FYI: Off-Roaders Push to Preserve Acess to Rail Trail

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Off-Roaders Push to Preserve Acess to Rail Trail

05/16/2001
Publication: Record Searchlight
Category: News
Published: 05/16/2001
Page: B4
OFF-ROADERS PUSH TO PRESERVE ACCESS TO RAIL TRAIL
Byline: Tim Hearden***
* BLM says ban would make recreation area safer
* A vigorous debate between off-road vehicle users and other outdoor
enthusiasts prompted Shasta County supervisors to take a longer look at a
proposed motor vehicle ban on the new Sacramento River Rail Trail.
* More than a dozen speakers at Tuesday's meeting were about evenly divided
in their opinions of the ban, as offroad vehicle users said they wanted to
use the trail as an alternate route in and out of their 55,000-acre park near
Shasta Dam.
* Supervisors delayed a decision on the ban for six weeks so they can tour
the site, research the ban's impact on people with disabilities and enable
off-road vehicle enthusiasts to continue a dialogue with the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management, which owns much of the land the trail traverses.
* I'm a little uncomfortable with this, said Supervisor Irwin Fust, referring
to off-roaders' assertion that their only access road, Coram Road, has become
so overused that it is unsafe.
* The BLM wants the vehicle and gun ban to promote safety on the new
nine-mile trail, which runs on an old railroad bed from Keswick to the base
of the Shasta Dam.
* Bicyclists, runners and horseback riders told supervisors that firearms and
motor vehicles were incompatible with other trail uses.
* Supervisors said they supported the idea of a gun ban near the trail and
also favored closing the trail and the Keswick Lake boat launch area at
night. But as for the motor vehicle ban, Fust said he'd like to be sure that
an alternative road will eventually be built for the off-road vehicle park,
which has 250 miles of roads and trails.