Title
Chief Administrative Office, Parks Division, recommending the Board:
1) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign a letter of support to the Placer County Board of Supervisors for efforts to consolidate maintenance work on the Rubicon Trail; and
2) Direct staff to coordinate with Placer County in pursuit of an agreement between Placer County and El Dorado County.
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Rubicon Trail traverses El Dorado County (14.6 miles) and Placer County (7.5 miles) and across three national forest units. The two counties have authority and responsibility to enforce state and federal laws and county ordinances within their respective jurisdictions. El Dorado County has jurisdiction of the 14.6 miles of the trail within El Dorado County, the Eldorado National Forest has jurisdiction of 0.3 miles of the trail within Placer County; the Tahoe National Forest has jurisdiction of 5.3 miles of the trail within Placer County; and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has jurisdiction of 1.9 miles of the trail within Placer County. In the past, there was some confusion around which agencies held official jurisdiction and management responsibility of trail segments within the different agencies' boundaries, which led to minimal maintenance and management in certain areas along the trail. Since the 2009 Clean-up and Abatement Order issued by the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board in 2009, which has since been rescinded, the counties, Forest Service, and the State of California Parks, Off-Highway Vehicles Division have worked together to address sanitation, contamination, and erosion issues along the trail.
El Dorado County has successfully implemented a program for the Rubicon Trail, reliant on State Parks grant funding and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) registration fee funds, for ongoing maintenance and management of the Rubicon Trail within El Dorado County, and often outside El Dorado County boundaries. In recent years, El Dorado County has coordinated with Placer County, State Parks OHV Division, and user groups for maintenance activities on the Placer side of the trail (Legistar Item #20-0393). Current grant funding includes a project to install a storage building at Ellis Creek, located on the border between El Dorado County and Placer County (Legistar Item #21-0041). This year’s grant request is for the expansion of the McKinney Parking Lot, also within Placer County (Legistar Item #23-2156).
In 2012 El Dorado County entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) titled, “Rubicon Trail Management Agreement” together with the Eldorado National Forest and State Parks Off Highway Motor Vehicle Division. The MOU outlined each entity’s responsibilities to the trail and reaffirmed the intent to cooperate for the planning and management of the Trail. The agreement expired in 2017, and a new MOU was approved by the Board of Supervisors on November 19, 2019 (Legistar Item #19-1506) to include Placer County and the other National Forest units, Tahoe National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The purpose of the MOU is to document the cooperation between the parties to manage, maintain and enhance the Rubicon Trail to foster: a seamless user experience; the trails long-term sustainability and availability to the public; user safety and education; the protection of the natural, cultural and historic resources along and surrounding the trail; and the enforcement of regulations along the entire length of the trail.
In pursuit of these goals for the trail, the former Parks Manager and representatives from each County and Forest Service unit have discussed options for consolidating services. Due to the visionary actions of previous El Dorado County Boards and the efforts of prior Parks staff, El Dorado County is the leader in facilitating the Rubicon user and volunteer groups, maintenance, education, law enforcement, grant writing and administration, and environmental monitoring along the trail. There are several possibilities for an agreement between El Dorado County and Placer County that would allow the well-developed program on the El Dorado County side to be extended through the Placer County portion of the trail. In order to explore these options with the other partners to the existing MOU, staff is requesting a letter to the Placer County Board of Supervisors for direction. Should both Boards desire staff to explore options for a formal agreement, staff will return to the Board at a later date with recommended actions.
Staff plans to bring a full update on the Rubicon program to the Board of Supervisors on June 18, 2024.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose not to pursue an agreement with Placer County.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Placer County
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with the letter. All current Rubicon Trail operations are funded through grants, OHV registration fee funds (Green Sticker) funds, and other non-general fund sources, and any work within Placer County would be similarly funded. Options for the Board, including any fiscal impacts, will be included in future items.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Board Clerk's Office to obtain the Chair’s signature and forward to the Parks Division for distribution to Agencies.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
N/A
CONTACT
Jennifer Franich, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer
Zachary Perras, Parks Manager