Archive for the ‘Verdugo Mountains’ Category

New San Vicente Mountain Communications Tower Public Presentation (the Nike Site)

Thursday, January 12th, 2012
A new communications tower is being proposed for the top of San Vicente Mountain, near the location of the Nike site at Westridge and Mulholland in the Santa Monica Mountains. This is a highly popular destination for trail users and visitors to the Santa Monica Mountains.

UltraSystems, a company specializing in environmental planning, will be conducting a public  presentation on the project for interested parties:

7:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 17, 2012, West Los Angeles City Council Office, 1645 Corinth Ave., Second Floor Hearing Room, LA, CA 90025.  

The presentation will help the public and the trail user communities understand exactly what the impacts of this new 200′ tower will be.

While this meeting will concentrate solely on the the San Vicente Mountain project, at least four other sites are being proposed for similar projects.  Mount Lee is within Griffith Park, behind the Hollywood sign and is off-limits to cyclists.

The other peaks are Mount Lukens in the Angeles National Forest, Verdugo Peak at the top of  Hostetter Fire Road (AKA “La Tuna”), and the Baldwin Hills.  The Mount Lee and Baldwin hills projects are for new equipment buildings within existing facility boundaries. Mount Lukens and Verdugo Peak are both slated to have existing towers replaced and upgraded. These projects will be discussed at a later meeting.

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Posted in Advocacy, Environment, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Access, Verdugo Mountains | No Comments »

Eagle Scout Project at Verdugo Peak

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

On Sunday, September 11th, 32 volunteers headed up Hostettor road (La Tuna Canyon) in the Verdugo Mountains. Eagle Scout candidate and Verdugo Peak Trailwork St. Francis High School racer Steven Ayoob had chosen to work on the trails at Verdugo Peak for his Eagle Scout project. Verdugo Peak is the highest peak in the Verdugo Mountains. CORBA trail crew volunteer Steve Messser served as an advisor for the project, supplying CORBA’s tools and expertise.

After a round of coffee, juice and donuts, the group held a moment of silence in memory of the victims of September 11, 2001. Steven gave instructions and organized the group before heading up to the peak and trailwork site. At the top Steve Messer gave a talk on safety, tool use and the objectives of the trailwork.

Steven Ayoob is a member of Boy Scout Troop 127 out of Glendale, and is the troop’s fifth Eagle Scout candidate for 2011. He has ridden the trails in the Verdugos and wanted to help improve and preserve them. The user-created trails that lead up to the peak along the old firebreaks have been ridden and hiked for decades. They have been becoming increasingly rutted and eroded in recent years. About 32 volunteers came out to help with the project, filling ruts, cutting in rolling dips and nicks to divert water, and trimming brush.

Ayoob also had some of the volunteers install a restored and freshly painted park bench on an overlook near the top of Whiting Woods motorway, giving weary hikers and riders a place to sit and enjoy the views of the Crescenta Valley and San Gabriel Mountains.

One of the volunteers who came out was Eagle Scout Chris Sercel, whose Eagle Scout project was the restoration of the Doc Larsen trail in 2010. He put the leadership and trailbuilding skills he’d learned in his project to good use, helping direct one of the two crews working on different sections of the trail. Sercel’s Court of Honor, the ceremony and final step in the long trail to become an Eagle Scout, was held the day before on Saturday, September 10th. At that ceremony Chris surprised CORBA’s Steve Messer with an Eagle Scout Mentor pin for his guidance on the Doc Larsen project, a true honor.

Ayoob’s Eagle Scout project was coordinated with the City of Glendale’s Community Services and Parks Department. CORBA thanks Steven and all the volunteers for their contributions to Glendale’s trails, and we congratulate him on a successful Eagle Scout Project.

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Posted in Trail Crew, Verdugo Mountains | No Comments »

Summary of Public Scoping Comments Newsletter Available for Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study

Monday, August 29th, 2011

What follows is the contents of an email we received from the National Park Service:

 

Summary of Public Scoping Comments Newsletter Available for
Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study

Thank you for taking time to send us scoping comments to help guide the Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study. We received more than 2,000 comment letters and e-mails. Over the past several months, we have been reviewing and analyzing your ideas, suggestions and questions. We thank you for taking the time to comment. We’ve learned a lot about the issues that concern you, the special places that you value, and what you hope this study process will accomplish. This summary of Public Scoping Comments, “What We Heard from You,” is now available in Newsletter #2.

