ncterry
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either
I get really frustrated when neglect and inaction on the part of the CDFW gets projected onto people using the land. There are certainly far more "illegal trails" than necessary, but that is because there are no apparent legal trails. Right now it is a wild west of neglect out there -- nothing is marked, CDFW 'rangers' randomly throw up signs or put up dangerous obstacles on random trails, riders are angry, the CDFW is angry, and nothing good is coming of the situation. This could be fixed so easily. Even the article says: "Nygaard stressed how the nearby Lake Calavera Preserve serves as a prime example of an area riddled with illegal trails that was corralled into something more legal and organized." Exactly! So the logical conclusion is that the CDFW land should follow this model. First, all parties need to agree that this public land needs to be accessible to the public in some form, both on feet and on bikes. It sits in the middle of a city of 113,000 people and growing. You can't prevent that many people from using this land -- no number of signs or fences around such a perimeter will protect the land. It is a miracle and a blessing that the land hasn't been developed, and we all want it to remain that way. I think history clearly shows us that having people use, enjoy, and care about a natural space is critical for that space's longevity. Open spaces need as many friends as they can gather. Next, a small group of riders and reps from CDFW and Preserve Calavera need to sit down and come up with a small number of trails that (a) are least likely to negatively affect soils and habitats, (b) protect the areas of the land that are the most sensitive, and (c) offer riders a reasonable number of interesting and varied trails that connect together in a logical way and allow for longer rides to be formed. Yes, not everyone will be happy. Yes, some 'favorite trails' will close. But I think that is a much better situation than what we've got now. Boards with these LEGAL trail maps then need to be posted at all entrances. Trails not on this list are then closed off with boundary signs. Legal trails then need to be marked at their starting points, and preferably named. If funding issues are the reason for CDFW's seeming ongoing neglect of the land, then it should be put under the "CDFW Lands Pass" program, where they can raise a bit of money and use that money to manage the property properly.— January 24, 2018 8:48 a.m.