Mountain Bike Trails in Santa Cruz State Parks are a Priority

I had a great conversation with Karl Tallman - the interim Sector Superintendent which covers Big Basin, Fall Creek and Henry Cowell. Most of the discussion focused on a letter that I would later receive that acted as a response to our open dialog request.

I just want to say that our conversation was really positive. If you read no further I would just like to mention the major outcome: the number one priority of the permanent sector superintendent is to create more trail opportunities for mountain bikes. Let me repeat that: THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OF THE MOUNTAIN SECTOR IS TO CREATE MORE MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS. We have started this process and there will be meetings and follow up.

This is a huge concession to the mountain biking community and the recognition that mountain biking has been increasing throughout the parks. This is not going to be a quick or easy process and be prepared for setbacks and push back from other community members. However, there is definitely a new level of reaching out to the mountain biking community from our State Parks District so future access looks positive.

Our District State Parks has been filling their vacant positions recently and they have a new trail and roads co-ordinator, an environmental scientist and a couple of part time resource ecologists. You also know that they have filled all their vacant Ranger positions and are actively seeking a maintenance chief. Most importantly, they are actively looking for a permanent Sector Superintendent and they anticipate that the position will be filled sometime in April. These are the people we will be working with in order to create more legitimate riding opportunities.

What they don’t have is funding and the mountain biking community can help make up for that shortfall with donations, labor and trail design and building expertise. The local riders and bike industry should partner with our land managers to create a legitimate network of trails throughout the county.

We are looking at a very bright future for mountain biking in Santa Cruz County. The BLM Coast Dairies properties and our local state parks have land managers who are friendly to mountain biking. There has been some great work by Jesse Nickel with the jump/skills community. The local bike industry is world renowned. The Amgen Tour of California has shown the City, Visitors Center and Chamber of Commerce that cycling and events is a huge economic opportunity and are looking for ways to capitalize on it. It’s a good time to be a cyclist in Santa Cruz County.

And now for a plea...

A large part of the reason we got such generous concessions from our District State Parks is because you have supported the efforts of MBOSC. I’m just the tip of the arrow who can poke the beast but you are the wood behind the arrow to help me fully penetrate the belly of the beast. I speak for all of you and when we have more representation then we become a much higher priority for our local land managers.

If you are not current member of MBOSC then I ask that you join. We would like to make a donation to IMBA California - who has been instrumental in gaining these concessions - and we would like to fund future bike related projects in the Santa Cruz area.

In the past month or so since the UC/9 enforcement program started I have received many messages of support and we have many new memberships. I would like to thank all of you for keeping me motivated and fighting for your right to ride. Mountain bike advocacy is a frustrating and lonely job but I am proud to represent all of you and you have inspired me to work for the rights of mountain bikers in Santa Cruz County.

Thanks again for your support.

Our Open Dialog Request with our District State Parks

I had a conversation with the District Superintendent Chet Bardo for the Santa Cruz area State Parks to follow up on the open dialog request that we submitted to him and his two superiors. We made a request for an open dialog between Chet and the mountain biking community so that he can hear our concerns for additional access. The objective of the open dialog was to see movement on our existing proposals. This letter was really effective in getting his attention and he gladly took my call. We had an amiable conversation for about an hour.

The bottom line was that Chet said NO to an open dialog. However, I’m pleased to announce that we have achieved our objective without having to rent a space and rally a critical mass of 100-200 mountain bikers. Chet has agreed to move forward with some of our existing proposals to open new trails to mountain bikers. The letter accomplished two things:

1. He finally read and is currently responding to our trail conversion request. He has asked the Mountain Sector Superintendent to contact me (more later).

2. He actually pulled and read the Gray Whale file. The issues are complicated but he has a broad understanding of the issues associated with opening the trails on Gray Whale.

There were a lot of constructive discussion points and most of them sounded favorable to mountain biking (given his audience) but there are three specific points that he wanted to make to the mountain biking community:

1. Chet is one of our better recreation advocates within this State Parks District in many, many years. I agree and so other bike advocates who have worked with Chet while he was at previous position. He seemed slighted from the letter and he took it personally that the tone of the letter implies that this district is unsympathetic to mountain biking - which was true under previous District Superintendents.

2. His number one priority is to keep the park operations functioning. Very challenging in this economic climate so don’t expect quick progress.