The public comments focused primarily on the following broad topics:

- suggestions for the scope and definition of the study area
- suggestions for the study process
- natural and cultural resources that the NPS should consider for possible significance
- existing recreational uses and future recreational needs
- issues and opportunities to be considered in the study process

Also included in this newsletter is an update to our “Frequently Asked Questions” and “Next Steps in the Study Process.”

We look forward to staying in touch with you throughout the process!

Anne Dove                          Margie Steigerwald
Project Manager                   Planner
We need your help getting the word out! 

Given the size and complexity of the study area, we need your help in getting the word out about the study.  If you know anyone who would be interested in this study, please forward this message to them and encourage them to sign-up for our distribution list. 

Download Newsletters

 Contact Information

Mail:      National Park Service
                  Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study
                  570 W. Avenue 26, #175
                  Los Angeles, CA  90065

Website:  �
www.nps.gov/pwro/rimofthevalley

 E-mail:     pwr_rimofthevalley@nps.gov 

 Phone:     Anne Dove, Project Manager (323) 441-9307
                       Margie Steigerwald, Planner (805) 370-2373

 

Posted in Los Angeles, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, Verdugo Mountains | No Comments »

Bike Park Project Introduced to Glendale Commission

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Monday afternoon, April 18, 2011 at 2:30pm was the monthly meeting of the City of Glendale, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission. CORBA’s Steve Messer spoke during the Oral Communications period of the meeting. The Commission were introduced by Messer to the Glendale Bike Skills Park project.

The Bike Skills Park wasn’t an agenda item, and oral communications are limited to five minutes for each speaker. After Messer made his quick presentation several questions were asked by the commissioners. They were surprised that there isn’t any other bike park in Southern California. They were also surprised that there are four High School teams using Glendale trails for training.

More questions followed about the land requirement and how this proposal dovetails with the Safe and Healthy Streets Plan, which was to go before City Council the following day, Tuesday, April 19 (see below).  The Safe and Healthy Streets Plan has been developed by Colin Bogart of the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition in partnership with the City of Glendale, under a grant from the County of Los Angeles. It includes a recommendation for a Bike Skills Park in its educational section.

Even though this was not an agenda item, Jess Duran, Director of the City’s Community Services and Parks Department made the recommendation “for the department to do a quick feasibility analysis, to put a group together including Colin Bogart and see what the feasibility might be.”  He also added, “I can tell you that now is not a good time to be requesting new projects given the challenges of the budget and the staff resources, but we could do a quick feasibility analysis. I’d also like to get some background from staff to what extent we’ve evaluated this type of project before.”

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Posted in Advocacy, High School League, Verdugo Mountains, Youth | No Comments »

Glendale Bike Skills Park – Show Your Support!

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Glendale needs a Bike Skills Park. Southern California needs a Bike Skills Park. Sign our petition and let the City of Glendale know!

Italian Bike Park showing Wooden and Dirt features

Bike Park showing Wooden and Dirt features (Italy)

Bike Skills Parks are a dedicated area for bicycles and include features like a pump track, progressive tabletop jumps, balance training features, XC short tracks, and much more. They can include dirt features, man-made (cut) wooden features, natural wooden features, and rock features. They are becoming more and more popular as people realize the skill-building fun and health-promoting exercise they provide.

A great example is the Woodward West Bike Park in Fresno. The City of Fresno, local mountain bike advocacy groups and the community came together to make this park a reality. We would like to see that model emulated here in Glendale.

In 2007 and 2008, the CORBA trail crew assisted the City of Glendale in developing their Trails Master Plan. In that plan are several desired new trail corridors in the Verdugos, San Rafael Hills and the foothills of Mt. Lukens. The biggest and most significant addition to the Trails Master Plan is a Bike Skills Park.

In Glendale’s Citywide Trails Master Plan for the San Rafael Hills (available as a PDF here), a bike skills park location is identified as “A” on the San Rafael map. Subsequent to the City’s adoption of the Trails Master Plan, CORBA volunteers worked with the City to identify the most suitable location.

With City Parks staff, we identified what we believe is an ideal location for a Bike Skills Park project. There is access from existing park facilities, and it could easily be tied in to the trail network of Cherry Canyon and the San Rafael Hills.  There are no nearby neighbors to disturb, and the location is surrounded by open space to the east and the 2 freeway on the western side. The land itself consists of debris fill from the construction of the 2 freeway.

