
After more than two years of dedicated volunteer work by CORBA and MWBA volunteer sawyers, we’re happy to announce that the Vetter Mountain Trail, near Charlton Flat in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, will be open to the public this weekend.
Our volunteer sawyer crew has been cutting downed trees off the trail, clearing brush, and working to reopen the heavily-damaged trail. It is in one of the most badly burned areas of the 2009 Station Fire, and thousands of trees killed in the fire have been falling since then.
Vetter Mountain Trail, May 2010
We surveyed the trail for the Forest Service in 2010, the year after the Station Fire. The area had barely begun recovering and would need several more years before work could begin. Vegetation had to grow back, hillsides stabilize, and standing dead trees would fall to the ground. Intense poodle dog settled in not long after, increasing the hazards.
October 2015 we began volunteer work, needing to first clear the trail corridor as best we could, and in many cases, locate the trail. CORBA and MWBA Chainsaw crews began the heavy work. Sawyers have cut well over 100 trees that fell across the trail, and dozens more on the roads to access the trail, in ten days of chainsaw work over the last year. We cut back brush that was choking off the trail, and reopened the corridor. Three times over the past year we cleared the entire trail of downed trees, only to return months later to start again.
Volunteer Sawyers begin work on Vetter in 2015
Earlier this year, hot shots fire crews were able to fell most of the largest standing hazard trees, reducing hazards along the trail corridor. The rate of trees falling is slowing down, especially since the big windstorms of this past winter. Numerous dead trees are still standing, and will continue to pose a hazard for some time, much like many other trails in the recovering areas. Be especially aware if you’re on the trails in a burn zone during high winds or bad weather, as dead trees are especially prone to falling in these conditions.
Volunteers on National Trails Day
Last Saturday, at our urging, the Forest Service scheduled the annual National Trails Day volunteer project on the Vetter Mountain trail. Volunteer Crews from Coca Cola, MWBA, CORBA, JPL Trail Builders, Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association, National Forest Foundation and many other groups and individuals proceeded to re-establish tread and cut back brush. Sawyer crews chainsawed a dozen or more trees from the trail. Sunday, CORBA volunteer sawyers returned to continue cutting the remaining downed trees from the trail.
Today, Thursday May 4, the CORBA team will return to put some final touches on the trail, remove the last remaining obstructions, and officially remove the “trail closed” signs in preparation for the trail’s opening this weekend.
The Vetter Mountain trail has been closed for 8 years. It is part of the classic and much-loved Chilao Figure 8, a popular mountain bike loop that includes the Charlton Connector Trail, Vetter Mountain Trail, Mount Hillyer Trail, connecting fire roads, and the Silver Mocassin trail. It has been missed, and will be enjoyed once again!
Once lush with majestic conifers, and known for a series of switchbacks, followed by a flowy descent along a drainage, the trail looks much less apocalyptic than it did on our first survey in 2010. The area is recovering, but it is still within the burn zone, and will look very different from it’s pre-fire state. We’re just happy to have it back!
The Vetter Mountain trail has been closed for 8 years. It was part of the classic and much-loved Chilao Figure 8, a route that includes the Charlton Connector Trail, Vetter Mountain Trail, Mount Hillyer Trail, connecting fire roads, and the Silver Mocassin trail. It has been missed, and will be enjoyed once again!
On Thursday, in preparation for the annual Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days held every year in Pt Mugu State Park, I drove my now very dusty car down the main Sycamore Canyon trail and parked at the bottom of the Wood Canyon Vista Trail, a segment of the Backbone Trail. I hiked up the trail and flagged 59 spots where drains were needed – mostly to clean out existing drains that had become clogged with silt from the winter rains, but also some new drains about 2/3 of the way up the trail.
Saturday, CORBA volunteers and few others install drains and repair ruts on the Wood Canyon Vista Trail, a segment of the backbone trail.
Saturday morning, the State and National park services drove 17 of us, including 2 youngsters, and our work tools to the bottom of the trail. After grabbing our tools, we hiked 1.5 miles up to the work area, about 2/3 of the way to the top, and proceeded to work down. Altogether, we put installed or cleaned 26 drains.
The area of greatest concern was at the start of our work area where the trail passes through a grassy area and is solid clay. Most of the rest of the trail is very rocky. This clay section is pliable, quickly becomes depressed in the middle where a rut erodes when it rains. This section of the trail was completely restored during trailwork in February 2015, yet it was as rutted as ever after just two years. A narrow but deep rut had developed in the middle of the trail, just wide enough for a mountain bike tire to slip in and get jammed.
We learned that leveling the trail doesn’t last here, so instead we cut a drain in about every 50 feet. That involved cutting through the berm (the dirt that builds up on the outside edge of the trail and keeps the water from running off), the first few inches was as hard as concrete, despite having been rain-soaked a few weeks earlier. The drains were 3 to 5 feet wide. We used the dirt we dug out of the drains to fill in the rut on the trail. Now we have a section with frequent drains to keep the water from running all the way down the trail, and the rut is filled with dirt. Hopefully this restoration will last longer than two years!
Overall, we dug out 26 drains over 2100′ of trail and filled in about 500′ of rut! Well done, everyone!
Saturday restoration on the Upper Sycamore Trail.
While the CORBA crew was working on the Wood Canyon Vista Trail, the other volunteers (about 60 of them) worked to restore the Upper Sycamore Trail where Sycamore Creek crosses it a number of times. By all accounts, this trail was decimated by the stream. This is a very shaded trail in a deep canyon and popular with hikers, but it’s in the Wilderness Area and so closed to mountain biking.