3. There are a lot of new people in the district and there has been some promotions. There is a great opportunity to create positive working relationships with the staff. The new staff is going to try different ways to manage the properties. Enforcement is one such action (as we are all aware).

Some other points which were made:

The Big Basin general plan is starting up again. Mountain bikers should be engaged in this process to ensure that we are not excluded from the property and we may be able to make inroads on future trails and re-designations of existing trails.

Chet belongs to a group of local park professionals (Mid-Pen, POST, etc...) who regularly hold “what have you got” meetings and try to pool resources and strategies. They all agree that multi-use trails should be used to connect adjoining properties.

He thinks that mountain bikers are going to be important allies and recognizes the importance of the mountain biking community.

I will be working with the Sector Super to find common ground, look at the role of mountain biking and see what projects he is willing to staff which will be beneficial to mountain bikers. I will be discussing the existing enforcement program, converting limited use trails to multi-use (as per our proposal) and get an understanding of the status of trail reclamation.

This is good news. A little bit of progress.

Status of Coast Dairies

Recently, I had a conversation with the Field Manager for the BLM office in Holister. This office is responsible for the management of the Fort Ord properties (Sea Otter back country) and Coast Dairies. The Coast Dairies property is going to play an important role in the future of Santa Cruz mountain biking. The BLM is open minded to events and are willing to create the challenging, sustainable trails that mountain bikers enjoy. The BLM has a great partnership with mountain bikers across the nation.

The objective of my call was to get the status of the Coast Dairies conveyance and see how I can help him out when I visit our congressional representatives in Washington, DC this week (more in a separate message). Here is what I found out:

• Many of the “hard” issues have been resolved like the CEMEX land swap and lot line adjustment. The only thing pending is to do the title process and other minutiae of doing a large real estate transation. He mentioned that he has a full time title lawyer working on this.
• Conveyance is as far along as it ever has. All previous obstacles to land transfer has been addressed.
• The “ball is in the court of the Trust for Public Land (TPL)” - who are the current land holders. Just a question of focus and resources. Due diligence needs to be done like title exception and the easement language is in place.
• BLM has some funds for managing the property after conveyance. They are already drafting trail and recreation plans.
• There are some concerns from local conversationalists about the BLM’s intentions with this land. The BLM has a national reputation of resource exploitation on the lands they manage and articles such as this one contribute to the suspicion. The local BLM has the same conservation values as other local land agencies and the Field Manager is sincere in honoring the existing deed restrictions.
• When conveyance takes place the BLM can tap into the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) to get funding for trails and trail head improvements. We are well situated to utilize these programs since the BLM Trail and Recreation Planner has had RTP grants training and MBOSC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit who can partner with the BLM and provide volunteers for the work. This is the type of partnership in which the RTP grantors are looking for.
• The BLM will not commit to a date when conveyance will occur. They have been burned way too many times in coming up with a date. I’m hoping/guessing that it will be within the year and we may be able to accelerate the process.

Now that we have a little more clarity, how can we move this process forward?

• We should contact the TPL and ask them to move forward with the conveyance. It is in their best interests to absolve themselves of the ownership and management of this land. The TPL still has issues with moving the Ag lands to a trust but this doesn’t preclude the conveyance to BLM.
• We should ask Congress to give Coast Dairies have an Outstanding Natural Area designation.  This designation ensures that the land is valued for a set of attributes like scenic, educational and recreational. This designation becomes the primary use and is the framework for any underlying plan. Arguably this restricts the flexibility of the land manager (and successive land managers) but it will mitigate the concerns of those who don’t trust the BLM to adhere to the deed restrictions.
• In light of the CEMEX plant closure (starting Monday for 6 months... and beyond?), we should get the town of Davenport to buy into the idea of diversifying their economy by promoting the recreational and economic value of Coast Dairies.
• We should follow up the BLM Trail and Recreation planner about the interim access plan and the draft of the trail plan. We should volunteer our input, resources and expertise.

The Coast Dairies property will be an amazing mountain bike destination with high marine terraces, a 700 acre second growth redwood forests and incredible ocean views. It will only become this reality though a lot of help and support from the community. Please contact me if you want to help out with this initiative.

Announcing the joint MBOSC/Mere Mortals 4th Saturday ride at Wilder Ranch

Many local and remote riders have enjoyed our regular Saturday ride at Wilder Ranch for years. One recurring theme that comes up is that the pace is too fast. For years we have also tried to figure out how to make beginner or leisurely riders welcome on the ride. I am pleased to announce that we are going to address the issue with a regular slow ride.

