Karl Knapp wants to reroute a trail into the middle of this picture.
Please save Malibu Creek State Park from this village idiot.
Karl Knapp, California State Parks Road and Trail Manager, has been with California State Parks for 34 years, supervising trail crews, managing road and trail programs, and is currently the backcountry road and trails manager for the state park system. Karl provides technical support on all types of road and trail projects, and is also a private consultant performing training and project support throughout the United States. He has experience in all phases of primitive road and trail layout, design and construction of backcountry, urban interface and high use trails. Karl is a joint trainer and author of the award winning California Department of Parks & Recreation’s Trails Training Program.
Seems like a rather inflammatory allegation, when there is already a trail/old road bed that runs through this meadow and is visible on the right side? As I understand it the realignment is further down in the canyon.
ReplyDeleteThat "old road bed" on the right is Mulholland Highway, a state designated scenic drive. The new trail scarred into this meadow will be visible from the state designated scenic drive.
ReplyDeleteI stand by my inflammatory comments.
Jim
It appears the photographer was standing in the middle of the meadow when this picture was taken. Yearling Trail (which you can see a small portion of in the distance, right in the middle of the pic) runs down the left side of the meadow already. I don't believe Mr. Knapp is considering putting a road the size of I5 down the middle of the meadow, but there are plans to re-route the trail that already is unsustainable due to its poor drainage, according to parks personnel.
ReplyDeleteDear Jim Thornton, The trail is currently in such bad shape that it is literally washing into the streams and water shed. The current trail condition is such that it is seriously detrimental to the surrounding environment. Are you or do you know an experienced land management professional with an alternate viable suggestion on how to reroute the trail to protect the surrounding environment? If not, I feel fortunate that we have been granted access to trail and land experts that can help us preserve our environment for decades to come. It seems that somehow the forrest was lost in the trees, the trail is currently damaging the surrounding environment, something we all should be concerned about.
ReplyDeleteHey Twirlygal These so called experts are responsible for the existing trail that is apparently so bad....
ReplyDeleteYou just supported Jim's righteous argument.
Malibou Creek State Park opened in 1976, Karl Knapp has been with the park service 34 years.
ReplyDeleteWhy has nothing been done about such an environmentally detrimental trail until now?
Twirlygirl is full of shit.
At least be honest about it.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLobUF60PAM
I hope those ruts, I mean "trails" DO get re-routed. They've been plowed by horse hooves and carved by erosion because they are, in many places, fall-line trails. They should be replaced with contoured, out-sloping trails that don't shed sediment into the local streams. These trails were laid out by Ronald Reagan, no less, and he wasn't particularly noted for his trail design expertise. By the way, that road cut on the right is Mulholland Highway, a veritable freeway for motorcycles on the weekends, and the picture is taken from the middle of the meadow OFF the trail, and off-trail travel is illegal in the park. Care to explain how you got this picture? Did you loan Superman your camera?
ReplyDeleteI got the picture off the internet
ReplyDelete(no copyright).
Nobody gave a dam about all this sediment for the last 40 years until some special interest group wanted to rework the trails for their own selfish purposes....
Thanks for pointing out the Reagan thing, I have heard others talking about the existing trail being historic, maybe you shouldn't move a historic trail....we'll check CEQA.
The trail change process can also be used to remove specific users from trails....be careful what you wish for.
Is Karl Knapp working on redesigning Mulholland too? All those road cuts probably shed a lot of sediment...like for the last hundred years.
Guys....relax....none of this matters. The state is bankrupt, the park will be closed soon enough.
ReplyDeleteWhich begs the question; why are we wasting limited resources working on this? All the state parks barely maintain what they have.
Shut down Karl Knapp's office and put the money in the maintenance budget.
Will the new trail be wheel chair accessible? It should be.
ReplyDeleteI am an avid hiker and have personally worked on many trails and am an advocate for sustainable, hiking only trails, it's a wonderful thing. Now that we know the trail is not sustainable and is detrimental, the mature and right thing to do is to rework this trail so that it is not negatively affecting the environment. I haven't heard any rational argument, other than personal displeasure, that overrides the most important issue, we need to protect and preserve our parks and resources.
ReplyDeleteMost of the trails in the park are unsustainable, why is this trail getting so much attention?
ReplyDeleteLook at those road cuts, they bleed a ton more sediment than any trail in the park.
We are wasting limited resources on a special interest group.
The sustainability issue is a red herring. You want mountain bikes all over the park, fine....just say that.
Ive 'bootlegged' those trails a couple of times. The sections way up on the hillside, in the brush, and under the trees are really cool, but, they're totally "horse-troughed" and parts are unmakable(on a bike at least)Last year,the "easy" part right at the edge of the meadow and the tree line had a rut so deep(not from anything but poor location) that the rainwater has actually made a tunnel big enough for a hog to hide in, right under the trail. Hate to have my horse collapse that.
ReplyDeleteWhy these trails? How would the equestrians feel if they had to "ride the asphalt" to get from paramount to mal. creek stat. pk.? Guess for some, it might be hard to put themselves in other's shoes. Aren't they a special interest group too, part of a larger special interest group that might be called "those who like to pass time in the natural open spaces of this great state"? Should they be excluded because they have steel shoes, and the ability to "crush" all other users with over 1500 lbs of horse flesh? Do you know that "hunters" and "environmentalists" are politically allied?You don't have to answer, but you might want to think on it.
Hey guys, Jim doesn't own a horse.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'd ride those trails just as they are, but they won't let me. I wonder if i just blazed a new one like R. Raygun did, would they let me continue using it and exclude horses? Why not? ain't I special enough like them horses?
ReplyDeleteA push for a mountain bike only trail would actually make more sense to more park users.
ReplyDeleteWell I do own a horse, and it simply isn't safe to have horses and speeding mountain bikes on the same trail no matter how well designed the trail is. Many equestrians support the rights of mountain bikes to enjoy the park, support for separate horse and mountain bike trails is greater than multi use trails. Whoever came up with the multi use concept doesn't ride horses.
ReplyDeleteOur numbers are in decline. We may, as a rule have more money(and therefore influence)but our passion costs more, and is therefore often unsustainable(how many friends have sold theirs?)We dig our heels in but, we can't deny the situation. Young hooligans you say. Did you see how many of them had gray hair?
ReplyDeleteI'll be d***ded if my horse will be spooked by some trifle like a car horn, paper bag blowing in the wind, or bicycle. Confidence I say; exposure the remedy. Hell, he's not bambi. He's the descendant of war horses and so am I!
So I guess we should either fix or close other trails in Malibu Creek State Park? Or are we just going to continue with this pretense?
ReplyDelete