SECTIONS 5070-5077.8 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 5070-5077.8

5070. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
California Recreational Trails Act.

5070.3. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions shall govern construction of this article:
(a) "Affirmative access area" means an area of already existing
disability access improvements along a heritage corridor.
(b) "Committee" means the California Recreational Trails
Committee.
(c) "Heritage corridor" means a regional, state, or nationwide
alignment of historical, natural, or conservation education
significance, with roads, state and other parks, greenways, or
parallel recreational trails, intended to have guidebooks, signs, and
other features to enable self-guiding tourism, and environmental
conservation education along most of its length and of all or some of
the facilities open to the public along its length, with an emphasis
on facilities whose physical and interpretive accessibility meet
"whole-access" goals.
(d) "Heritage corridors access map" means a 1:500,000 publicly
distributed map combining listings and locations of parks, trails,
museums, and roadside historical and natural access points, including
disability and interpretive access data, along designated heritage
corridors.
(e) "Plan" means the California Recreational Trails System Plan.
(f) "System" means the California Recreational Trails System.
(g) "Whole-access" means a general level of trail and human
accessibility that includes not only disabled persons but all others
making up the "easy-access" majority of the public. This level of
accessibility may also benefit from amplified concepts of natural
terrain accessibility and cooperation with volunteer and nonprofit
accessibility groups.

5070.5. The Legislature hereby declares that it is the policy of
the state to:
(a) Increase accessibility and enhance the use, enjoyment, and
understanding of California's scenic, natural, historic, and cultural
resources.
(b) Encourage hiking, horseback riding, and bicycling as important
contributions to the health and welfare of the state's population.
(c) Provide for the use of recreational trails by physically
disabled persons, the elderly, and others in need of graduated trails
with special safety features, particularly in conjunction with
heritage corridors.
(d) Increase opportunities for recreational boating on designated
waterways.
(e) Increase opportunities for use of recreational vehicles in
designated areas and trail corridors pursuant to Chapter 1.25
(commencing with Section 5090.01).
(f) Provide for the development and maintenance of a statewide
system of recreational and interpretive trails, including heritage
corridors.
(g) Increase the recreational and educational use of public roads
by developing guides, maps, and other interpretive materials
concerning significant historical, agricultural, scenic, and other
resource areas.
(h) Encourage the development by cities, counties, districts, and
private groups of recreational and interpretive trails, including
heritage corridors.

5070.7. The director shall cause to be prepared, and continuously
maintained, a comprehensive plan for the development and operation of
a statewide system of recreation trails. The plan, which shall be
titled the California Recreational Trails System Plan, shall:
(a) Assess the present and future demand for trail-oriented
recreation uses.
(b) Recommend an integrated and interconnecting system of trail
routes designed to provide a wide range of recreational opportunities
and to assure access and linkage to scenic, natural, historic, and
recreational areas of statewide significance.

5071. The plan shall contain, but shall not be limited to, the
following elements:
(a) Pedestrian trails.
(b) Bikeways.
(c) Equestrian trails.
(d) Boating trails.
(e) Trails and areas suitable for use by physically disabled
persons, the elderly, and others in need of graduated trails,
especially along designated heritage corridors.
(f) Cross-country skiing trails.
(g) Heritage corridors.

5071.3. For each of the elements specified in Section 5071, the
plan shall:
(a) Set forth the role of state government in providing increased
opportunities associated with that particular recreational use.
(b) Describe specific policies, standards, and criteria to be
followed by the department and other participating public agencies in
acquiring, developing, operating, and maintaining land and water
trails and areas as part of the system.
(c) Specify standards and criteria to be followed by the
department and other participating public agencies in providing
facilities such as overnight camps, hostels, rest areas, access
points, corrals, launching ramps, staging areas, and parking areas to
complement trail routes and areas.
(d) Identify, on a statewide basis, the general location and
extent of trail routes, areas, and complementary facilities to be
included within the system.
(e) Describe new and revised state policies, programs, and other
actions of the executive and legislative branches required to assure
orderly development of the system.
(f) Recommend to federal, regional, and local agencies and to the
private sector actions which will assist and complement state efforts
to implement the system.

5071.5. In the preparation of the plan, the director shall actively
seek participation of other units of state government and of
appropriate federal, regional, and local agencies.