Glendale will be revising its Bicycle Master Plan in 2011, and we want to see the Bike Skills Park included in that plan. As of this writing the public hearing dates for Glendale’s Bike Plan have not yet been set. When those hearings are held, we want to show how much demand and community support exists for a Bike Skills Park.

To demonstrate that need, we are gathering signatures on a petition. You can read and sign our petition online on iPetitions.com. If you prefer, you can print out a PDF version of our Petition and gather signatures from your friends, family and neighbors. If you choose the printed petition, please snail mail, email or fax the petition sheets back to us as they are filled.

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Posted in Bike Skills Park, High School League, Verdugo Mountains, Youth | 3 Comments »

Rim of the Valley Study Comments

Friday, October 29th, 2010

As we reported back in August, the National Park Service has been holding public hearings on the Rim of the Valley Special Resource Study.  The public meetings have provided an opportunity for many to voice their support and/or concerns for the concept study.  Until midnight tonight, you can email your comments to the National Park Service.

Rim of the Valley Study Area Map

Rim of the Valley Study Area

The Rim of the Valley is comprised of the open spaces that surround the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo valleys. This area spans both Los Angeles and Ventury County, and a bevy of land managers from different agencies. CORBA fully supports the prospect of having these various land managers come together under the direction of the National Park Service, with the goal of permanently protecting this vital ecological and recreational resource.

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Posted in Advocacy, Angeles National Forest, Conejo Valley, Default, Environment, Los Angeles, National, Palos Verdes, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Access, Verdugo Mountains | No Comments »

Rim of the Valley Corridor Public Meetings – Mountain Bikers Needed!

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Rim of the Valley Study Area

Rim of the Valley Study Area

The National Park Service is in the initial stages of conducting a “special resource study” of the area known as the “Rim of the Valley Corridor.” This is the area that generally includes the mountains encircling the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo Valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in southern California.

On May 7 2008, P.L. 110-229, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 received final approval. Within that legislation the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to complete a special resource study of the Rim of the Valley Corridor. Specifically, this is a study to determine how to manage this special resource for environmental and recreational purposes.

It is vitally important that mountain bikers are represented at these public hearings to ensure that we are included in the planning process. There are some individuals and groups who would rather see mountain bikers banned from trails in the study areas. We want to ensure multi-use designations throughout the trail systems. The study corridor covers numerous land managers’ and agencies’ jurisdictions, complicating the process. We want to ensure access and trail connectivity for mountain bikers throughout the corridor.

Visit http://www.nps.gov/pwro/rimofthevalley/ to learn more.

Meetings are scheduled:

Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 7-9 p.m.

Mason Recreation Center

10500 Mason Ave.

Chatsworth, CA 91311

Wednesday, September 15, 2010***

2-4 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Los Angeles River Center and Gardens

570 W. Avenue 26

Los Angeles, CA 90065

Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 7-9 p.m.

George A. Caravalho Santa Clarita Sports Complex-Activities Center Building

20880 Centre Pointe Parkway

Santa Clarita, CA 91350

Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 7-9 p.m.

Conejo Recreation and Parks District

Community Room

403 W. Hillcrest Dr.

Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

Monday, October 4, 2010, 7-9 p.m.

King Gillette Ranch

26800 West Mulholland Highway

Calabasas, CA 91302

Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 7-9 p.m.***

Northeast Valley City Hall

7747 Foothill Blvd.

Tujunga, CA 91042

Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 7-9 p.m.

Charles S. Farnsworth Park

Davies Building

568 East Mount Curve Ave.

Altadena, CA 91001

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Posted in Advocacy, Angeles National Forest, Conejo Valley, Los Angeles, Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Access, Verdugo Mountains | No Comments »

Verdugos: City Requests Illegal Features be Removed

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

At a recent meeting of the Burbank Trails Committee, City Officials notified us that illegal features that have been built along Preston Ridge in the Verdugo Mountains must be removed.

The features have appeared over the past year or two.  Near the top of the Vital Link trail (a hiker-only trail), there is a small wooden feature. Beyond that, there are some small tabletop jumps and bermed turns. The City is giving the builders until the end of May to remove the features and the materials used before they go in and take them out.

“Preston Ridge is not an official trail” according to the City representative. However, the trail was created by hikers hiking across firebreaks along the ridge line more than two decades ago. One Committee member has hiked there “his whole life.”  The City is in a dilemma as to what to do with the “trail” itself, as it has such a long use history, but has never been through any process to become an official trail. The City Attorney has determined that the features themselves are a liability.

