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SAMBA Mountain Bike News
Sacramento County asks SAMBA to prepare trail plan
Facing budget crisis, county has no staff for new endeavors
By Bob Horowitz
The 2009 American River Parkway Plan allows an off-pavement bicycling pilot program in the Woodlake and Cal Expo areas, roughly river miles 2-6, or the area in between Highway 160 and Ethan Way. In early 2010, SAMBA began meeting with Sacramento County officials to implement the plan. Initial meetings were very positive, but then reality set in. Sacramento County is broke. The parks department, considered "discretionary" spending, always bears the brunt of hard times. County staff do not have the resources to put together the trail plan now or in the foreseeable future.
In April, Sacramento County parks officials asked SAMBA to put together a trail plan which will bring fat-tire bikes to urban Sacramento. This plan must meet all of the criteria in the 2009 Parkway plan. Specifically, SAMBA's plan needs to provide:
- Natural buffers and design elements to minimize off-trail behavior and protect sensitive habitat.
- An information plan to educate parkway users, encourage stewardship and promote responsible use.
- A signage plan to help riders stay on designated trails and avoid conflicts at intersections with the equestrian and paved bike trails.
- A monitoring component to maintain the trails, help Parkway managers identify environmental impacts resulting from the new use, and correct any damage rapidly.
SAMBA is working with IMBA to fashion a plan which will meet all criteria. We need SAMBA members with specific skills to assist in our endeavor. SAMBA is forming the following committees and is looking for volunteers to serve in the following areas:
- Trail plan committee: SAMBA needs folks with experience or a desire to gain experience writing a comprehensive trail plan, performing field research in support of a trail plan, operating GPS units and mapmaking and other related fields, including the design of signs and wayfinding systems.
- Organization and governance: SAMBA needs to become a 501 c3 non-profit organization so it can accept and manage grants from other organizations. We are looking for riders who have experience in this endeavor.
- Outreach and marketing: SAMBA needs to more broadly engage the community and form strategic alliances with other groups who share an interest in bringing fat-tire bikes and healthy family recreation to the downtown/north Sacramento area.
Anyone who has experience in these area or who wishes to help should contact Bob Horowitz.
Background
The American River Parkway covers some 26 miles of parkland from Hazel Avenue to the confluence with the Sacramento River in Discovery Park. The Parkway is managed by the Sacramento County Regional Parks Department, and is governed by the Parkway Plan. Areas upstream of Hazel Avenue are State Park.
The 1985 American River Parkway Plan prohibited all bicycling off of the paved trail; however, the 2009 plan allows for a mountain biking pilot program in the Cal Expo and Woodlake areas. Within that area, interconnected loops could allow for many miles of legal trail. The terrain is flat, and our trail network will be mostly confined to existing maintenance roads. Currently, Woodlake and Cal Expo areas are primarily open fields with invasive species. The existing roads skirt woodlands, swamps, and man-made obstacles such as railroad tracks and high power lines. The existing network of maintenance and service roads intersect the paved bicycle trail and the equestrian trail in several locations. The "pipe bridge" from Blue Diamond Almonds directly accesses Woodlake. Both areas are near to many social services and are frequently used by homeless persons for camping and hanging out.
In 2004, SAMBA won a seat on the 23-member American River Parkway Plan Update Citizens' Advisory Committee (UCAC), formed to help county staff sort out the most difficult and controversial issues during the plan update. The UCAC, which represented all Parkway stakeholders, met monthly for some two years, going over the lengthy plan in agonizing detail. The UCAC ultimately agreed on the wording for a new Parkway plan, and in 2008, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, the Sacramento City Council, and the Rancho Cordova City Council all signed off on that plan. Because the American River Parkway is specifically mentioned in State law, legislative action was needed to make the new parkway plan the law. That occurred in 2009.
Once implemented, these will be the only legal mountain bike trails within 23 miles of downtown Sacramento, and will provide family recreation for urbanites, practice grounds for novices, training opportunities for cyclocross riders, and a place for local yokels to ride after work, at lunch, or any other time when there isn't time to drive 45 minutes to the foothills.
SAMBA has long argued that the ban on riding off-road in the Parkway actually causes danger for people and the environment. By maintaining a sense of desolation and a strong perception of danger, the ban keeps legitimate parkway users away, and provides ample opportunities for rogue users and criminals. In September 2008, a fast-moving wildfire set by illegal users all but destroyed one of the largest natural groves of black walnut trees West of the Mississippi; the damage is easily seen today. SAMBA believes mountain biking is the most effective and least expensive way to "activate" the area, and begin a positive cycle of legitimate use, feelings of safety, improved stewardship, and more legitimate use, which has been lacking in the Parkway's lower reaches.
On Dec. 6, 2005, the American River Parkway Update Citizens Advisory Committee (UCAC) agreed, by voting 16-4 to allow off-road bicycle access in Woodlake and Cal Expo. Extensive turnout from the mountain bike community, and many thoughtful comments, undoubtedly made the difference that evening for those committee members who were genuinely undecided. The committee also adopted language that night which makes it possible to extend the trail network beyond these limited areas, should the mountain bike community prove to be excellent Parkway stewards.
Upstream environmental extremists continue to oppose SAMBA's efforts, despite their decisive loss on the UCAC. Read Save the American River Association (SARA) president Warren Truitt's e-mail to SAMBA and key county staff here. Despite Mr. Truitt's assertion, SARA did not support the UCAC consensus vote. In fact, three of the four members voting against the proposal were SARA members, including their direct representative, a representative of SARA spin-off group the American River Natural History Association, and a long-time SARA member appointed to the committee by County Supervisor Illa Collin. After receiving the e-mail, SAMBA and IMBA met with Mr. Truitt to discuss his concerns. Mr. Truitt and his "coalition" sent the following letter to County Parks Director Janet Baker shortly after our meeting. Please be assured there was never any intent by SAMBA or by County staff to disregard the Parkway Plan which we worked so hard to enact.
Because of the language in the plan, and the ongoing political pressure from upstream, mountain bikers will continue to be held to a substantially higher standard of conduct than any other Parkway user group. Please be extra courteous and respectful whenever you are in the Parkway on your bike!
Although the Parkway plan was updated in 2009, the primary goals of the Parkway have not changed. They are:
- Top priority: Maintaining a world-class flood control network protecting billion of dollars worth of real property.
- Second priority: Protecting the environment of the Lower American River, including water supply and quality, wildlife habitat and viable native plant communities.
- Third priority: Providing recreation opportunities that are river oriented and generally not available anywhere else in Sacramento County.
To lay out the issues for UCAC members in a coherent fashion, SAMBA wrote a White Paper (MS word, 2 MB).