Starting tomorrow and continuing on every 4th Saturday of the month, MBOSC in partnership with Mere Mortals will have a “slow” ride option. This ride will be at a more leisurely pace. We may not cover as many miles but it will be a ride which is friendly for beginners. There will probably be an intermediate/advanced group for the regulars and fast people as well.

Meet at 10 am on the 4th Saturday of the month at the park sign that leads into the back country at Wilder Ranch State Park.

We would like to welcome beginner or slower mountain bikers to the sport we would like them to feel welcome on our group rides.

Please attend the Santa Cruz City Council Meeting to Support the Jump Park

Earlier this month the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to move forward with the relocation of the Fun Spot bike park. We would like to thank the SC Parks and Rec Commission for your support for recreational cycling.

The next phase of this project is to attend the City Council meeting at the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday Feb 24th at 3 pm to support the relocation of the bike park. Note the time has changed from Jesse’s earlier messages.

The current plan is to relocate the park around the corner to a permanent location at Depot Park. Your comments should be in support of the relocation plan and you should also express your support for a public jump park in general.

Please attend and show your support for our kids and gravity brothers. If you cannot attend the meeting in person then please email, phone or write the council members in support of relocating the bike park:

Mayor, Cynthia Mathews 
420-5020 City Hall
Email - cmathews@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us
Vice Mayor, Mike Rotkin 
420-5020 City Hall
mrotkin@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us
Katherine Beiers 
420-5020 City Hall 
Email - kbeiers@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us

Ryan Coonerty
420-5027 City Hall 
Email - rcoonerty@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us
Don Lane 
420-5020 City Hall 
Email - dlane@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us 
Tony Madrigal
420-5020 City Hall
Email - tmadrigal@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us
Lynn Robinson
420-5020 City Hall 
Email – lrobinson@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us

IBIS has officially moved to Santa Cruz

Another iconic bike company has relocated to Santa Cruz. I got an email newsletter from Ibis Cycles in which they mention their move to Santa Cruz (from nearby Scotts Valley). Ibis is located in the old Wrigley building on Delaware Avenue. They are close to the trails.

Here is the tidbit that I saw on their newsletter.

We've Moved!
Eagle eyed readers who noticed we mentioned Santa Cruz as our home city in the first paragraph. That wasn't a typo, part of the reason that there isn't a ton of news to report right now is that we've been moving and that has been taking a lot of our energy. Our new top secret location (top secret unless you look at our contact page) is only a block from the beach and a few feet away from an amazing network of mountain bike trails. We couldn't be happier with our new location. Other bonuses include many good restaurants nearby, a couple of wineries and a brewery (the last two for after work only of course).
We would like to welcome our friends at Ibis to the city of Santa Cruz!

MBOSC meeting with Ranger Gary Brennan

On Monday, February 9th, Concerned mountain bikers in the Santa Cruz area met with Ranger Gary Brennan to discuss the new Henry Cowell UC9 enforcement program.

Attendees

• Ranger Gary Brennan, Henry Cowell State Park
• Tom Ward, IMBA CA http://imba.com
• A few dozen concerned mountain bikers

Henry Cowell State Park enforcement program

Ranger Gary Brennan presents the background and justification for the new enforcement program.

• Citations for riding in Henry Cowell State Park between UC and Hwy 9 will start Sunday February 15th. Not February 18th in an older flyer.
• Rangers staffing levels have been filled, issues of biker rescues, complaints from neighbors about noise and garbage.
• Gary received a lot of messages and phone calls against the implication that mountain bikers were responsible for the garbage. Call us poachers but not litterers.
• Resource ecologists and archeologists will be evaluating the area this spring to do an inventory and an environmental assessment.
• The enforcement program in Pogonip by the City had the effect of moving homeless and drug dealing into the Rincon parking lot. This is a real issue.

Many questions and much discussion from the audience. Recanting of history of riding in Santa Cruz goes back to 1983 when there were no bike policies. Established order of politically savvy hikers, conservationists and equestrians changed the rules to exclude bikes. Worked with the system and the process over the years to change the policies and were invited to the table when new lands are acquired. Progress was made.

