McGuire announces new funds for trail
The proposed Great Redwood Trail is one step closer to becoming a reality. During a virtual town hall discussion Tuesday evening, North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) announced new funding to move the Great Redwood Trail forward.
“The Budget Act that was passed this year included two significant groundbreaking items related to the Great Redwood Trail,” McGuire said. “No. 1, it appropriated the last bit of funding needed to pay off the remaining debt from the North Coast Railroad Authority and it also added $10.5 million to pay for stepping up the master planning process of the Great
Redwood Trail. The second piece that this budget paid for was it allocated $500 million for projects that will help us fight our climate crisis and advance non-motorized trails of statewide significance. This is a gamechanger.”
The long-planned project looks to transform approximately 300 miles of unused North Coast Rail Authority lines into a hiking trail stretching from the urban San Francisco Bay Area and up to Humboldt Bay.
“When constructed, the Great Redwood Trail will become the longest rail-totrail in the United States of America,” McGuire said. “That trail will traverse through and near some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth including ancient redwoods state parks and national forests, golden oak-studded hills, lush vineyards, and of course, along the shores of the Russian and Eel rivers.”
Last month, the Wildlands Conservancy secured the purchase of the Lone Pine Ranch, nearly 30,000-acres of diverse forests and wetlands along the Eel River. The acquisition of the property removes another hurdle for the proposed Great Redwood Trail and makes way for new opportunities for environmental restoration and conservation of endangered species.
McGuire said he “couldn’t be more thrilled” about the future of the Eel River Canyon Preserve.
“The budget bill that was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor this year allocated $10 million that we were able to secure to help purchase the iconic Lone Pine Ranch in the Eel River Canyon,” McGuire said. “The ranch includes nearly 30,000 acres of wilderness and forest that run along 18 miles of the Eel River. Twelve of the 18 will become the Great Redwood Trail.”
The next step in the process is working with communities along the proposed trail route to develop the master plan.
“The plan will involve each community that the trail runs through and we’re going to work intimately with adjoining landowners and the trail’s neighbors,” McGuire said. “The master plan will help determine trail construction and alignment as well as operational costs and what type of material will be used on each of the segments. A large portion of the trail will be like a backcountry trail so it will mostly be gravel and dirt.”
McGuire added the master plan will include a series of environmental studies and security measures for wildfire prevention.
“I can’t stress this enough, every step of the way during the master plan process, the community will be front and center,” he said.
McGuire said he will begin working with North Coast officials and community leaders to form the master plan in March 2022. The California Coastal Conservancy will function as the oversight body that will manage the master plan and oversee the construction of the trial in the coming years.
Karyn Gear, North Coast Regional Program Manager for the California Coastal Conservancy, underscored the importance of working with North Coast tribes and communities along the proposed trail.
“We know people are concerned about security and impacts to adjacent landowners and we want to get those out upfront, as many of them as we can and find the solutions to them,” she said. “There are a lot of trail systems throughout this country and people have found solutions. So we’re going to be tapping into the best practices we can to address those up front.”
Gear said the master plan will focus on the alignment of the trail and said there may be some sections where reroutes will become necessary.
“You also need to look at where people are going to jump on and off the trail and what are the amenities are and where are those spots going to be,” she added. “Where do we need to provide parking? What kinds of things do we need to do to make it an enjoyable experience?”
Hank Seemann, deputy director of Humboldt County Public Works, highlighted local trail projects that will eventually become a part of the Great Redwood Trail.
“The city Eureka completed six miles of the Eureka Waterfront Trail, the city of Arcata completed four miles of the Humboldt Bay Trail North, and they’re also starting a project along the Mad River,” he explained. “In Humboldt County, we’ve been working on a project to connect Eureka and Arcata. This has been a regional priority to connect the two biggest cities in Humboldt and a really key point is that the purpose and design of a trail depend on the context. It depends on the landscape, nearby communities, and adjacent land use.”
Though McGuire maintained a positive outlook regarding the future of the proposed trail, he admitted the trail could be stopped if the federal Surface Transportation Board received a fiscally viable bid to reinvigorate the defunct rail line. According to federal law, a proposal to submit an offer of financial assistance “should take priority over a trail use proposal because of the strong Congressional intent to preserve rail service wherever possible.”
In August, the newly formed North Coast Railroad Company, LLC filed a complaint with the Surface Transportation Board in opposition to the North Coast Railroad Authority’s request to railbank the dilapidated rail line in an attempt to export coal overseas from Montana, Utah and Wyoming through the Port of Humboldt Bay.
“We know that this shadowy corporation is worth over a billion dollars and they have put in a competing application with a Great Redwood Trail to federal regulators to start a toxic coal train that will run through our communities,” McGuire said. “Their application to start a toxic coal train will be up at approximately the same time when federal regulators review our bid to be able to rail bank the rail line from Willits all the way up to Humboldt Bay and turn the rail line into a trail. … Here’s what I say to them: We are not going to let that happen.”
McGuire and his panel took questions from the 2,500 constituents tuned in to the virtual town hall discussion. The majority of the community’s concerns focused on the security and privacy of landowners adjacent to the trail and amenities available to trail-goers.
“We’ve always known creating the Great Redwood Trail was not going to be quick and it wasn’t going to be easy,” McGuire said. “I promise you, we’re not going to do it fast, we’re going to do it right. There is a ton of work ahead over the next many years and it’s going to take time to be able to do this trail right by the community and we need to work through a slew of details with our partners, the federal and state governments, and with all of you right here at home. …We’re off to one hell of a start.”
McGuire’s full town hall discussion can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/2p8asnab.