RUBICON TRAIL FOUNDATION

Contact: Scott Johnston FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Telephone: 530-409-8482

E-mail: Scott.Johnston|removethispart|@RubiconTrailFoundation.org

Placerville, CA January 20, 2010

PRESS RELEASE: BOARD OF SUPS TO DECIDE ON RUBICON TRAIL
Formal Decision Expected at Tuesday Board Meeting

DOT Staff has recommended that the Rubicon Trail in El Dorado County be defined in order to comply with a cleanup and abatement order written by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2009.


Of the three options listed, Rubicon Trail Foundation (RTF) supports Option 3 with inclusion of all the Recommended Variants and a wide maintenance corridor at Little Sluice and Buck Island to preserve other variant routes within the corridor today and reserve the possibility to create other variant routes in the future, in compliance with the principal goals of the CAO. Preserving potential access to alternates and stub routes in these areas is more consistent with the historical Rubicon Trail Experience than any single trail alignment. Trail users enjoy camping while enjoying the trail and parking issues may result in enforcement issues if restrictions are too high. People come from all over the world to enjoy the historic Rubicon Trail.

Additionally, RTF would like the Board of Supervisors to consider including the following Variants Not Recommended into the Recommended Variants list.
* Map location (C) the USFS portion (14N34B) of the historic McKinstry access to Rubicon.
* Map location (D) is a short section of trail just east of Ellis Creek.
* Map location (E) is the obstacle known as Soup Bowl, and the short bypass near it.

RTF appreciates the hard work that the Department of Transportation spent to formulate a fair framework for the Board of Supervisors to make decisions when they may not all be personally familiar with each section of trail. We know how tough it must have been to find middle ground between two extremes:
folks who demand Rubicon closed to green stickers year-round, closed to motorized use in the winter, and travel limited to only one route
trail users who desire unrestricted year-round access to every section of trail, bypass, or alternate
RTF especially appreciates that the County is neither relinquishing the public's RS-2477 standing nor closing routes, and is limiting their efforts to identifying maintenance priorities for the County, its agency and organization partners, and the hardworking FOTR volunteers that support them.

RTF provides a lengthier opinion with more specifics supporting our rationale at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=77244146742&topic=16224

The Rubicon Trail Foundation was formed in 2004. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation dedicated to the future health of the Rubicon Trail and our mission is to enhance the future health and use of the Rubicon Trail, while ensuring responsible motorized year-round trail access. FOTR and RTF works with individuals, 4x4 clubs, organizations, and agencies to maintain and manage the trail. Our Officers and Directors represent a wide variety of Rubicon Trail OHV users, land owners, county representatives, manufacturers, and event organizers.



If you would like to help with our efforts, you may send your tax deductible donations to:

Rubicon Trail Foundation PO Box 2188 Placerville, CA 95667

Paypal donations or major credit cards by calling 888-6rubicon or by signing up for a Friends of the Rubicon work party at: www.friendsoftherubicon.com





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