Reader Input: Trail change should not be approved

There is a long history, dating back to the early 2000s, of the mountain biking community heavily lobbying State Parks to open the Browns Ravine Trail to bikes. This lobbying has continued at varying levels of intensity for the past 20-plus years, supported, funded and organized by the national and the California arm of International Mountain Bicycling Association , as well as the local Folsom Auburn Trail Riders Action Coalition organization. There are State Park studies which document the repeated failure of attempts to add mountain biking to existing hiking/equestrian trails by converting them into shared use (multi-use) trails. The following statements come directly from California State Parks own Trail Use Conflict Study, 2012: "The mischaracterization that there is no evidence of negative contacts between equestrians and bikers is entirely consistent with a pattern of lobbying by biker groups whereby bikers claim there are few or no negative contacts between user groups." "We discovered that the picture of successful trail sharing that had been presented to the Department by mountain biking advocates during the six-year advocacy process that preceded open discussion was not supported by the record. On the contrary, throughout the United States, a pattern of conflict and abuses on shared-use trails has emerged wherever there is population density. These include displacement, conflict, injuries, deaths, liability, and environmental degradation." "In the U.S. and Canada, recreation districts formerly supportive of mountain biking have closed trails and are in the process of closing trails previously opened to mechanized use. After years of investing recreational dollars, staff time and law enforcement resources into the shared-use effort, they have found that shared use involving mountain biking is unsustainable. This trend is accelerating." The above statements from State Parks own document, (the 918-page Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for the Road and Trail Change-in-Use Evaluation Process SCH No. 2010092023), provide a clear and sobering assessment that the proposed Browns Ravine Change-In-Use Project has little likelihood for long-term success. This document provides a wealth of other information about trail degradation problems and the dangerous conditions created by combining fast-moving, speeding mountain bikes (and E-bikes) with other slow-moving trail users (hikers, seniors, families with children, equestrians, nature lovers, runners, dog walkers, etc.) Although the mountain biking community has wanted the Browns Ravine Trail opened to them for a long time, the actual need has decreased in the intervening years, as reflected by the 50 percent-plus decreased use of the nearby Darrington Trail, a dedicated bike trail which parallels part of the Browns Ravine Trail. This decreased demand/use by mountain bikers of an adjacent "bike trail" certainly does not support the need to convert the Browns Ravine Trail to "multi-use" in order to provide more bike trail miles at Folsom Lake SRA. The trail use surveys from eight to nine years ago referenced in the Browns Ravine Trail CIU Evaluation are outdated and do not reflect the current trail usage by user groups. Hiking/pedestrian use of the Browns Ravine Trail has substantially increased since the previous trail use surveys. Overall trail user demographics have changed significantly since the original outdated surveys. Many more seniors are using the Browns Ravine Trail now than when the surveys were conducted. The argument presented in the CIU Evaluation for converting this trail to multi-use to serve as a "connector link" to other trails is undermined by the significant reduction in use of the Darrington Trail by mountain bikers. The CIU Evaluation's stated reliance on "self enforcement" by user groups is not a realistic way to deal with the dangers created by speeding mountain bikers. (Users have no enforcement authority.) Changing the trail to "multi-use" will drive current users off the trail due to safety issues created by speeding mountain bikers and will reduce public use and enjoyment of this portion of Folsom Lake SRA. (This is contrary to State Park's stated mission.) The following statement from the State Parks "California Recreational Trails Plan" succinctly summarizes the basic issues Folsom Lake State Park managers must consider in making their decision: "Such issues as overall user safety, levels of public use, resource impacts, and needed and available monitoring, patrol and enforcement should be considered when determining trail designations." Because the proposed Browns Ravine Change-In-Use Project realistically has little chance for long term success; because of the decreased use of the nearby Darrington Trail by mountain bikers; because opening the Browns Ravine Trail to mountain bikes will drive away current trail users; and most significantly because of the inevitable reduction in the overall safety of the trail users, this proposed CIU should not be approved by State Parks. Mike Finta, El Dorado Hills Have thoughts or opinions on this topic or another? Submit your Reader Input letter and share your thoughts with the community by sending them to: submissions@goldcountrymedia.com. All letters must include the full name of the author as well as address and phone number for verification purposes if necessary.