Town of Mammoth Lakes Trail System Master Plan Final Draft

The update to the 1991 Mammoth Lakes Trail System Master Plan (Final Draft) was unveiled in spring, 2009. MLTPA (Mammoth Lakes Trails Public Access) under the leadership of John Wentworth provided much of the impetus and did much of the work that resulted in this significant plan. Many ROLG members joined in this process.  This update to the 1991 Trails Master Plan has a strong focus on providing facilities that will improve access to trails from all nodes of transportation. In addition to new trails, paved pathways, soft-surface trails, signage and wayfinding, and associated amenities, the plan recommends action to improve sidewalks, crosswalks, bus stops, bike lanes, bicycle parking, summer maintenance, and snow removal. The formal environmental review process is the final remaining step - hopefully later in 2009.

Mammoth Trails

In the summer of 2008, six Mammoth-based outdoor recreation organizations signed on to the Mammoth Trails Charter, creating a confederation of user groups that seeks to accomplish the following:

• Engage with trails and public access issues and events
• Provide timely, reliable outdoor recreation amenity information
• Serve as a volunteer resource for stewardship
• Enhance and protect the outdoor recreation amenities we all enjoy, while fostering strong relationships between user groups and increasing awareness and understanding of multiple uses

ROLG was admitted as a charter member in May, 2009 (an ROLG representative has been attending monthly meetings since the group began).

Sherwin Working Group

The US Forest Service, the Town of Mammoth Lakes, and MLTPA (Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access Foundation) have convened a working group to identify a preferred alterative for implementation in the SATSS (Sherwin Area Trails Special Study) area. The group will look at both summer and winter recreational possibility and at environment resource issues. Following a series of sessions for interested participants, the group convened for the first time on May 9, 2009, and will meet about six more times over the next five months to produce a preferred alternative for Forest Service implementation in this largely unmanaged (mixed use) area between the south urban growth boundary of Mammoth Lakes and the bottom slopes of the Sherwin Mountains. Three or more ROLG members intend to participate in the working group. Group members, aided by an outside facilitator, pledge to represent interests of all users and not just their own interests and to make decisions through consensus. A final decision on management of the SATSS area will be made by the forest service. The process of collaborative citizen planning is similar to the process used to develop the citizens’ alternative for the Inyo National Forest Motorized Travel Management Plan. Deputy District Ranger Mike Schlafmann says that if the process is successful, he hopes to employ a similar approach in developing plans for other recreational areas (such as the Lakes Basin) in the Mammoth Lakes area. One concern of some ROLG members is that motorized recreation be separated from non-motorized recreation. The final result will be a system of motorized and non-motorized trails properly designated for different classes of summer and winter users that also protects the environment including the sensitive Sherwin Meadows area.
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