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Rubicon Trail Newsletter
By Del Albright, Trail Boss, Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) November 2003 |
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Del's BlueRibbon Ambassador Job Calif. Assoc. of 4Wheel Drive Clubs |
Public Meeting on Strategic Plan for the Rubicon Trail
On Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, 2003, (7pm) in Placerville, there will be another town hall type meeting to review the current draft of the Rubicon Trail Master Plan. If you cannot make the meeting, you may send me your comments and thoughts and I will make sure they get carried forward. You can also join one of our Regional meetings of FOTR (Bay Area or Northern Nevada) to offer up your input. Read more on my web site: http://www.delalbright.com Why Care About the Rubicon Trail? The reason so many folks invest time, money and energy on the Rubicon Trail is because this trail has become the prime best example of how to properly manage a trail -- and it's not just about the Rubicon; it's about ACCESS! The Rubicon represents access. Now because of all the folks involved, it has become the example for how to do it right. Add the fact that it's the most famous trail in the world, and you can see that we can use this trail as an example for others to follow. If we can do it on the Rubicon, you can do it on your trail also. The Rubicon is the icon of four wheeling -- whether you love it, hate it, or just dream about it. The whole four-wheeling world knows about the Rubicon Trail. And now we're making it a world precedent setting example of how volunteers and users can be part of the future of this trail. Annual Meeting of Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) We will plan to hold our normal annual meeting of FOTR in Sacramento in February or March. Stay in touch or subscribe to the FOTR email group if you'd like to make this meeting. There, we will plan next year's activities and projects, as well as ideas we have for the trail. Email me if you need more info. Rubicon Trail Grant for 2004 As you've already heard, I'm sure, the CA OHV Commission granted us $237,000 for 2004 projects on the Rubicon Trail. We will be doing a lot of great things. Stay tuned on my web site for updates and project dates, or again, subscribe to the FOTR list if you want to be in on the planning and details. Leadership Opportunities in FOTR Several FOTR folks are taking my newly release course: Recreational Leadership Training Course (RLTC) on how to be a better boss of volunteers. If you want to expand your leadership skills, we can always use more leaders in FOTR projects (whether you have a course behind you or not. ) But leadership is essential to keeping volunteers productive and organized. If you want to be a leader, or to perfect your skills, let me know. I'll help, and put you to work if you live close to the Rubicon Trail. Sponsors Need Our Support One of the messages I deliver over and over is to support the folks who support us. They deserve our business. Before you buy a part that has to do with your recreational motorized piece of equipment (whether that be 4WD, ATV, snowmobile, buggy or dirt bike), find out if folks you're going to buy from support our sports. Are they members of organizations? Are they supplying goodies to raffles? Are they involved in keeping our trails and lands open? If not, don't buy from them and let them know why you're taking your business elsewhere. But if we don't give them our business (the good guys), how can we expect them to keep helping us work for access. Read about our biggest Rubicon sponsor. Web Site Offers Endless Articles and Info on Land Use and Access If you have not been to my web site lately, I invite you to take a peek. I have added even more stuff on land use and access that is available to you as a resource. This web site has been over two years in the building. I do the work myself, but I have tried to cover all the bases in access and land use -- about everything you can think of. So if you are looking for help, start here: www.delalbright.com Rubicon Projects for 2004 We have yet to complete the project list for 2004, but it will include a bathroom (or two), river crossing facilities, trail improvements, signs, drainage work, and more portable toilet distribution, as well as a kiosk information booth at Loon Lake. It will still be the Rubicon Trail, have no fear. The rocks and hard places will still be there. But we will add a few ammenities (bathroom opportunities) and fix some areas that need repair. Most of the work done by FOTR you won't even notice. We keep the trail as original and natural looking as we can. More importantly, we keep the trail maintained and repaired so that our recreation does not cause any environmental damage. Winter Access to the Rubicon Trail We are asking folks to NOT use Loon Lake as their access point for four wheeling the Rubicon Trail. Wenthworth Springs road is open to winter access for those coming in from the West. Please use Wentworth if you want to go out and play in the snow. The Rubicon is not the best place to play in the snow, but if you go out there, do not head up to Loon Lake. We, the Friends of the Rubicon, would like to leave this area around Loon Lake free of motorized use during the snow season. We are doing this for several reasons: 1) we want to give the folks who cross country ski and snow shoe a place to do thier thing without vehicle ruts; 2) we want to stay out of the way of SMUD as they do their road and water business up there during the winter; 3) the Rubicon Oversight Committee as asked us to do this; and 4) we can make a lot of friends in politics if we voluntarily do this. Email me if you have questions. Calif. Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs (CA4WDC) I am the State Environmental Affairs Coordinator for CA4WDC. If you live in CA, and have yet to join Cal4, I urge you to do that today. CA4WDC has been working on the Rubicon Trail longer than about anyone I know. And Bob Reed, President, is a long standing Charter member of FOTR. Join here: CA4WDC BlueRibbon Coalition I am a full time contractor for the BlueRibbon Coalition. Without them, I would not be able to do this Rubicon Trail work to the extent I do. We need more four-wheeler voices in BRC. Please consider joining today if you have yet to join. They keep me going and they help our Rubicon Trail efforts. Join online here: www.sharetrails.org Thanks, Del Del Albright, |
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| www.delalbright.com |
Email me if you have questions at jeepndel@goldrush.com
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