|
|
|
| |
Winter 2006 President's Report
Programs
On September 19, at the regular NFARA
meeting, Colfax resident and Placer County
Water Agency Board member Otis Wollan
gave a very informative presentation on
watershed issues with special emphasis on
the threat of wildfi re. Fire and its frequent
return is a natural part of the ecosystem.
Unfortunately, years of fi re suppression
has resulted in an overgrown forest with
trees touching shoulder to shoulder and an
understory of thick brush and dead material.
Our communities lie in the middle of this
forest and face an ever increasing threat of
catastrophic fi re. Mr. Wollan discussed the
Colfax Fire Safe Ecosystem Project and the
need for communities and individuals to work
together to reduce the fuel load and thus
reduce the threat of wildfi re.
Big Granite Trail
NFARA adopted the Big Granite Trail
last year. In July a group of volunteers
rebuilt over a mile of the trail. On October
21, 12 volunteers arrived at the trailhead to
clear brush at the stream crossing below
Four Horse Flat. To everyone’s dismay,
motorcycles had used the trail, undoing all
of our previous work; nearly every waterbar
installed had been destroyed. This trail is
designated non-motorized but signs stating
this are routinely removed. NFARA will
work with the Forest Service to install new
“Non Motorized Trail” signs. Additional work
parties to repair the recent damage are
planned for next year. Contact Jim Ricker at
530-389-8344 to participate.
Tahoe National Forest Off Highway
Vehicle (OHV) Route Inventory
Forest Chief Dale Bosworth on Earth Day
2003 said “(E)ach year we get hundreds of
miles of what we euphemistically refer to as
‘unplanned roads and trails’. We’re seeing
more and more erosion, water degradation
and habitat destruction. We’re seeing more
and more confl icts between users. We’re
seeing more damage to cultural sites and
more violations of sites sacred to American
Indians. And those are just some of the
impacts. We’re going to have to manage
that by restricting OHV use to designated
roads, trails, and areas.”
Tahoe National Forest (TNF) is currently in
the middle of this route designation process.
For the fi rst step, all routes in the forest,
including existing system routes and the
user built routes, were inventoried and put
on a map. Several public workshops were
held to get input on what should be included
in the offi cial system. As a starting point
TNF proposed only a few user-built routes
be added; in the American River District
no additional routes were proposed. At the
workshops, OHV users had the opportunity
to ask TNF to add certain routes and to give
their reasons for inclusion. Non-OHV users
had the opportunity to raise concerns about
those proposals.
Tahoe National Forest will take the
input from the workshops, do a preliminary
analysis of potential routes and develop a
fi rm route designation proposal. This step
should be completed by March, 2007. The
public will have 60 days to comment. This
proposal or a modifi ed proposal will then
become an alternative in the Environmental
Impact Study (EIS). The EIS will analyze
a range of alternatives. This study should
be completed by December, 2007 and the
public will again have the opportunity to
comment.
In general, NFARA supports Tahoe
National Forest’s initial proposal of no
additional OHV routes to their existing system
in the American River Ranger District.
Royal Gorge-Serene Lakes Development
Rainbow Lodge and adjacent properties
have been put up for sale by the new owners
of Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort.
The owners want to concentrate their
energies on providing world-class recreation
opportunities and developing portions of the
3,000 acres surrounding the resort. The
resort is located near Donner Pass, just off
of I-80 at the Soda Springs Interchange.
The owners have explored a variety of
development ideas and have been gathering
Marilyn Prince hikes along the North
Fork of the American River
input from local property owners, businesses
and conservation groups, but no development
proposals have been made. The fi rst step is
to fi nd out what is currently on the ground,
the land’s baseline environmental condition.
The Sierra Business Council (SBC) is leading
a cooperative effort between environmental organizations and Royal Gorge Resort to determine if consensus can be reached on
baseline conditions. Royal Gorge has hired
consultants to study the existing conditions.
This study will be reviewed by Mike White of
the Conservation Biology Institute, a group
chosen by participating environmental
organizations.
In a recent article in the Auburn
Journal, Steve Frisch, SBC Vice-president
for Programs, is quoted “(T)his process has
the potential to head off legal disputes later
on. Once people can come to an agreement
on ‘the science’, then the focus can shift
to whether proposed development plans
respect the environmental conditions the
land presents.”
In related news, the Donner Summit
Area Association and the Serene Lakes
Property Owners’ Association are hosting
a “Summit Summit” on December 16 to “…
Form consensus among Donner Summit
organizations regarding the future of longterm
regional development planning.”
Those invited include environmental
groups, homeowners’ associations, local
businesses, newspapers, public agencies
and elected offi cials. The invitation states
“(W)e recognize that future growth and
development is inevitable and we desire to
infl uence that growth to assure the highest
overall quality of life possible.”
NFARA plans to participate in both
of these processes. For more information
contact Jim Ricker at 530-389-8344.
|
Updated 9/15/14 |