5071.7. (a) (1) In planning the system, the director shall consult
with and seek the assistance of the Department of Transportation. The
Department of Transportation shall plan and design those trail
routes that are in need of construction contiguous to state highways
and serve both a transportation and a recreational need.
(2) The Department of Transportation shall install or supervise
the installation of signs along heritage corridors consistent with
the plan element developed pursuant to this section and Section
5073.1; provided, however, that it shall neither install nor
supervise the installation of those signs until it determines that it
has available to it adequate volunteers or funds, or a combination
thereof, to install or supervise the installation of the signs, or
until the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds for the
installation or supervision of installation, whichever occurs first.
(b) The element of the plan relating to boating trails and other
segments of the system which are oriented to waterways shall be
prepared and maintained by the Department of Boating and Waterways
pursuant to Article 2.6 (commencing with Section 68) of Chapter 2 of
Division 1 of the Harbors and Navigation Code. Those segments shall
be integrated with the California Protected Waterways Plan developed
pursuant to Chapter 1273 of the Statutes of 1968, and shall be
planned so as to be consistent with the preservation of rivers of the
California Wild and Scenic Rivers System, as provided in Chapter 1.4
(commencing with Section 5093.50) of this division.
(c) Any element of the plan relating to trails and areas for the
use of off/highway motor vehicles shall be prepared and maintained by
the Division of Off/Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation pursuant to
Chapter 1.25 (commencing with Section 5090.01).
(d) In planning the system, the director shall consult with and
seek the assistance of the Department of Rehabilitation,
representatives of its California Access Network volunteers, and
nonprofit disability access groups to assure that adequate provision
is made for publicizing the potential use of recreational trails,
including heritage corridors by physically disabled persons.

5072. Upon preparation of a proposed plan, the director shall hold
at least four public hearings in different geographical regions of
the state to solicit views of the public and interested private
groups and governmental agencies on the goals, policies, and
proposals of the plan.

5072.5. The director shall consider any advice offered by the
Legislature, and, after considering such advice and making such
modifications in the proposed plan as the director deems appropriate,
shall complete and formally transmit the plan to appropriate federal
and state agencies, and to concerned cities, counties, and districts
throughout the state.

5072.7. Following completion of the plan as provided in Section
5072.5, all state agencies and departments whose operations are
affected by, or related to, the goals, policies, and proposals of the
plan shall utilize the plan as a guide in their operations.

5072.8. (a) The Recreational Trails Fund is hereby created. Moneys
in the Recreational Trails Fund shall be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for competitive
grants to cities, counties, districts, state and federal agencies,
and nonprofit organizations with management responsibilities over
public lands to acquire and develop recreational trails.
(b) The Controller shall promptly transfer all money received by
the state from the federal government as allocations from the
National Recreational Trails Trust Fund pursuant to the Steve Symms
National Recreational Trails Fund Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-240) and
deposited in the Federal Trust Fund, to the Recreational Trails Fund.
The money in the Recreational Trails Fund shall be available to the
department for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
for grants pursuant to subdivision (a), in accordance with the Steve
Symms National Recreational Trails Fund Act of 1991. Seventy percent
of the money received by the state from the federal government and
transferred to the Recreational Trails Fund pursuant to this
subdivision shall be available only for nonmotorized recreational
trails with at least one-half of that amount available only for
grants to cities, counties, districts, and nonprofit organizations
for the acquisition and development of new nonmotorized recreational
trails and the reconstruction or relocation of existing nonmotorized
recreational trails.
(c) The department shall prepare and adopt criteria and procedures
for evaluating applications for grants, which, at a minimum, shall
include certification that the project is consistent with the
applicant's general plan or the equivalent planning document,
complies with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000)) and other environmental protection
laws and regulations, and is not required as a mitigation measure as
a condition for a permit or other entitlement. The department shall
forward to the Director of Finance for inclusion in the Governor's
Budget of each fiscal year all projects that are recommended for
funding and those projects shall be contained in the Budget Bill for
that fiscal year.
(d) No grant shall be made from the Recreational Trails Fund to an
applicant unless the applicant agrees to both of the following
conditions:
(1) To maintain and operate the property acquired, developed,
rehabilitated, or restored with the funds in perpetuity. With the
approval of the department, the applicant or its successors in
interest in the property may transfer the responsibility to maintain
and operate the property in accordance with this section. In the case
of lands not held in fee by the applicant (limited tenure projects),
perpetuity shall be in accordance with the tenure or for the length
of time sufficient to provide public benefits commensurate with the
type and duration of interest in land held by the applicant.
(2) To use the property only for the purposes of the grant and to
make no other use, sale, or other disposition or conversion of the
property except as authorized by a specific act of the Legislature
and the property shall be replaced with property of equivalent value
and usefulness as determined by the department. The property acquired
or developed may be transferred to another public agency if the
successor agency assumes the obligations imposed under this chapter.
(e) All applicants for a grant pursuant to this section shall
submit an application to the department for approval. Each
application shall include in writing the conditions specified in
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (d).

