NCRA VOTE CLEARS HURDLE FOR TRAIL
After nine months of no news, planning for the proposed Great Redwood Trail is back in motion. During a virtual town hall discussion, North Coast State Sen. Mike Mcguire announced the North Coast Railroad Authority board of directors’ decision to railbank a significant section of the railbed between Humboldt and Mendocino counties bringing the trail one step closer to reality.
“Imagine a strip of land roughly 50 feet wide and running for 320 miles,” said Mcguire, asking more than 1,000 town hall participants to close their eyes and envision the sprawling trail. “From the edge of the San Francisco Bay in Marin County through the vineyards of Sonoma County, showcasing the stunning beauty of Mendocino County through the redwood and oak-studded hills of the Eel River Canyon, and then you’re gonna end your hiking adventure on the fog-shrouded shores of Humboldt Bay.”
Along with providing a pathway through the scenic North Coast, Mcguire said the trail will financially benefit the rural communities it passes through.
“It’s going to become an incredible economic driver for all the rural communities, many of them economically depressed, that surround the trail,” Mcguire said. “California’s outdoor recreational economy is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the Golden State. It generates over $93 billion a year, is responsible for nearly 700,000 jobs, over $30 billion in wages, and brings over $6 billion in tax revenues back to state and local communities.”
If all goes according to plan, Rails-to-trails Conservancy regional director Laura Cohen said the Great Redwood Trail will be the longest rail-trail in the United States.
“We know that that’s going to be an incredible draw to people from all over,” Cohen said. “The bottom line really is that trails attract visitors and visitors spend money and this is what we consistently find. A lot of towns recognize the value of this and want to market themselves as destinations and there are several programs in the country that basically help communities market themselves as trail destinations.”
The NCRA’S unanimous decision to railbank its right-of-way between Willits and Samoa removes barriers to local trail development, said Kevin Wright, external affairs manager for Marin County Parks.
“Many segments were just held up by a lack of collaboration and cooperation,” he said. “We also see a lot of opportunities for environmental restoration up and down the line.”
Essentially, railbanking allows for an out-of-service rail corridor to be used as a trail until the corridor is needed for rail service at some future time.
On Dec. 8, 2020, Mcguire introduced SB 69 as it will “officially, once and for all, disband the NCRA, which is a hot mess and is bankrupt,” and ultimately pave the way for a Great Redwood Trail Agency.
“This is the final step in moving the right-of-way from a rail line to a trail,” Mcguire said. “The bill will also separate the rail line near the city of Cloverdale. In the north from Cloverdale to Humboldt County, it will be governed by the Great Redwood Trail Agency. From Cloverdale south, it will be governed by (Sonoma— Marin Area Rail Transit).”
Though visibly excited about the news, Mcguire told his constituents the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, expediting the rollout of vaccines and economic recovery remains the
top priority for state lawmakers.
“We wanted to be able to come together tonight because we’re in a critical phase with the Great Redwood Trail,” Mcguire said. “We’ve always known that creating the Great Redwood Trail was not going to be easy, nor will it be quick. There’s going to be a ton of work ahead of us for the next many years, it’s going to take time to get to do this project right.”