Everyone was back to the staging area by about 2:30 so we spent the afternoon relaxing and chatting with friends until the barbecue dinner. As usual, we had chicken, hot dogs, veggie burgers, baked beans (regular and veggie), salad and garlic toast. It was up to us to bring our own beverages. As dinner was winding down, the prize give-away started. There were so many prizes that everyone must have gotten one.
Saturday barbecue dinner.
The work continued on Sunday morning with a much smaller force of about 30 total. We all shuttled up to Upper Sycamore Trail, then split into two crews. One hiked up to the top of the trail to work on tread issues while the other worked on clearing overgrowing brush from the bottom. Sunday is always a smaller and shorter event; we were back to the staging area by noon to enjoy left-overs from Saturday’s barbecue.
CORBA would like to thank all the volunteers who came out to help fix up our trails in Pt Mugu State Park. Everyone did a great job! And a special thanks goes to the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council that organizes this event every year.
You can see all the photos from this weekend in CORBA’s photo gallery, or photos from Steve Messer and Xander Tenai . Take a look to see what we accomplished.
A few dozen volunteers gathered at Malibu Creek State Park on Saturday Morning, Earth Day, to help spruce it up. There were three main projects: to pick litter out of the creek, to paint over graffiti, and to build an extension to the Grasslands Trail. CORBA and other mountain bikers worked on the new trail.
A number of years ago, a steep fall-line trail that connected the Grasslands Trail to High Road was closed because it was not sustainable. At the time, it was planned that a new, contour trail would replace it. After many delays caused by, among other things, fires and floods in other parks, the first phase of the new trail was completed this past Saturday!
This trail is going to have a great view!
The trail had been roughed in by a SWECO trail bulldozer in the past couple of weeks, so the job of the volunteers was to put on the finishing touches – removing rocks, smoothing out bumps, ensuring an even outslope so next winter’s rainwater will run off the edge rather than down the middle, and completing the uphill edge.
There were enough volunteers that we got the work completed well before the expected time of noon, meaning that we had a bit of a wait until the Subway sandwiches were delivered for lunch. That gave us more time to sit and chat.
The second phase will be to build a 16′ bridge across an intermittent stream. Once that’s done, the remainder of the trail can be built to finish the connection to the High Road trail that leads to Crags Road, Century Lake and the MASH site.
Thanks to all the volunteers who dedicated their Saturday morning to help with one of their local parks!
You can see some of the activities in our photo gallery of the Grasslands Trail extension.
SCV Trail Users volunteer at Placerita Canyon, 2016
Santa Clarita, California – April 14, 2017 – The Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users Committee (SCVTU) is pleased to announce their restructuring to become a standing committee of the Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association (CORBA), an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
In recent years, SCVTU has worked closely with CORBA on trail advocacy and planning in the Santa Clarita Valley and northern Los Angeles area. A committee charter was adopted by SCVTU, and approved by the CORBA Board at the March monthly meeting.
“This is a logical next step to strengthen the relationship between SCVTU and CORBA to increase our effectiveness as a bicycle advocacy organization,” said Steve Messer, CORBA President. “Together we’ll be better prepared to improve mountain biking opportunities in and around the Santa Clarita Valley.”
Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users has developed strong relationships with local land managers over the past several years including City, County, State, and Federal officials. SCVTU recently led a volunteer effort in the Placerita Nature Center to build check dams after the Sand Fire to protect the sensitive canyon from further environmental damage. SCVTU was also instrumental in working with the Los Angeles County to reopen the Canyon Trail to bicycles.
“CORBA has been a valuable resource to SCV Trail Users for many years. Santa Clarita is uniquely surrounded by open space affording local residents a unique opportunity for outdoor recreation on a beautiful trail network. Our vision is to work with local land managers to improve connectivity between trail areas and to increase and improve multi-use trail opportunities for public use in the Santa Clarita area,” said Ken Raleigh, SCVTU Chairman.
The timing couldn’t be better. With a new trail master planning process for the Santa Susana Mountains about to begin, and approved City and County trail master plans that include bike parks and new trails, there is a lot happening in the Santa Clarita Valley. There are also some challenges including the Sand Fire recovery efforts now underway. The SCVTU committee is hitting the ground running.
Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users Facebook page has over 400 members. The Committee is comprised of 10 members with founding member, Ken Raleigh, serving as Chair.
Monvovia Hillside Wilderness Preserve
Monrovia has started work on a new citywide Park Master Plan. The new Plan will establish a path forward for providing high quality, community-driven parks, trails, natural areas, and recreation services serving Monrovia.
For Monrovia residents and stakeholders, it’s an important opportunity to ask for better quality trails and improved connectivity at Monrovia Hillside Wilderness Preserve. Or you might want to ask for a pump track or bike park., or any number of other options. You have to show up and ask if you want them badly enough!
The City is holding a public meeting, and will also be taking input through the MySidewalk app.
If you’re a Monrovia stakeholder and have ideas for
Public Meeting: Thursday, April 13, 2017
Monrovia Community Center
119 W. Palm Ave., Monrovia, 91016
April 13, 2017
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Learn more at http://www.cityofmonrovia.org/recreation/page/citywide-park-master-plan
There was a baker’s dozen at this month’s Skills Clinic, an appropriate number for April Fools Day.
The Basic Skills Clinic is always held the first Saturday of the month at Malibu Creek State Park.
You can see the photos in our April photo gallery.
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