From Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users:

Dear Friends,

As some of you know, the Forest Service, in response to a court order, has proposed three alternatives for the future management of roughly 40,000 acres of land to the northeast of Castaic Lake.  This area is referred to as Salt Creek and Fish Canyon.  In two of the three alternatives, large amounts of land would be designated as a “Recommended Wilderness” which would then prohibit any “mechanized” use including bicycles.

The three alternatives are summarized as follows:

Alternative 1:  No change.  The existing designation of Back County, Non-Motorized would remain.  Alternative 1, of course, is our preferred alternative.

Alternative 2:  The entire Salt Creek/Fish Canyon area would be designated as a Recommended Wilderness.  However, a number of existing trails including the  Gillette Mine Trail, the Fish Canyon Trail, and the Burnt Peak Trail would be “cherry stemmed” from the Recommended Wilderness and would remain accessible to bicycles.  If this Alternative 2 is selected, we would request some additional cherry stems and other changes.

Alternative 3:  This alternative would designate the entire Salt Creek/Fish Canyon area as a Recommended Wilderness WITHOUT any cherry stems for existing trails.  In addition, the new Recommended Wilderness would extend to the east side of Lake Hughes Road to include the Tule and Red Mountain areas just to the north of Tapia Canyon.  We oppose Alternative 3 entirely.

Here’s a link to maps of the three alternatives:

http://a123.g.akamai.net/7/123/11558/abc123/forestservic.download.akamai.com/11558/www/nepa/76364_FSPLT2_370978.pdf

We are asking all of you to write an email or letter to the Forest Service with the following comments.

1.  Identify yourself as a LOCAL resident of the Santa Clarita area who is concerned about a shortage of mountain bike trails in our area.

2.  Express a strong preference for Alternative 1 and request a study to be done for additional trails in this and other areas in the Santa Clarita vicinity.

3.  Request that if Alternative 2 is pursued, that it be amended as follows:

a.  A cherry stem should be provided for Cienega Canyon, a decommissioned fire road used by the Crank n Stein group and other cyclists.

b.  A cherry stem should be provided for Forest Route 7N13.1 from Forest Route 7N32 on the south all the way up to Sawmill Motor Way on the north.

c.  The area be designated as a “Special Conservation Area” rather than a Recommended Wilderness.

d.  The cherry stems should be wider than the proposed 25’ to provide for trail maintenance and accurate mapping.

e.  A provision should be made to move or adjust cherry stems in case of a need to re-route a trail on account of erosion or other similar issues.

4.  Request that the Forest Service ensure that the Golden Eagle Trail is entirely excluded from any Recommended Wilderness.

5.  Specifically ask the USFS if trail user counts were conducted on the existing and historical trails to determine the type and volume of traffic the trails currently support.  These sort of substantive comments can be used as the basis for an effective appeal.

6.  Finally mention that we cyclists value and want to protect wild lands.  We enjoy the solitude that can be found away from people and civilization within such back-country areas and don’t want to lose access to such lands in our own backyard.

Please email your comments to socal_nf_lmp_amendment@fs.fed.us or mail them to:

Cleveland National Forest

10845 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 200

San Diego, CA 92127-2107

ATTN: LMP Amendment

Your full name and address is required in order for your comments to be considered.

The Forest Service is accepting comments only until May 13, 2013.

SCV Trail Users

Safe and Equal Access for All Trail Users

SCVTrailUsers@gmail.com