Group Plans Lawsuit to Keep Trail Open

An Ojai group is preparing to go to court to reopen a popular trail north of the city used by hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders for at least 30 years.

The Alliance for Public Trail Access is asking people to fill out a questionnaire detailing their use of what is variously known as Fuel Break Road, Fire Break Trail, Gridley Fire Trail and The Browseway.

Last year, Ojai resident Ole Konig bought the 97-acre parcel that includes the path.

The group hopes to prove that public access allowed by the previous landowner gives people the right to continue using the approximately one-mile section of trail that runs across Konig’s property.

The trail is actually a dirt road the U.S. Forest Service used as a firebreak in the 1960s. It connects with other paths to form a popular eight-mile loop pictured on back country hiking maps. No public easement expressly for recreation has ever been granted on the road, a fact neither side disputes.

“In some ways I sympathize with his situation, but he just can’t wipe out an existing public right,” said group organizer Judith Gustafson. “It’s probably the single most beautiful walk or ride you can find in those hills.”

Konig thinks it’s lovely too. That is why the former real estate company owner bought the land to build a house on with his wife and four children. He has already received building permits and plans to soon start construction within 100 feet of the road.

Konig installed gates on the road in June and had the Forest Service erect signs notifying trail users that the land is private. Vandals have repeatedly torn down the signs and gates, Konig said.

Negotiations to allow access to an alternate trail on private land nearby broke down when the three landowners--including Konig--insisted on retaining the power to revoke the trail easement if problems resulted.

“We’re not going to invest the public’s money to maintain the trail and acquire the easement if it can be taken away at any time,” said Larry Mastic, district ranger.

So while Gustafson appeals for people’s help in restoring the public’s right to use the trail--she asks people to contact the alliance at 646-8419 for more information--Konig steels himself for a legal battle.

“By walking across somebody’s land I think you are getting the kindness of the landowner, and to turn around and say you’re turning this into a right is absolutely atrocious,” he said. “My backyard, just because it happens to be 97 acres, is no different from anybody else’s backyard.”