5073. The plan shall be continuously reviewed, revised, and updated
by the director. Every two years following completion of the plan
pursuant to Section 5072.5, the director shall submit a report to the
Legislature describing progress in carrying out the plan and
recommending additional routes or other modifications in the system
as he determines are necessary or desirable.

5073.5. (a) The Governor shall establish a California Recreational
Trails Committee to advise the director in the development and
coordination of the system. The committee shall consist of seven
members appointed by the Governor. Two members shall be selected from
the northern, two members from the southern, and two members from
the central portions of the state, and one member shall be selected
at large. Members shall be selected from lists submitted by private
organizations that have a demonstrated interest in the establishment
of recreation trails. The chair of the committee shall be elected by
the members from their membership.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.

5073.7. (a) The terms of the members of the committee shall be four
years, except that such members first appointed to the committee
shall classify themselves by lot so that the term of three members
shall expire January 15, 1976, the term of two members shall expire
January 15, 1977, and the term of two members shall expire January
15, 1978.
Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, but
shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses, including
traveling expenses, incurred in the performance of their duties.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.

5074. The committee shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) Coordinate trail planning and development among cities,
counties, and districts. In carrying out this responsibility, the
committee shall review records of easements and other interests in
lands which are available for recreational trail usage, including
public lands, utility easements, other rights-of-way, gifts, or
surplus public lands which may be adaptable for such use, and shall
advise the director in the development of standards for trail
construction so that uniform construction standards may be available
to cities, counties, and districts.
(b) Advise the director in the preparation and maintenance of the
plan.
(c) Study the problems and opportunities presented by the use of
private property for recreational trail use and advise the director
on measures to mitigate undesirable aspects of such usage.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.

5074.1. The director shall be responsible for planning and for the
orderly development and operation of the system. The director shall
encourage other public agencies to acquire, develop, and manage
segments of the system which are outside of the exterior boundaries
of state park system units, and other areas under state jurisdiction.
The director may enter into contractual agreements under which
responsibility for state trail development and operation may be
carried out by other public agencies.

5074.3. (a) The right of eminent domain may not be exercised to
acquire property, any interest in property, or use of any property
for the trails contemplated pursuant to this article.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this
section, the director may, pursuant to Section 5006, replace property
or interests in property through the exercise of eminent domain
whenever a trail, or a portion thereof, has been acquired through the
exercise of eminent domain by another public entity; provided, that
the property to be acquired is in the immediate vicinity of the
property being replaced, and the director may, pursuant to Section
5006, acquire property or interests in property through the exercise
of eminent domain for trails established pursuant to this article in
hardship cases as determined by the department. Acquisitions pursuant
to this section shall be funded by moneys appropriated as provided
in Section 5075.

5074.5. The location of a route or complementary facility of the
system across lands under the jurisdiction of a federal agency shall
be by contractual agreement between the director and the appropriate
federal agency. The director may enter into such agreements, and,
subject to the provisions of Section 5075, may expend funds in order
to participate with federal agencies in the development and operation
of state trail routes across federal lands. The director may
exercise similar authority with respect to segments of the system
which cross other public lands.

5074.7. If lands included in the system are outside the boundaries
of areas administered by public agencies, the director may enter into
agreements with private landowners in order to develop and manage
such lands as part of the system. The director may accept fee title,
easements, or an appropriate lesser interest in private lands for
purposes of the development and maintenance of trails designated as
part of the system.

5075. Following review of the plan by the Legislature as provided
in Section 5072.3, the director shall prepare a list of recommended
priority system projects for the system. Projects recommended for
funding during each fiscal year shall be submitted to the Governor
for consideration for inclusion in the Budget Bill. When acquisition
of private lands for state trail purposes is proposed, the director
shall provide information supporting the necessity for such
acquisition, including verification that there is no feasible
alternative to the proposed acquisition, and that the proposed
acquisition would be an essential part of the system, to the Governor
and to any standing committee of the Legislature that requests such
information. No funds, whether derived from gift, donation,
grant-in-aid, or other source, shall be utilized by the director for
state acquisition of private property in connection with the system
unless appropriated by the Budget Bill.

