Snowlands Network - Past Project: Bear Valley Winter Recreation Plan

Past Project:
Bear Valley Winter Recreation Coalition

Bear Valley on Highway 4 has been touted as the snowmobile capitol of California. That might be true given that a high percentage of the cabin owners use snowmobiles to access their cabins over snow-covered roads, plus there are snowmobile routes from the town into the backcountry. Nearby are two snowmobile staging areas for visitors.

The number of readily accessible acres of lands designated for winter non-motorized use is small. The main two are Round Valley and Woodchuck Basin. Many areas that were once popular destinations for skiers and snowshoers are now inundated by snowmobiles.

Snowlands Network has advocated for a winter recreation plan that would provide more opportunities for muscle-powered recreationists in the area. This has fallen on deaf ears with the Calaveras Ranger District of Stanislaus National Forest. In fact, Snowlands has had to complain when the Forest Service illegally allowed snowmobiles access to Round Valley. Currently the District does little to enforce the few snowmobile closures that exist.

The Bear Valley Winter Recreation Coalition was an attempt by the Forest Service to bring non-motorized and motorized recreationists to the table for constructive talks. Meetings took place in 2005 and 2006. Snowlands Network's Director Jim Gibson attended the meetings. The outcome was a five-point agreement:

To seek a new Sno-Park recreation area at Big Meadow. This is an area that offers terrain for beginner skiers and snowshoers. Nothing has been done on this point.
To improve communications among winter recreationalists with more maps and signs, including a changeable sign noting avalanche danger. The signs at the Lake Alpine Sno-Park marking the Round Valley snowmobile closure no longer exist. The Forest Service does little to stop illegal snowmobiles in this area.
To seek a second trail from the Lake Alpine Sno-Park in order to separate motorized and non-motorized users. This exists today though it is poorly marked for fear that snowmobilers will use it. Catch-22!
To support better enforcement of travel map rules. The Calaveras Ranger District has shown no interest in enforcement of snowmobile closures.
To seek additional Sno-Park space at the Lake Alpine Sno-Park. The current plan is to create a Sno-Park on Highway 207 for skiers and snowshoers to access the Round Valley area. This will mean more space for snowmobiles at the Lake Alpine Sno-Park.

One could have called the Coalition a success if all five points had been successfully acted upon. But that has not happened. More important, the coalition members took no vote on possible changes to the travel map, knowing that there would be no consensus on those issues.

Snowlands Network believes that the failure of the Coalition to reach any meaningful conclusion is the result of the Forest Service's lack of financial support for the process. Unlike the "facilitated" meetings that lead to the Alpine County Winter Recreation Project, the Calaveras Ranger District supplied a facilitator for only the first meeting. The attendees were on their own after that.