Linda has left a new comment on your post "New Member":
I am also a new member to Ride the River Kern...although I have been riding the river off and on for 40 years. I board at Rancho Notso Grande for the last year (love my new home!) and previously at Robertson's for 2 years...would like to comment on a couple of my concerns.
I ride almost daily so am fortunate to see the changes along the banks of the river. However one feels about the beaver activity - they are a part of the natural environment that we all enjoy so much when we ride. In the interest of co-habitating with these wonderful creatures wouldn't it be great to protect the trunks of the equally wonderful sycamore trees that line the banks of our precious riding area. We all have our favorites, but the sycamores are at the top of the food chain in my book. Rather than fret after the fact when one is gnawed and felled by a beaver can we be proactive and organize a group to nip it in the bud? Anyone interested in this endeavour?
My other concern - hazards on the trail - whether they be pieces of wire or broken glass - what are the rules and regs concerning taking a non-motorized vehicle (golf cart) and picking up some of these hazards? Should signs be posted to warn riders that there is a vehicle on the trail, etc. etc. Input please...
Ed. Note: Hi Linda, how's that new horse doing? (actually it's probably been a year...) I agree about the trees, I'm sure this has been a subject of discussion with the Panorama Preserve group (which is why we should all support them). Maybe we will get a response here, if not, I'll try to contact someone "in the know". But I agree, at least a sizeable number should be identified and protected. My experience with beavers is that they target young trees with trunks or limbs under three inches in circumference. The older, larger trees do get hit if the limbs are low to the ground. (This is NOT a scientific fact, just observation from an untrained eye.)
Regarding the motorized vehicle, again we need to contact someone from the PP but I've been told that cleanups have to be cleared through the PP. This might seem like it's silly, (I mean who wouldn't want someone to go help cleanup?!), but I think it effects their ability to negotiate grants, funds, and liability.
I have posted designated clean up days in the past and will post again when I hear of one coming up. For small things, we will just continue to hop off our horses and bring it home. Thanks for your concern.
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3 comments:
A few years ago, Marci Cunningham received the okay (and gate key) to take a pickup east on the bike path at Manor to haul off junk and a car door that was on a trail going up to Panorama Dr. I think she got $8 at the scrap yard for the door. Her husband (me) was volunteered to help!
Users of the Panorama Vista Preserve need to know that alterations to the Preserve (This would include placing wire around tree trunks) would have to be authorized by the Board of Directors of the Kern River Corridor Endowment, the owner of the Panorama Vista Preserve.
I, as a member of the Board of Directors, have seen no evidence that sycamores in the Preserve are threatened by beavers and have strong reservations about placing wire around the trunks of mature trees. I would find this aesthetically unpleasing.
Almost all the sycamores on the river bank in the Preserve have multiple trunks and can readily withstand beaver activity.
I would not want to remove the beavers because I have observed that the beaver dams have, during periods of low water, held water in the river, benefitting the riparian vegetation. On our website, www.panoramavista.org, there is a picture of a beaver dam holding back water. See www.panoramavista.org/fauna.html
Thanks for the comments...I have been informed by more than one source since posting my initial blog that the sycamores are NOT high on the beavers list...and that is good news! And thank you, Andy, for all of the hard work put in by the Preserve to keep these precious trails open to many, grateful riders.
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