5075.3. In specifying criteria and standards for the design and
construction of trail routes and complementary facilities as provided
in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 5071.3, the director shall
include the following:
(a) The following routes shall be given priority in the allocation
of funds:
(1) Routes which are in proximity or accessible to major urban
areas of the state.
(2) Routes which are located on lands in public ownership.
(3) Routes which provide linkage or access to natural, scenic,
historic, or recreational areas of clear statewide significance.
(4) Routes which are, or may be, the subject of agreements
providing for participation of other public agencies, cooperating
volunteer trail associations, or any combination of those entities,
in state trail acquisition, development, or maintenance.
(b) Where feasible, trail uses may be combined on routes within
the system; however, where trail use by motor vehicles is
incompatible with other trail uses, separate areas and facilities
should be provided.
(c) Trails should be located and managed so as to restrict trail
users to established routes and to aid in effective law enforcement.
(d) Trails should be located so as to avoid severance of private
property and to minimize impact on adjacent landowners and
operations. The location of any trail authorized by this article
shall, if the property owner so requests, be placed as nearly as
physically practicable to the boundary lines of the property
traversed by the trail, as such boundary lines existed as of January
1, 1975.
(e) Insofar as possible, trails should be designed and maintained
to harmonize with, and complement, established forest, agricultural,
and resource management plans. No trail, or property acquisition
therefor, shall interfere with a landowner's water rights or his
right to access to the place of exercise of such water rights.
(f) Trails should be planned as a system and each trail segment
should be part of the overall system plan.
(g) Trails should be appropriately signed to provide
identification, direction, and information.
(h) Rest areas, shelters, sanitary facilities, or other
conveniences should be designed and located to meet the needs of
trail users, including physically handicapped persons, and to prevent
intrusion into surrounding areas.
(i) The department shall erect fences along any trail when
requested to do so by the owner of adjacent land, or with the consent
of the owner of such land when the department determines it will be
in the best interests of the users of the trail and adjoining
property owners, and shall place gates in such fences when necessary
to afford proper access and at each point of intersection with
existing roads, trails, or at used points of access to or across such
trail. The department shall maintain such fences and gates in good
condition.
(j) A landowner's right to conduct agricultural, timber
harvesting, or mining activities on private lands adjacent to, or in
the vicinity of, a trail shall not be restricted because of the
presence of the trail.

5075.4. No adjoining property owner is liable for any actions of
any type resulting from, or caused by, trail users trespassing on
adjoining property, and no adjoining property owner is liable for any
actions of any type started on, or taking place within, the
boundaries of the trail arising out of the activities of other
parties.

5075.5. The director shall prepare a guidebook or guidebooks,
including trail maps, describing the system. The guidebook, or
guidebooks, shall include information regarding the responsibility of
trail users and shall specify rules and regulations for trail use,
including measures designed to prevent trespass and damage to public
and private property. The director may prepare a combined heritage
corridors and accessible trails guidebook. However, the director
shall prepare no guidebook or guidebooks of heritage corridors until
such time as he determines that the department has available to it
adequate volunteers, funds, or a combination thereof, to prepare such
guidebook or guidebooks, or until such time as the Legislature
appropriates funds sufficient to prepare the guidebook or guidebooks,
whichever occurs first.

5075.7. Each study of potential trail routes for inclusion in the
system shall include an evaluation of the impact of the proposed
trail route on adjacent landowners. In conducting studies of
potential trail routes for inclusion in the system, the director
shall give priority to the following:
(a) A trail route linking state parks, federal recreation areas,
and other areas of statewide or national significance located in
coastal areas.
(b) A trail route through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta linking
scenic and recreation areas of the San Francisco Bay area with state
and federal recreation areas in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
(c) East-west trail routes for nonmotorized use linking the state
coastal trail route with the existing Pacific Crest Trail.
(d) Trail routes designed principally for boaters along the
following waterways:
(1) Eel River in Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity Counties.
(2) Smith River in Del Norte County.
(3) Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.
(4) Big River in Mendocino County.
(5) Albion River in Mendocino County.
(6) Navarro River in Mendocino County.
(7) Feather River from Thermalito Afterbay to mouth.
(8) Sacramento River from Keswick Dam to mouth.
(9) American River from Folsom Dam to mouth.
(10) South Fork of American River from Coloma to Folsom Lake.
(11) Tuolumne River from O'Shaughnessy Dam to New Don Pedro
Reservoir.
(12) Stanislaus River from the Stanislaus Power House to Melones
Reservoir.
(13) Colorado River from Needles to the international boundary.
(e) A hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding trail route along
the San Joaquin River from Friant Dam to State Highway Route 99.

