larkspur along the North Fork

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Winter 2006 President's Report

Programs On September 19, at the regular NFARA meeting, Colfax resident and Placer County Water Agency Board member Otis Wollan gave a very informative presentation on watershed issues with special emphasis on the threat of wildfi re. Fire and its frequent return is a natural part of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, years of fi re suppression has resulted in an overgrown forest with trees touching shoulder to shoulder and an understory of thick brush and dead material. Our communities lie in the middle of this forest and face an ever increasing threat of catastrophic fi re. Mr. Wollan discussed the Colfax Fire Safe Ecosystem Project and the need for communities and individuals to work together to reduce the fuel load and thus reduce the threat of wildfi re. Big Granite Trail NFARA adopted the Big Granite Trail last year. In July a group of volunteers rebuilt over a mile of the trail. On October 21, 12 volunteers arrived at the trailhead to clear brush at the stream crossing below Four Horse Flat. To everyone’s dismay, motorcycles had used the trail, undoing all of our previous work; nearly every waterbar installed had been destroyed. This trail is designated non-motorized but signs stating this are routinely removed. NFARA will work with the Forest Service to install new “Non Motorized Trail” signs. Additional work parties to repair the recent damage are planned for next year. Contact Jim Ricker at 530-389-8344 to participate. Tahoe National Forest Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Route Inventory Forest Chief Dale Bosworth on Earth Day 2003 said “(E)ach year we get hundreds of miles of what we euphemistically refer to as ‘unplanned roads and trails’. We’re seeing more and more erosion, water degradation and habitat destruction. We’re seeing more and more confl icts between users. We’re seeing more damage to cultural sites and more violations of sites sacred to American Indians. And those are just some of the impacts. We’re going to have to manage that by restricting OHV use to designated roads, trails, and areas.” Tahoe National Forest (TNF) is currently in the middle of this route designation process. For the fi rst step, all routes in the forest, including existing system routes and the user built routes, were inventoried and put on a map. Several public workshops were held to get input on what should be included in the offi cial system. As a starting point TNF proposed only a few user-built routes be added; in the American River District no additional routes were proposed. At the workshops, OHV users had the opportunity to ask TNF to add certain routes and to give their reasons for inclusion. Non-OHV users had the opportunity to raise concerns about those proposals. Tahoe National Forest will take the input from the workshops, do a preliminary analysis of potential routes and develop a fi rm route designation proposal. This step should be completed by March, 2007. The public will have 60 days to comment. This proposal or a modifi ed proposal will then become an alternative in the Environmental Impact Study (EIS). The EIS will analyze a range of alternatives. This study should be completed by December, 2007 and the public will again have the opportunity to comment. In general, NFARA supports Tahoe National Forest’s initial proposal of no additional OHV routes to their existing system in the American River Ranger District. Royal Gorge-Serene Lakes Development Rainbow Lodge and adjacent properties have been put up for sale by the new owners of Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort. The owners want to concentrate their energies on providing world-class recreation opportunities and developing portions of the 3,000 acres surrounding the resort. The resort is located near Donner Pass, just off of I-80 at the Soda Springs Interchange. The owners have explored a variety of development ideas and have been gathering Marilyn Prince hikes along the North Fork of the American River input from local property owners, businesses and conservation groups, but no development proposals have been made. The fi rst step is to fi nd out what is currently on the ground, the land’s baseline environmental condition. The Sierra Business Council (SBC) is leading a cooperative effort between environmental organizations and Royal Gorge Resort to determine if consensus can be reached on baseline conditions. Royal Gorge has hired consultants to study the existing conditions. This study will be reviewed by Mike White of the Conservation Biology Institute, a group chosen by participating environmental organizations. In a recent article in the Auburn Journal, Steve Frisch, SBC Vice-president for Programs, is quoted “(T)his process has the potential to head off legal disputes later on. Once people can come to an agreement on ‘the science’, then the focus can shift to whether proposed development plans respect the environmental conditions the land presents.” In related news, the Donner Summit Area Association and the Serene Lakes Property Owners’ Association are hosting a “Summit Summit” on December 16 to “… Form consensus among Donner Summit organizations regarding the future of longterm regional development planning.” Those invited include environmental groups, homeowners’ associations, local businesses, newspapers, public agencies and elected offi cials. The invitation states “(W)e recognize that future growth and development is inevitable and we desire to infl uence that growth to assure the highest overall quality of life possible.” NFARA plans to participate in both of these processes. For more information contact Jim Ricker at 530-389-8344.

Updated 9/15/14

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