Crowdog
08-08-2002, 09:08 PM
BLM dozers make path to off-road area
Added dam security caused need to find a new route to Chappie-Shasta area
Tim Hearden
Record Searchlight
August 07, 2002 — 2:12 a.m.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management bulldozers are blazing a new trail for off-road vehicle users to access more than 100 miles of trails on public land northwest of Redding, officials told Shasta County supervisors Tuesday.
The BLM has been working for the past two weeks on the new road, which will lead to the 55,000-acre Chappie-Shasta Off Highway Vehicle Area from near Matheson Road north of Keswick.
The new access road is expected to be opened in September or October, as soon as the Bureau of Reclamation cordons off a toxic waste site known informally as the old Matheson mine, said Chuck Schultz, the BLM's field office manager in Redding.
"The road actually is going to be finished by the end of this week, but will not be open for public use until the Matheson site has been mitigated for public access," Schultz said after the supervisors' meeting.
North state leaders have been searching for a new entry to Chappie-Shasta since the post-Sept. 11 closure of the road across Shasta Dam, which off-highway vehicle enthusiasts used to get to their main staging area on Coram Road. People can now cross the dam only if they obtain a permit from the Bureau of Reclamation at least three days in advance.
Supervisors in April supported OHV users' proposal to use the Sacramento River Rail Trail from Keswick all the way to the staging area near the dam, despite complaints from hikers, bicyclists and others that motorized vehicles would threaten their safety.
About a one-mile section of the Rail Trail from Matheson Road to the Matheson mine area is already open to motorized vehicles. But the BLM has put off a decision on whether to reopen the remainder of the trail until after the Bureau of Reclamation fences off the toxic site, Schultz said.
The bureau also must seal the road leading to the area, where arsenic and lead-laced dust has remained for more than 50 years from a pyrite ore-shipping operation abandoned decades ago. A project to remove the dust entirely is set for completion by October 2003.
Meanwhile, the BLM has received several easements on private property to build the alternative road, which leads from the Rail Trail near the Matheson mine site west and then north to Coram Road.
Ohl Olson, an off-road enthusiast from Redding, called the new road's construction a "Band-Aid," adding the off-road park will still likely not be accessible for people who want to camp in their RVs and use the park.
"I still feel the BLM has put this on the back burner," Olson said, "but at least they're doing a little bit."
A technical committee, which includes county Supervisors Irwin Fust and Molly Wilson and various users of the area, is still considering whether the bulk of the Rail Trail should be opened to motorized vehicles once the new access road is available, Schultz said.
The BLM is still trying to acquire another piece of private land to build a second section of road that bypasses the Rail Trail and the Matheson mine site by establishing a new staging area on Matheson Road to the south, Schultz said.
Supervisor Glenn Hawes lamented that it appears the closure of the dam finally motivated the BLM to seek a new access route.
"I just hate to think it took something like this to get another way in there," Hawes said. "We've been talking about this for quite some time."
Reporter Tim Hearden can be reached at 225-8224 or at thearden@redding.com.
Wednesday, August 7, 2002
http://www.redding.com/news/stories/20020807lo024.shtml
Added dam security caused need to find a new route to Chappie-Shasta area
Tim Hearden
Record Searchlight
August 07, 2002 — 2:12 a.m.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management bulldozers are blazing a new trail for off-road vehicle users to access more than 100 miles of trails on public land northwest of Redding, officials told Shasta County supervisors Tuesday.
The BLM has been working for the past two weeks on the new road, which will lead to the 55,000-acre Chappie-Shasta Off Highway Vehicle Area from near Matheson Road north of Keswick.
The new access road is expected to be opened in September or October, as soon as the Bureau of Reclamation cordons off a toxic waste site known informally as the old Matheson mine, said Chuck Schultz, the BLM's field office manager in Redding.
"The road actually is going to be finished by the end of this week, but will not be open for public use until the Matheson site has been mitigated for public access," Schultz said after the supervisors' meeting.
North state leaders have been searching for a new entry to Chappie-Shasta since the post-Sept. 11 closure of the road across Shasta Dam, which off-highway vehicle enthusiasts used to get to their main staging area on Coram Road. People can now cross the dam only if they obtain a permit from the Bureau of Reclamation at least three days in advance.
Supervisors in April supported OHV users' proposal to use the Sacramento River Rail Trail from Keswick all the way to the staging area near the dam, despite complaints from hikers, bicyclists and others that motorized vehicles would threaten their safety.
About a one-mile section of the Rail Trail from Matheson Road to the Matheson mine area is already open to motorized vehicles. But the BLM has put off a decision on whether to reopen the remainder of the trail until after the Bureau of Reclamation fences off the toxic site, Schultz said.
The bureau also must seal the road leading to the area, where arsenic and lead-laced dust has remained for more than 50 years from a pyrite ore-shipping operation abandoned decades ago. A project to remove the dust entirely is set for completion by October 2003.
Meanwhile, the BLM has received several easements on private property to build the alternative road, which leads from the Rail Trail near the Matheson mine site west and then north to Coram Road.
Ohl Olson, an off-road enthusiast from Redding, called the new road's construction a "Band-Aid," adding the off-road park will still likely not be accessible for people who want to camp in their RVs and use the park.
"I still feel the BLM has put this on the back burner," Olson said, "but at least they're doing a little bit."
A technical committee, which includes county Supervisors Irwin Fust and Molly Wilson and various users of the area, is still considering whether the bulk of the Rail Trail should be opened to motorized vehicles once the new access road is available, Schultz said.
The BLM is still trying to acquire another piece of private land to build a second section of road that bypasses the Rail Trail and the Matheson mine site by establishing a new staging area on Matheson Road to the south, Schultz said.
Supervisor Glenn Hawes lamented that it appears the closure of the dam finally motivated the BLM to seek a new access route.
"I just hate to think it took something like this to get another way in there," Hawes said. "We've been talking about this for quite some time."
Reporter Tim Hearden can be reached at 225-8224 or at thearden@redding.com.
Wednesday, August 7, 2002
http://www.redding.com/news/stories/20020807lo024.shtml