The Folsom Lake State Recreation Area (FLSRA) Road and Trail Management Plan (RTMP) is currently in its 2nd and final draft and addresses the shift in trail user demographics from a time before mountain biking became popular until now. FATRAC has completed and submitted our third public comment letter this year to California State Parks on the FLSRA RTMP (https://www.fatrac.org/flsra-rtmp ). We re-referenced your amazing support of over 1,650 signatures this spring since we continue to reiterate the same sentiments again.
California is the birthplace of mountain biking, but its policies and bureaucracy have caused it to significantly fall behind the rest of the country in mountain bike trail development. As California goes, so goes the Nation - unless it has to do with mountain bike trail development, where places like Bentonville, Arkansas have turned themselves into a mountain bike mecca in a very short time.
We at FATRAC, along with the California Mountain Bike Coalition and all of its members, are trying to change the way California State Parks (CSP) views mountain biking on trails as a privilege, whereas hiking and horseback riding is a right. Some of the recent interactions with CSP through the FLSRA RTMP process have given us examples of this. When asked for clarification on why a particular trail allows horses but was not recommended for a change in use designation to allow bikes, the reply was that it was too steep and narrow for bikes, and that equestrian access has been allowed on that trail for as long as they could remember. It was also stated that they received public comment wanting “a trail experience without bikes,” but when asked for mountain bike specific trails, the response was “barring a significant shift in department policy, CSP will not be constructing mountain bike specific trails.” Keep in mind this was in a State Recreation Area where it specifically states “improvements may be undertaken to provide for recreational activities including bicycling,” an ideal place for a mountain bike trail.
The introduction of Assembly Bill 1789 is an example of efforts to change CSP policy on mountain biking, and although it was stripped down significantly from its inception, it is still a step in the right direction.
FATRAC needs your support to keep our efforts going to make mountain biking better in Sacramento and the surrounding area. Becoming a member (https://www.fatrac.org/join gives us extra weight when we go to negotiate for better mountain bike access.