COUNTYWIDE : Gas Tax Use Urged for Off-Road Trails
County Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer has recommended that the board support legislation allocating a portion of federal gasoline tax money for the upkeep and improvement of off-road trails.
Schaefer said the federal bill creating the National Recreational Trails Trust Fund would be beneficial to Ventura County because it would fund the creation of a network of connecting trails through the county for off-road vehicles, equestrians and joggers.
She said there already is an extensive set of trails, “mostly in the wild areas,” but since they are owned by different agencies, many are not connected or adequately maintained.
Areas of the county most likely to benefit from federal funds would be the area from the Santa Monica to the Santa Susana mountains, the Santa Rosa Valley and Potrero Canyon in Thousand Oaks.
The federal gas tax is nine cents per gallon of gas and 15 cents per gallon of diesel fuel. California motorists also pay a nine-cent state gas tax, which will double over the next four years because of two measures passed in the June election. The state gas tax will not be used for the trails fund.
Legislators have not decided what percentage of the gas tax will be placed into the trust fund, Schaefer said.
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