Eldorado Lawsuit Gives Us Bragging Rights

ANOTHER MILESTONE IN ELDORADO TRAVEL MANAGEMENT




SACRAMENTO, CA (May 31)—A national trail-based recreation group and state off-highway vehicle organizations are applauding a recent legal ruling involving the Eldorado National Forest. The ruling comes in the latest of preservationist lawsuits spanning several decades.



Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton issued his ruling on May 26, 2011, that largely upholds the Eldorado travel management decision, but finds the Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act and certain Forest Plan standards in authorizing access through a handful of meadows and failing to more thoroughly consider ephemeral streams. Each of these issues focused on alleged impact ... read more on BlueRibbon's website here.

Rubicon Trail Update from Trail Boss; 10/8/08

Today was the monthly meeting of the Rubicon Oversight Committee (ROC) and here are some highlights from my notes:

1. 
   Bridges on the trail: with grant money and leadership from the great folks at the Dept. of Transportation in Eldorado County (DOT), we are in progress of getting two bridges on the trail. One at Ellis Creek and one at Gerle Creek (Wentworth Springs Road). These will prevent future closures and environmental issues with both these critical watersheds. It will be summer of 2010 before we see these constructed, but the good news is that everyone is on board and excited about having bridges to help us keep our trail open and healthy. Our input will be asked for as the design ideas come forward.
   
2. US Geological Survey folks are out on the trail right now doing some analysis of future maintenance jobs that need to be done to keep our trail in good shape. They are doing this under guidance from Eldo County, so we hope to have a good report and what all we'll be doing these next two summers.
   
3. Loon Lake Toilet: the CXT (big vault pre-fab) toilet is set to be installed in the next week or so at Loon Lake (staging area). The hole is prepared and ready to accept the new toilet system. Again, we are using grant money and the guidance and supervision of the good folks at Eldo County DOT.
   
4. USFS Fire Restrictions have been lifted on the Forest – so camp fires are ok now. Go prepared if you go up; frost is heavy in the mornings. J
   

Before turkey day I'll probably be checking for a good date for our Spring FOTR meeting (most likely February). More on this soon, but in case you're wondering, yes, for sure, I'll be happy to continue as your Trail Boss. We'll have the normal annual election at the spring meeting. 2009 promises to be an awesome year for Friends of the Rubicon. For more on the Rubicon Trail, visit http://www.delalbright.com/Rubicon/rubicon.htm

Del