Trail Must Be Shared by Many, Rangers Say

Motorcyclists, hikers and horseback riders must continue to share an unmaintained six-mile trail in the Angeles National Forest that they’ve feuded over in years past, say forest rangers from the Tujunga district office.

Rangers recently considered designating the rough loop trail--known unofficially as the Arrastre trail--that leads from Acton to Mt. Gleason either for use by motorized vehicles or by equestrians and hikers.

But in the end, as part of an overall environmental review of how to manage an approximately 300-acre swath of national forest north of Tujunga, rangers decided to put off action.

The rangers will hold a public meeting Wednesday to explain the decision on the trail and the management plan for two areas of the forest known as the Arrastre and Moody watershed areas.

“We had people who are proponents of having the trail for motorcycle use come in and ask us to designate it for their use only,” said Nancy Mehaffie a resource assistant in the Tujunga ranger office. “But the horse people said, ‘No, you can’t.’

“We also thought about combining the uses,” Mehaffie said, but a previously established national forest plan stipulated that trails should not be designated for both kinds of uses.

Plans for the areas include controlled burns to eliminate dead wood on the forest floor and scraping topsoil off ridges to create “fuel breaks.” Both measures are taken to reduce the risk of forest fire, Mehaffie said.

Wednesday’s meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Tujunga Ranger District Training Center, 12371 Little Tujunga Road.

For further information, call (818) 899-1900.