Kudos to East Bay park district for testing new trail ideas
The Briones Pilot Project is a positive step forward by the East Bay Regional Park District to address the need for both equitable access to publicly funded parks and better trail management.
With less than 20 miles of new trail construction over the past 25 years, explosive demand for park use and the current limits on bike access to narrow trails, change is needed. The lack of progress has frustrated many mountain bikers who have resorted to illegally riding on hiker-only trails and building their own trails. The result has been increased conflict between various trail users and environmental degradation in some areas.
The pilot project reflects a paradigm shift by EBRPD to address trail-user conflict and habitat impacts. The new strategy is to “test some new ways to safely share trails and improve the trail experience for all users while protecting habitat, wildlife and watersheds,” according to the park district. “A key component of the project is the restoration of illegally built `bootleg' trails to protect natural habitat for wildlife.”
The pilot project is not a reward to those who have created trails but rather an acknowledgement of the immediate need for more well-built trails that reduce impacts and satisfy users. This innovative temporary operational pilot will inform upcoming trail planning.
EBRPD reached out to stakeholders in multiple ways to provide information about the pilot project and gather input. The EBRPD Trail User Working Group was an 18-month effort to bring stakeholders together to seek better understanding of trail-user needs and concerns. Following the working group and public requests for action at Briones Regional Park in central Contra Costa County, an EBRPD multi-discipline team began designing a plan to test various trail-management options.
Staff have updated the board and public at a variety of meetings. Public input was gathered at the February open house and resulted in substantial changes to the pilot project.
In an April 25 commentary, Sierra Club and California Native Plant Society spokespeople claim everybody is being forced onto the same narrow paths and continue their decades-long opposition to bike access. In fact, the pilot project creates increased separation of hikers, cyclists and equestrians with three hike-only trails, four bike-only trails and just two trails designated for multi-use.
By opposing any new access for cyclists, the spokespeople have, paradoxically, accelerated illegal trail construction by cyclists frustrated with the lack of access to a satisfying trail experience. Mountain biking is a legitimate and growing activity, and public land managers in Napa, Santa Cruz, San Mateo and even Marin counties are increasing trail access.
We applaud the EBRPD as did many hikers and equestrians attending their February open house. The pilot project is a positive move forward from the failed prohibition strategy of the last 25 years, and it seeks to provide the experiences users are requesting while increasing habitat protection.
Mountain biking is an excellent way to get youth away from screens, learn trail etiquette and become stewards of the environment. By improving access to trails, EBRPD will encourage the next generation of park supporters.
We ask the Sierra Club and California Native Plant Society to support timely, reasonable solutions instead of obstructing much needed trail improvement projects. The pilot project will help shift our East Bay trail culture by bringing recreational access and conservation together rather than pitting them against each other. It's not a zero-sum game.
Scott Bartlebaugh is advocacy director of the Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay. Cortis Cooper is head coach of the 180-member Wildcat Middle School Mountain Bike Club and a 40-year Sierra Club member. Austin McInerny is a board member of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.