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——– Forwarded message ———-

From: Laura Cohen <policy@railstotrails.org>

Date: Mon, May 14, 2018 at 1:33 PM

Subject: Prop. 68 invests in trails!

To: Drew Dupuy <drew@railstotrails.org>

As you may know, Proposition 68 is going to the statewide ballot on June 5. Prop. 68 is a $4.1 billion bond that will improve and expand state, regional and neighborhood parks, restore and protect our coast and rivers, protect our drinking water and prepare for future droughts.   It’s been 15 years since California last passed a major park bond! What you may not know is that Prop. 68 – informally known as the Parks, and Natural Resources Water Bond  – will also invest in trails and greenways. If approved, Prop 68 could mean tens of millions of dollars or more for trails in California! 

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy worked closely with other advocates and lawmakers to help pass the Clean Water and Parks Act (Senate Bill 5) out of the Legislature to qualify it for the ballot in June, and to ensure the measure would invest in trails and active transportation along with other recreational facilities — especially in disadvantaged communities. We also serve on the Board of the Californians for Clean Water and Safe Parks committee working to pass the referendum.  

Prop. 68 contains trail-specific language, specifically allocating $30 million for competitive grants for nonmotorized infrastructure that promotes access to parks and other recreational facilities “to encourage health-related active transportation” and additional competitive grants for parks that includes trail eligibility. Notably, the initiative places a specific focus on improving neighborhoods with the greatest need for parks, trails and open space. 

We want to encourage you to take the following actions: 

1.                   formally endorse Prop. 68 (as an organization, individual, or both); 

2.                   Spread the word to your partners and members to support Prop. 68 through social media, and your other communications channels; 

3.                   Please let us know the steps you’re taking in support of Prop. 68 so we can report back to the campaign managers on progress (send an email to: drew@railstotrails.org) 

Clearly, the Parks, Environment, and Water Bond is a huge opportunity to improve Californians’ access to parks and water – but what’s not as obvious from the title is that its funding for trails means it should also be important to advocates for biking, walking, public health, and land use.  

Voting by mail starts early, so the time to act is now!  You can follow and like Prop. 68 on Facebook and Twitter in order to follow the conversation. 

Read more about Prop. 68 on our blog post, and remember to spread the word to your partner organizations that Proposition 68 on the June 5 ballot will create vibrant communities where everyone has access to parks, trails and clean water. 

Sincerely, 

Laura Cohen 

Western Regional Director 

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Now’s a great time to see the dogwoods on the Foundation Trail on Gateway.  They are also about to pop in the gully near the top of the first section of Gateway (about ¾ mile from the trailhead).

JH

On Wed., May 2, at 9 am, Jack Moore and I will be doing some more spruce-up at the Siskiyou Land Trust property (522 Alma, across the street from Sisson School).  We could use a couple other volunteers to lop, drag, stack, rake, etc.  Come for an hour. 

It’ll be so much fun you won’t be able to stand it.

JH

About 25 eager volunteers showed up at CCSP to work on the campsites.  Brush was cleared and burned, signs installed, tent sites made flatter, and general spruce-up done.  The Boy Scouts and the high school Interact Club (an offshoot of Rotary) were represented.  There is one dedicated campsite for PCT hikers that was made pretty.

Thanks to Crystal Geyser for providing sparkling water, Keith Cool for donating chips to the sandwich orders, and Christy Corzine for purchasing sandwiches for everyone.

JH

MSTA and Clean and Safe Volunteers:

Despite the considerable risk of boring all of you to death, I feel compelled, in fairness, to post the exchange that has taken place the last three days between me and Carolyn Napper, District Ranger for the Forest Service, following her request that we cease our forest cleanup efforts.  If it’s too much, just ignore it.

PLEASE READ FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

 

Hi everyone, this morning I had a very good call from Thom Wick to discuss options for continued support by the public on ensuring our forests are well managed. I then followed that conversation up with a long meeting with my staff to look at options for ways to  continue to work with the public yet at the same time follow our necessary protocols.

 

I don’t want anyone to think that we don’t appreciate the help, enthusiasm, and strong desire by the community to support us in our efforts to ensure that the National Forests are well cared for. I feel that  collectively we can send a strong message to people who may be abusing the National Forest by littering, leaving trailers, placing encampments, etc. So I would like to offer that a possible solution is to help us be our eyes and ears and report trailers, garbage, encampments, fires, etc. WE really do need that support and once we have that information we will have someone go out and check it out. In many cases there can be garbage that we will pick up. Last year we cleaned up over 55 different sites across the unit. Maybe we didn’t get them all but we treated the majority of the ones we know about.

 

Perhaps what you don’t know is that we do track the sites that are reported and in some cases we have to have trailers tagged or we perform an investigation to identify who may have left the materials. Yes, those reviews may not happen in a day or two, and there have been occasions where it has been months. No one likes that but we still are persistent and we have gotten trailers and areas cleaned up even if it took us a little longer.

 

So my proposal is to continue to have your help in identifying sites and we will not only track them but once those sites are clear we will organize clean-ups. I will then invite the public to help if we have a large amount of material that the public can safely remove. Not all sites are the same so some sites can be cleaned up much faster than others but I have to ensure both public and employee safety before I can have volunteers helping us. If you all are willing we can try this over the next several months- say until September and see how we do. We can then evaluate where we can improve and what we have to change. As I mentioned to Thom some of the value we have learned from tracking things is we can see patterns and also we can make other management changes which could be a Forest Closure, blocking of roads, barriers, modifying use patterns. We have lots of tools to use and I do want the support of the community and this may be a way for us to work together.

 

Please understand as an agency we do have processes that we must follow and at this time I am simply asking your support in following those processes. Perhaps since I had been gone for a couple months our communication broke down and our intentions were not clear but believe me we are truly dedicated to our motto of Caring for the Land and Serving the People. Let’s do that together.

 

Respectfully yours, Carolyn

_________

 

Thanks for the note, Carolyn.  We would like to work with you.  We just don’t want to lose the interest and momentum we’ve built up over the last 18 months.  There are many people who have become excited about keeping our local area (city, county, and USFS lands) clean.  Many are outraged over the abuse of the land by illegal campers and dumpers, and feel that they are accomplishing something by participating in the cleanups.  I’ve been shocked by the level of interest.

 

Most everyone knows that the USFS doesn’t always have the resources to keep up with the problem.  Therefore, we remain ready and committed to help when we can.  Please be aware that my post was widely shared yesterday mainly to call off the team that had been preparing to clean up the Everitt Memorial site.

 

Do you mind if I share your email with the groups with whom I communicate?

Thanks.

John Harch

__________

 

Hi John, no my intent was to have you share that widely and what I am hoping for is that we can schedule a once a month clean up between my staff and any volunteers. I was more concerned that perhaps people felt we didn’t care which is not true we just have to make sure we follow our process.

 

I hope that by tracking sites that we can identify on a monthly basis what sites we can clean up and then get that scheduled. I also am working with the County for some other larger clean ups in the Hotlum area and perhaps with some of their equipment we can get that area looking much better. So please share our intent to be vigilant and as we have cleared sites identified we will offer volunteer days/afternoons on roughly a monthly basis. Just encourage folks to report to 926-4511. Much thanks, Carolyn