The work on the ridge is that of many different people and groups. The City has been in contact with some of the builders, but they are only responsible for a small portion of what has been constructed.  Many of the recently altered sections of the trail were not done “up to safe, sustainable standards” and did not follow the original line of the existing unofficial but long-used trails along the ridge.

Meanwhile, CORBA has submitted a draft proposal to construct a new section of trail with mountain-bike specific features. The City Attorney and others are going over the proposal in detail, but have not yet accepted or denied the proposal. They have expressed hope that it can eventually be accepted and completed. The City needs more time to study the proposal and has requested information and examples of how other cities around the country have dealt with new mountain-bike enhanced trails.

Currently most single track trails in Burbank open space are closed to bicycles. There has not been a new official trail constructed since 1998 when the Vital Link trail was completed.

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Posted in Trail Access, Trail Crew, Trail Hazards, Verdugo Mountains | No Comments »

Trail maintenance and training on the Rim of the Valley Trail in Duekmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale, July 12, 2008

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Trailwork Report

By Jeremy Oberstein, GlendaleNewsPress.com
LA CRESCENTA — The green portfolio of 13-year-old Daniel Keifer, a budding environmentalist and one of a dozen residents to help officials unclog trails at Deukmejian Wilderness Park on Saturday, is already larger than many who gathered in the sprawling, outdoor monument to hiking.

“I’ve been doing this since I was 7,” said Daniel, near a sharp ax with a wooden handle that reached up to his chest. “I like building maintenance and getting out there. I tell my friends and they don’t really know what it is. But it’s fun.”

Daniel and the others who gathered Saturday morning in the amphitheater of the 702-acre Deukmejian Wilderness Park spent nearly three hours cutting back brush to clear the way for new trails to be dug in the coming months.

Saturday was the first of what could be many workshops on trail training and maintenance around the city that officials hope will rejuvenate water-logged and brush-blocked paths to establish new routes through some the region’s most popular outdoor sites, said Jeff Weinstein, a trails and open space specialist with the city of Glendale.
“The No. 1 enemy of trails is water,” he said. “We want to clean them up.”

Inviting the public to help dig new trails and clear brush was as much an effort to instill a sense of ownership for miles of city-run trails that traverse places like Deukmejian and Brand Park as it was a cost-saving effort by a cash-strapped city, Weinstein said.

But before participants could hit the trails, they had to learn about their task, including the three tools that would be made available to them later in the day.

Tasked with introducing the brush-clearing axes and rakes was Hans Kiefer, a trail crew leader for the Concerned Off Road Bicyclers Assn. As he extolled the virtues of safety first and trail maintenance second, Kiefer told the crowd about the Pulaski, a dirt-loosening tool with an ax blade on one hand and grub hoe on the other; the McLeod, a flat, square-shaped blade with a cutting edge on one side and a rake with widely spaced tines on the other; and the Hand Pruner, an oversized set of shears primarily used to cut protruding roots and small branches that encroach on trails.

Kiefer demonstrated how to hold the instruments and their different uses, stressing that a safe trail blazer is a happy trail blazer.

“We’re all out here to have fun,” he said with the Pulaski arching over his shoulder. “You don’t want to put someone’s eye out.”

For La Crescenta resident Bill Weisman, 54, clearing brush early on a Saturday morning was not only an investment in his neighborhood, but a beautiful diversion spent among wild flowers and warm sun.

“I live close to the park, so I come here a lot to hike,” he said. “It’s a magnificent park, and it’s underutilized.”

Saturday’s effort to clear trails at Deukmejian Park comes more than two months after President Bush signed into law the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study. The legislation, authored by Rep. Adam Schiff, sets in motion a chain of events that could double the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, known collectively as the Rim of the Valley, and which includes Deukmejian Park.

Schiff was widely praised for his seven-year effort to see the bill to fruition, but some on Saturday reserved praise for the city of Glendale to kick-start the trail-cleaning program.

“I have to hand it to the city of Glendale,” said Mike Lawler, president of the Crescenta Valley Historical Society. “This is something I hope will make this place special.”

Photos are by Tammy Abbott, Glendale News-Press

Posted in Angeles National Forest, Trail Crew, Verdugo Mountains | 2 Comments »