The Bear Yuba Land Trust recognized a dream come true Friday with the dedication of the new Yuba Rim Trail, which is the first trail to be cleared in a 2,706 acre recreation area on the Yuba River called the Rices Crossing Preserve. Marty Coleman Hunt is Executive Director of the Bear Yuba Land Trust and talks about the trail located off Marysville Road, just a few miles down from the new Bullards Bar Dam..*
Listen to Marty Coleman Hunt 1
The Public opening of the new 2.5 mile Yuba Rim Trail at the north end of Rice’s Crossing Preserve is scheduled for April 18th.
The entire parcel spans from Nevada to Yuba Counties with 6 miles of access on the Yuba River. And when the trails are built will allow the public to hike, bicycle, ride horses as well as allow access to the Yuba River for fishing, kayaking and swimming. *
Listen to Marty Coleman Hunt 2
California Land Conservation Director for the Trust for Public Land, Dave Sutton says the acquisition of the property has been a phenominal effort over 13 years years to get to where they are today.*
The $3.25 million acquisition was funded by Proposition 84 funds through the California Natural Resources Agency’s River Parkways Program ($1.9 million) and Sierra Nevada Conservancy ($1 million) in addition to funding from the CalTrans Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program ($350,000).
BYLT acquired Rice’s Crossing Preserve in June of 2014, the largest landholding in the Land Trust’s 25 year history. A community success story, the preserve helped BYLT to grow its conservation footprint from 6,000 to 9,000 acres. BYLT’s stewardship team will monitor the property ensuring that habitat for threatened and endangered species will be protected and restored. BYLT will work closely with South Yuba River Citizens League to develop a monitoring plan for this section of the river.
John Thomson is the Land Manager for Rices Crossing and says they hope to generate revenue off the property to complete recreation and habitat restoration projects.*
A preliminary management plan for Rice’s Crossing Preserve has been created and Bear Yuba Land Trust is just beginning to seek community input on the project.
“What does the community want us to build and where?” asked Executive Director Marty Coleman-Hunt.
Nevada County District 4 Supervisor Hank Weston sees Rice’s Crossing as a key recreation landholding that will drive tourism and help the local economy.
“This will last for generations. This will be the trail system, the connection system, the economy booster,” said Weston, who someday sees himself walking from Bullards Bar to the new covered bridge at Bridgeport.
People can get more information on the Bear Yuba Land Trust and the public opening of the new Yuba Rim Trail by going to their Website. www.bylt.org.
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