The Roddy Ranch Habitat Restoration and Public Access Plan has been presented to the Park Advisory Committee (PAC) and the Board Executive Committee. The plan includes habitat restoration reworking of the site drainage and existing ponds to provide enhanced habitat for several species. Recreation features include ~4.2 miles of multi-use trails recommended by staff to include bike access to all 4.2 miles. ‘Trail’ widths will be predominantly 8 feet wide with ~ 1.2 miles of 6 foot wide trail. This is an open grassland site with moderate slopes with new trail construction designed to provide ample sight lines and speed controlling features. The California Native Plant Society and Sierra Club have opposed full bike access and requested bikes be prohibited on part of the system. Roddy Ranch is not designed not expected to be a mountain bike ‘destination’, however it will be a key trail head for access to the larger Deer Valley park which will connect to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. BTCEB submitted both written and live comment at the PAC meeting advocating for bike access to the entire trail system. Several PAC members spoke in support of bike access as well. Roddy Ranch and Deer Valley fall under the East County Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) which limits recreational features to 50 acres of ground disturbance across the total HCP area of up to 30,000 acres. Wider trails result in a lower total length of available trails. Recreation in the HCP is limited to ‘passive’ recreation and would not allow advanced bike features.
Board Approval is scheduled for the Tuesday November 1, 2022 board meeting. Information for public comment to the board meeting can be found several days before the meeting. You can reach out to the board at any time with comment and can find their email addresses at on the Park’s website. Please reach out to the board regarding bike access as it is important they hear from our community as constituents. While the mountain bike community has been participating in planning process through the workshops and public comment, board statements at the Executive Committee meeting did not acknowledge cyclists or mountain bikers as constituents while hikers, equestrians, and conservation interests were acknowledged. While Roddy Ranch is not a key destination park for mountain biking the unfolding of the public process is important to discussions on other parcels as they are developed. The current plan indicates staff recommendation for multi-use with bike access across the entire trail system however final decisions on bike and other access types will not be made at this approval point of the plan. It is still important to continue to provide input at each step.
