Laguna Canyon Foundation Meeting last night 8-13-15

dstepper

dstepper

Member
I attended the meeting in Laguna Beach last night and found it very encouraging. Hallie Jones director of LCF was there as was Stacy Blackwood director of Orange County parks. They both seem to be on the same page in reaching out to the MTBing community. I stopped going to these meetings years ago because they never went anywhere and became a venue for the hiking crowd to beat on the mountain bikers. The meeting was focus on trial issues and they introduced the two new LCF trail crew members that are doing trail building and maintenance. MTBers outnumbered the hikers significantly and many hikers left early after hearing LCF was interested in promoting MTB. This new younger land mangers seem to get it. In short maybe in is time to give the land magagers another chance. They acknowledge that when they close an outlaw trail in Laguna we just build another one and the decades old game never changes. Yes they are open to make some fall line trails legal. We are talking about the 40,000 acres that are El Moro, Woods Aliso Canyon and Laguna Wilderness Parks. Irvine open space is under other management.

We did talk about yesterdays sale of driftwood estates to the Orange County Transit Authority and the possible no trespassing ordinance that may be coming. The property closed escrow yesterday so it is a done deal. Hallie is talking to OCTA and there is a possibility of closing some trails like Shute's and Ladders and keeping the ridge line trail open for use. Lets hope we do better in Laguna than Ladera Ranch and Rose Canyon faired against OCTA.

In short contact them, be trained in trail maintenance, adopt a trail program is coming, bells in a box for downhill runs coming, hopefully new maps with suggested loops for people not familiar with the parks coming.

Dean
 
Thanks for the report Dean, I did wonder how it went as I'd originally hoped to attend, but "unforseen circumstances"...
 
Well Dean, that is a very encouraging report. So very glad you went to that. I honestly think that there is a shift on the horizon. There is a younger crowd coming up through the ranks and they see the potential in mountain biking.

I think the message is clear, we need to participate. In talking with AKAKTM today on the phone today it is imperative that we must stand up and be counted.

The KEY STATEMENT, that Dean stated above:
MTBers outnumbered the hikers significantly and many hikers left early after hearing LCF was interested in promoting MTB.

Should I repeat that? Let's use that tenacity to climb a trail to show our strength at the next meeting!
 
I will add to this, as I was sitting just in front of Dean and chatted with him throughout the meeting. Guess he doesn't know me. Hi Dean - I was the guy in the Fort Lewis College polo. :wave:

Hallie Jones is not a mt biker, but she gets it. She basically said, "if we can't provide a legal trail that is entertaining, fun and challenging, then I can't really blame people for riding the trails they like (as in, illegal trails)."

I have a different take on the hikers that were there. I thought they would be cantankerous old coots complaining about us "young" whippersnappers ruining their wilderness experience. Actually, they were quite lovely. Each one who spoke pointed out that the vast majority of mt. bikers they encounter are pleasant and accommodating. They appreciated bells. They understand it's easier for them as hikers to take one step out of the way then it is for a mt. biker to stop. They did want mtb-ers to be a little more cognizant of parts of trails where hikers cannot safely move over.

I made a suggestion that bike shops should include a flyer with the sale of each mt bike or mtb equipment that explains the whys and whats of being a good ambassador of the sport in Southern California. Every helmet, set of pads, bike or mtb bike part should include a "be an ambassador" handout. Some suggested to hand people an IMBA brochure. I disagree. IMBA is a special interest group with a political agenda and a need to raise funds. Don't get me wrong, I am a member and support their agenda and methodologies whole heartedly, but a political group is a political group. A flyer would be less pushy, and less of an "agenda" other than trail and access protection.

The problem in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Aliso Woods (and Crystal Cove) is complicated ownership and governance. Federal Fish and Wildlife, State Fish and Wildlife, Coastal Commission, State Parks, OC Parks, City governments, OCTA, Irvine Ranch Conservancy, OC Fire Authority, the Toll Roads and a half-dozen other organizations have either steering or legal authority over the scant 20-40,000 acres. That's why it took ten years to open one trail - Lizard. Hallie Jones did a ton of the actual work herself. She doesn't ride.

After the meeting, an older gentleman - clearly a hiker only - thanked me and said he has NEVER experienced a rude rider. I told him I had seen many, and occasionally I have been the guy that startled a hiker. He re-iterated that ALL of the mtb-ers he has encountered have been courteous. He was a Sierra Club member.

It was a good meeting.
 
I had a run-ins with the grey haired lady that complained about uphill hikers and downhill MTBers. I was dropping BVD years back and she stood her ground in the middle of the trial and put her elbows out so I could not pass. It was steep, loose and was tuff to stop in time. I said it looks like you wanted me to end up in the cactus and she said that it would serve me right. We have a better relationship now after discussing that encounter...I have talked to her many times since.
 
sounds like a very positive meeting. Thanks to dstepper and herzalot for attending and sharing
:thumbup:
 
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