Irvine Company Land Donation Continued...
The
Irvine Company also agreed to provide $30 million�an increase of $10 million
over a previous offer�to create public access to the land, maintain the land
as open space and restore damaged habitat.
It brings the amount of former ranch land set aside as open space to
50,000 acres.
For
too long the Irvine Company has been demonized for doing what they have a right
to do, develop their land.
There are those in the environmental movement who have not acknowledged
the responsible actions that the Irvine Company has taken to mitigate its
developments. That is not to say they should be able to develop their land any
way they want, but they should be allowed to develop their land as long as it is
intelligently done and the impacts on the public are mitigated. This land
donation shows that they are considering the public's needs.
We also understand that the Irvine Company intends to provide not only areas for preservation but also areas specifically for recreation. The Warrior's Society commends the Irvine Company for this tremendous gift and will work with them in completing the vision they have for this land.
Santa Barbara IMBA Epic
By Larry "Spirit Of San Juan" Branham
Mike
Dussinger, Danny Gallagher and I went to Santa Barbara Friday night in the
Winnebago.
We spent Friday night in town in the parking lot of the YMCA and visited
Bob's Bicycle Shop on Saturday morning to get a better map and learn a little
more about what we were dealing with.
Turns out that there is a bit of driving yet to do and most on somewhat
rough roads.
Anyway, we leave town and head out to the Los Padres Forest on Highway
150. After
waivers are signed and some confusion settled, we are off to the trailhead which
is seven or eight miles away in rather challenging conditions for the motor
home, probably as close as I have been to four-wheeling with a 20-foot house on
wheels.
The only mishap was that the driver's side mirror was pulled off by an
oak limb; some places were narrow.
(Editors
note: Chuck Anderson, the leader of the Santa Barbara group that staged this
epic, said that Larry is a legend because of his ability to "off-road" his
motor home on the treacherous dirt road leading to where the epic was staged.)
There
were approximately 60 to 70 persons, and trail work began around 10 a.m. and we
were wrapping it up and heading back to the camp site around 3 p.m.
Approximately three miles of trail were covered.
We had dinner at a local ranch and enjoyed friendly conversation with all
new acquaintances.
Everybody was really pleasant and expressed a lot interest in the
Warrior's Society.
We
camped about two and a half miles from the start location and chose to ride from
camp, adding roughly five miles to the loop.
The Buckhorn Trail is actually very long; it would be easy to turn this
into a high-mileage ride.
As it was, the loop planned was 37 miles.
The trail is a blast, about two to three hours of steady to steep
climbing and then off to a motorway-like downhill for eight to ten miles and
some 30-plus stream crossings, some wet, some dry�all challenging.
The remaining distance was rolling in nature. Scenery all beautiful and
the terrain was awesome.
There was a little rain several days prior, and it speckled rain all day
during the ride.
Traction was confidence
building in that one could hold a tight line even while moving pretty fast.
I
am really terrible with names, so will not try to mention individuals because I
know I will leave someone out.
Yet I do want to express what a great trip this was, and its success is a
tribute to our fellow forest lovers.
There were people/riders from San Diego, San Clemente, Colorado, and
Santa Barbara.
Many riders expressed an interest in the Vision Quest and the Toad
Festival and indicated that they would check in on the website.
We had good "coup" in Santa Barbara; it is my belief that we represented the club with style and skill. I am pleased with and by the event. We should put the Buckhorn Loop on our out-of-town list of rides.
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