Rubicon Trail targeted for cleanup of waste from off-road users

Carlos Alcalá

Rarely does a humble county road become a legend.

That, however, is the status of the El Dorado County route known as the Rubicon Trail.

Though it is more a collection of granite obstacles than a road as that word is generally understood, the Rubicon is a mecca for those who drive off-highway vehicles.

"We get people from all over the world," said Vickie Sanders, who coordinates Rubicon programs for the county.

Canadians Don and Trisha Miller were there this week, attempting to run the Rubicon in their Jeep Rubicon.

The Millers came from British Columbia to make the arduous crossing.

"It's on the bucket list," said Trisha Miller.

These days, though, the trail is also the target of a 2009 water quality abatement order and an innovative county program to try to remedy decades of environmental abuse.

Human waste, oil and erosion sediments are threats to the watershed. The trail has nearly been loved to death.

The Millers and fellow Canadians Steve and Becky Marsh had already heard of the environmental scrutiny when they were approached on the trail by John Pardi of the Rubicon Trail Foundation.

Pardi handed out "wag bags," which can be used as a kind of unpleasant-but-necessary portable toilet.

The couples expected to pack out their toilet paper, but brought a shovel to bury waste, not realizing the terrain was too rocky.

"It's kind of hard to dig out here," said Becky Marsh.

They had stopped at a particularly soil-less spot known as Top of the Bowl, to watch other vehicles coming through a difficult feature known as the Gate Keeper.

Its difficulty may be measured by the number of oil stains and even a small pool of motor oil on nearby rock, suggesting damaging leaks caused by the obstacles.

Pardi also hands out spill kits for cleaning up and packing out oil, and bright yellow bandannas bearing the slogan, "Eradicate the white flowers."

The "flowers" are bits of toilet paper that still can be seen along the trail here and there.

All the handouts are funded by the county through grants, mainly from the California State Parks' Off-Highway Vehicle program.

The county's involvement is historic, dating back before surrounding public lands became part of the Eldorado National Forest.

In the late 1880s, landowners petitioned successfully to get the county to establish the road from Wentworth Springs on the Georgetown side all the way to Lake Tahoe.

The road was maintained for wagons for years, but it gradually fell out of use except by four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The county and the U.S. Forest Service – which administers public land through which the trail runs – were the targets of the 2009 abatement order, issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The 11-page order notes problems like the fecal waste that closed camping at Spider Lake in 2004.

It cites erosion from tires and water contamination that "is likely due to motor oil, grease, and other petroleum-based fluids spilling and leaking from OHVs."

Damage to vehicles is a part of off-roading, Pardi said.

One maxim of the experienced, he said, is to carry parts and share with those in need.

"I've given away parts to someone I didn't even know," said Jerry Reffner of Placerville, a member of Friends of the Rubicon.

Reffner's own Toyota bears the license plate NTFRGLE, as in "Not Fragile."

But the environment is fragile. Seven fish and one frog species are at risk from sediments entering streams, said Wendy Wyels, environmental program manager for the water quality board.

This month, the county got a grant to hire work crews for route improvements – ditches to protect waterways from tainted runoff and rock to cover erosion-prone areas – to reduce the amount of sediment that goes into streams.

"We're very pleased with the progress they've made," said Wyels.

Still, some key components of the effort are held up.

Sanders has funding to install toilets along the route, and put in a bridge across Ellis Creek, which vehicles now drive through.

However, county and federal lawyers still have to hammer out legalities of who's responsible for the road.

The county feels the Rubicon Trail belongs to El Dorado County. Historically, officials say, it's what's known as an RS2477 road.

The Forest Service, however, wants the county to request an easement before making permanent improvements like the toilets and bridge.

That's not the only conflict on the trail.

A few folks still resent being told how to operate on the trail or where to go.

"Too many rules," said the driver of a rig with an American flag as a sun shade and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing on his stereo.

Giving his name only as Brenden, from Citrus Heights, he criticized "environmentalists, extremists, Nazis" for telling off-roaders how to enjoy the trail.

"Nature's made for us, not the other way around," said his passenger, who gave his name as Don.

Most off-roaders Pardi met over a four-hour period Tuesday, however, said they appreciated the improved environment and are working to keep the trail clean – much cleaner than it was a decade ago.

"They want to keep it open," said Wes Muchow, riding with his father, Scott.

And even those who resent rules are starting to understand the reasons for them.

"Dude," said Brenden, "we don't want to wake up next to a piece of toilet paper."

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Source: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/17/2896289/rubicon-trail-targeted-for-cleanup.html

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