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Contact: Don Amador
Phone: 925.625.6287
Email:
brdon@sharetrails.org
Date: October 27, 2003
RECREATION GROUP SAYS NO TO PROPOSED NOR CAL
TRAIL CLOSURE
 EUREKA,
CA (Oct. 25) -- Representatives from the BlueRibbon
Coalition, a national recreation group, and
the Eureka-based Far West Motorcycle Club toured
a potential trail closure proposed by Congressman
Mike Thompson (D-Napa) in his version of Senator
Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) 2.7 million acre Wilderness
plan. The Bug Creek Trail (4E26) is just one
of hundreds of legal motorcycle and mountain-bike
trails that would be closed state-wide if Boxer’s
legislation is signed into law.
The Bug Creek Trail is in a semi-primitive motorized
zone located on the Six Rivers National Forest.
It is a highly prized and challenging single-track
trail that would be closed to dirt and mountain
bikes if Thompson’s Mad River Buttes Wilderness
proposal, a segment of the California Wild Heritage
Wilderness Act of 2003, is enacted.
Recently, the BlueRibbon Coalition hired a Washington
D.C lobbyist to help the organization generate
support for its Back Country Initiative in the
U.S. Congress. The Back Country plan would require
the Forest Service to actively manage its timberlands
to preserve and protect this nation’s resources.
BRC’s plan would also allow for most forms of
managed recreational activities. This differs
from designated Wilderness which bans off-highway
vehicles (OHVs), mountain bikes, large groups
of campers, some equestrian uses, snowmobiles,
SUVs, and even mechanical treatments for forest
health or watershed improvements.
Don Amador, the western representative for the
BlueRibbon Coalition, says, “I think our Back
Country proposal is a good alternative to federally
designated Wilderness. With more families enjoying
the sport of mountain biking,
OHVs, hauling their horse trailer with a pickup
or driving their SUV for pleasure on forest
roads and trails, it is important for the federal
government to support plans that provide access
while protecting and managing our natural resources.”
“I think the recreationists in California who
treasure responsible use of public lands should
embrace our Back Country program. The time for
Congress to consider our proposal has come,”
Amador concludes.
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