Opinion: East Bay park district going about trail-use decisions all wrong

A recent article in the East Bay Times noted that the impetus for a proposed trails pilot project in Briones Regional Park is conflict caused by more visitors and “the growing number of illegal ‘bootleg’ trails at Briones and other regional parks.” These are real problems, and they must be addressed.

What hasn’t been mentioned, however, is that elements of the pilot project’s design could actually lead to increased conflict between trail users and inadvertently promote the creation of more bootleg trails, leading to further habitat damage.

For these reasons, environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, the California Native Plant Society’s East Bay Chapter and Golden Gate Audubon are calling on the East Bay Regional Park District to pull back and revisit certain strategies they’ve built into this pilot project and other recent trail proposals.

East Bay Parks is increasingly putting all user groups on the same narrow trails, even as reports of conflict between mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians are on the rise. Ask around: Many people who spend time on trails in the East Bay Regional Park District have witnessed or experienced a collision or a near-miss.

The Briones pilot repeats the trend by combining hikers and mountain bikers on a steep and narrow hillside trail with blind corners, with little input from the thousands of people who walk the park.

Meanwhile, Briones Regional Park has over 30 miles of bootleg trails, which degrade landscapes and fragment wildlife habitat. With climate change increasing pressure on our most sensitive wildlife and ecosystems, the park district needs to prioritize strategies that protect habitat and encourage trail users to enjoy our parks in harmony with nature. Yet the park district’s proposed pilot at Briones would open up existing bootleg trails for sanctioned use, creating an incentive that rewards the creation of further illegal trails.

This is all happening as the district moves to make important decisions about the use of park facilities less open and transparent. The board has approved changes to their operational ordinance that give more authority to the general manager and cut the public and the elected and publicly accountable board out of the process.

One idea that has the support of hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians and environmental groups is a districtwide trails plan that takes an expansive, region-wide look at increasing access equitably for all user groups. By first identifying and setting aside the most sensitive wildlife habitats and then allowing different user groups to see their interests and needs taken care of at the regional level, a districtwide trails plan would reduce the conflict that’s been hampering the district’s current trail-by-trail, park-by-park planning processes.

With 73 parks spanning 125,000 acres in two counties, East Bay Regional Parks District has ample space to meet the diverse needs of the public and fulfill its mandate to preserve healthy ecosystems, even as interest in outdoor recreation continues to rise.

Whether through a districtwide trails plan or better-designed trail pilot projects with more public input, everyone enjoying our public parkland — whether on foot, on horseback, in a wheelchair, on a bike, jogging, walking a dog, pushing a stroller or bird-watching — deserves a safe trail system that preserves habitat, protects wildlife and increases access for all.

Jim Hanson is a member of the Conservation Committee of the East Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Norman La Force is chair of the Sierra Club’s East Bay Public Lands Committee.