The Closure of EZN (Blue Gum) Trail

You may have noticed that your old favorite trail on Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF), EZN, has been closed.  Logging in the Caspar 500 area hasn’t been active for two years, so why close the trail now?  

This user-built trail, once a logging road (#669), was identified as having environmental and safety issues when it was analyzed during the permitting process for the Caspar 500 Timber Harvest Plan (THP).  CalFire’s plan is to decommission the road and create the new and improved Blue Gum Trail, complete with improved stream crossings, including two new bridges. Now that the issues have been officially identified, not only is CalFire liable if a member of the public gets hurt, but they must also comply with state regulations for road abandonment. When a road is abandoned, it must meet requirements for erosion controls and drainage. Culverts that were once put in place for stream crossings must now be removed, and the associated fill must be stabilized. Water diversions must be corrected. This work requires heavy equipment; thus, it would be logical for the logging contractor for the Caspar 500 timber harvest to complete the work. Logical, aside from the fact that a large portion of the public is opposed to the THP.  (It was impossible for EZN enthusiasts to miss the four-foot diameter redwood trees marked for harvest adjacent to the trail.)  Since activists shut down the Caspar 500 timber harvest in 2021, the plan has been put on hold. On May 15th of this year, the timber sale contract expired.* Just prior to that, CalFire closed the trail.  

At a recent meeting of the JDSF Recreation Task Force, when asked whether there might be a scenario in which the trail would be completed without a timber harvest, CalFire State Forest Program Manager Kevin Conway asserted that CalFire would continue to pursue a timber harvest plan that the community could get behind. Several mountain bikers expressed the need for CalFire to communicate with the public before a trail is closed, if for no other reason than to allow for one last ride on a legendary trail. 

*Not to be confused with the timber harvest plan – See What’s Up with the Caspar 500 Timber Harvest?