Marin Voice:
It is time for trail access for all
THE TRAIL ACCESS DEBATE wears on in this paper, with the arguments never changing. What is different this time is that the Marin Board of Supervisors has stepped up as directors of our open space, and are seeking new solutions to address user conflict on our open space trails.
History
In 1999, The Trails Committee for Marin County Open Space attempted to make mountain biking on singletrack trails a misdemeanor crime. It was, and still is, thanks to the efforts of A4B, an infraction to ride your bike on a closed trail on MCOSD land. Almost every singletrack trail in every land jurisdiction in Marin County had already been closed to bikes. Access4Bikes was formed in response to the continued decrease in the access to trails in Marin County and to address the proposals that would have further criminalize mountain biking on the trails in Marin. The original board of A4B splintered from the Bicycle Trails Council of Marin, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, realizing that the trail closures where political in nature, and thus wanted to form a political group that could directly influence decisions affecting access to our public lands.
