Trail Planning Restarts in Santa Monica Mountains

After stopping work almost a decade ago, the group of agencies that care for most of the Santa Monica Mountains are picking up where they left off when it comes to trails. The question is what to do with current and future trails for hikers, bikers, and horseback riders and how their use would potentially affect the environment and archaeological resources.

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is administered by the National Park Service, but its boundaries capture more than 150,000 acres of land, including city and state parks, as well as private land. All told, there's over 500 miles of public trails in this congressionally designated recreation area that runs from Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills to the beaches of Santa Monica, Malibu, and Ventura County (see a map here).

Work for the trail management plan began in 1999, but was stopped six years later due when funding ran dry. With it starting back up this month, officials from a handful of agencies will pick up from where they left off and ask the public for their ideas and opinions on a number of issues, including expanding the trail network (or trail closures), opening up hiking-only trails to bike and equestrian use, how to better include users that fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and, of course, how all of this would affect the environment.

There will be two public meetings where the public can attend to learn more and submit comments:

February 20, 2014, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
King Gillette Ranch
Dining Hall
26800 Mulholland Highway
Calabasas, CA 91302

February 22, 2014, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Temescal Gateway Park
Woodland Hall
15601 Sunset Blvd.
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Comments can also be submitted online by mail, or via fax (details on page 4 of this document).

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