Frustration with the slow process, lack of State resources, staff turnover and lack of partners within the State Parks system. Frustration with the ease at which opposition groups has shut down these initiatives has created a sense of disillusionment within the responsible mountain biking community. Lack of enforcement in open space created a culture of riders who create their own reality and know how to mange sustainable trails. Responsible mountain bikers willing to accept the fact that mountain biking is an underground activity in Santa Cruz.

Secret stash becomes too popular with interlopers who do not have the same respect for the community and open space. Trails proliferate. No guidance or management. Trails are ad hoc and everywhere. Anything goes. Concussions, impaling, helicopters, neighbor complaints. Rangers.

Tom Ward leads a discussion on the future

• This is a golden opportunity since the attention of the mountain biking community is energized. What should we do about it?
• Despite the horrible economic climate that the State is in District Superintendents are faced with making decisions on where to focus scarce resources.
• A decision was made to staff ranger positions over a trail co-ordinator or resource ecologist. So enforcement became a higher priority over opening new trails. The challenge is to make the recreational needs of mountain biking a high priority to warrant State Parks resources.
• Legalizing the Cowell/UC9 trails is a hard battle. Perhaps a trail or two (or three). Long term goal.
• Short term: There is an existing proposal on submitted to District back in November 2006. The trail conversion proposal is the most expedient way to get legitimate trails in the local State Parks. 24 miles of single track and 12 miles of fire road in Big Basin, Castle Rock and Fall Creek.
• Medium term, opening the Wilder/Gray Whale trails will take a little more effort and funding.
• Medium term, the inland of Coast Dairies represents the best opportunity for the future of Santa Cruz mountain biking.

Action Items

We request that District Superintendent Chet Bardo have an open dialog with mountain bikers. As a public servant and accountable to state taxpayers and local constituents we ask that you listen to the concerns of the mountain biking community.

We are willing to become partners and offer our trail building expertise and labour. We can create sustainable trails which are ecologically feasible, enjoyable and safe. We are willing to negotiate for shared access to trails to mitigate other trail user concerns.

You may choose the time and place for the dialog but we request that you address this in a timely manner and where the community can reasonably attend. A Sunday afternoon in the park would work.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Ranger Gary Brennan for attending and subjecting himself to the barbs and arrows and handling the situation with grace.

Thanks to Tom Ward for making the trek from Sacramento to attend the meeting.

Thanks for Daryl B for providing the amp and wireless mics.

Thanks to Charlie Meehan and the staff of Seabright Brewery for the venue, the beer and the great hospitality.

Thanks to all of you in the community that showed up to support of mountain biking in Santa Cruz!

Thanks to Sebasien’s IPA for getting me though these minutes.

New Enforcement Program at Henry Cowell

Starting Sunday, February 15, 2009 Rangers at Henry Cowell park will be handing out citations for riders caught in Henry Cowell State Parks the area bounded by UCSC at the top and Hwy 9 at the bottom. The patrol area will cover Hwy 9 from the Rincon parking lot to the “Poop chute”.

The education portion of the program started February 1st and the Rangers were patrolling the area informing the riders of the new enforcement program. They were handing out flyers and placing them on windshields.

This area of Santa Cruz has been a favorite place for riding in the local community. The trail have always been off limits to bikes but that has not stopped locals, riders from the Bay Area, Northern California and all over the world including pros and industry folks have been enjoying these trails for decades with very little threat of citation.

There are several reasons for the crack down:

• Ranger staffing levels have increased since October. These aren’t new positions. Cowell has been understaffed for many years.
• There were a few mountain biker rescues by State Parks Rangers in recent months including a concussion and an impaling on a tree.
• Neighbors from Felton have been complaining about the large number of shuttles.

I’m not going to get into detail about this. There is a thread on the forums at mtbr.com which discuss this topic at length. There is another thread which discusses the recent meeting we had with Ranger Gary Brennan.

This new enforcement program has engaged the mountain bike community. MBOSC will be working with State Parks and IMBA to create more legitimate riding opportunities in the Santa Cruz area.

MBOSC and IMBA are working hard to create new legitimate trails for mountain biking in the Santa Cruz area. Please support these two organizations and stay informed about the campaigns we will be launching in the coming months.

The Classic Wilder Ranch Loop

MBOSC has partnered with Bicycling Magazine online to produce a series of GPS based maps of popular rides in Santa Cruz County.

We are proud to introduce our first map: The Classic Wilder Ranch Loop

Please let us know what you think.