5075.8. (a) The department may convene a planning task force in
order to facilitate the development of a comprehensive plan for the
San Joaquin River Parkway.
The task force shall include, but not be limited to, a
representative of the following entities:
(1) State Lands Commission.
(2) Department of Parks and Recreation.
(3) Department of Fish and Game.
(4) State Reclamation Board.
(5) County of Fresno.
(6) County of Madera.
(7) City of Fresno.
(8) Fresno County and City Chamber of Commerce.
(9) Fresno Sand and Gravel Producers.
(10) San Joaquin River Property Owners Association.
(11) Upper San Joaquin River Association.
(12) San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust.
(13) San Joaquin River Committee.
(14) Department of Boating and Waterways.
(b) The plan shall be submitted to the Legislature not later than
June 1, 1991.

5076. In developing the open-space element of a general plan as
specified in subdivision (e) of Section 65302 of the Government Code,
every city and county shall consider demands for trail-oriented
recreational use and shall consider such demands in developing
specific open-space programs. Further, every city, county, and
district shall consider the feasibility of integrating its trail
routes with appropriate segments of the state system.

5077.2. In addition to utilizing criteria and standards for the
design, interpretation, and implementation of heritage corridor
routes and complementary facilities, as provided in subdivisions (b)
and (c) of Section 5071.3 and paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of
subdivision (a) of Section 5075.3, the director shall include in the
plan required by Section 5070.7 the following routes which shall be
given priority for designation as heritage corridors:
(a) Routes which connect urban areas with the cross-section of
landscape provided in parks and recreation and outdoor resource areas
in California.
(b) Routes incorporating existing and planned facilities for ready
accessibility for physically disabled persons utilizing coordinated
accessibility to several areas and experiences such as trails, water,
visitor centers, campsites, parking, and rest rooms.
(c) Existing and planned scenic highways.
(d) Looping routes radiating out of centers of population to allow
optimum use.
(e) Routes nominated by local governmental jurisdictions and local
volunteer groups.
(f) Routes providing access to the maximum number of recreational
trails and other recreational facilities.
(g) Routes intended to direct the public away from areas where
trespass or damage to public or private property or natural resources
is likely.

5077.5. (a) Because of California's unique potential to encourage
initial stages of a nationwide heritage network, the following
northern California portions of an eventual nationwide heritage
network are hereby designated as heritage corridors:
(1) The California Pioneer and Goldrush Heritage Corridor as the
western end of the Transcontinental Historic Heritage Corridor, from
San Francisco Bay via the North Lincoln Highway, Highway 40, and
present Interstate 80 to Sacramento, Truckee, and the Nevada border.
(2) The Tahoe Pacific/Farms & Forests State Heritage Corridor, as
the alternate western end of the Transcontinental Scenic Heritage
Corridor, to extend from Fort Bragg to the Pacific Crest along
Highway 20, Interstate 80, and south along Highway 89 to South Lake
Tahoe and the Nevada border.
(3) The North Central California Coast Heritage Corridor from the
San Mateo County Line to Patrick's Point State Park in Humboldt
County.
(b) In order to assist establishment and public involvement with
the heritage corridors established in subdivision (a), the director
and affected state agencies shall work with nonprofit disability
access groups in producing a heritage corridors access map, as
defined in Section 5070.3, to be called the North Central California
Heritage Corridor Trails and Disability Access Map.

5077.6. Because of its clear function as the interpretive highway
of the Gold Rush, and because of outstanding efforts of public
agencies and the private sector to increase accessibility to
physically disabled persons along parts of its route, State Highway
Route 49 is hereby designated as a heritage corridor, including all
sections which link the Counties of Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El
Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, and Madera, known
collectively as California's Gold Country, and shall be recognized by
the Department of Transportation and officially known as the Golden
Chain Highway.

5077.7. Because of the unique beauty and natural resources of the
northern California coast, the desire of many Californians to visit
the area, the heavy dependence of the area on the recreation and
tourism economy, the recent improvements in access for disabled
persons by state and local agencies and nonprofit groups in the area,
and the recent increase in available information on access for
disabled persons in the area, State Highway Route 1 from the Golden
Gate Bridge to Route 101 near Leggett and State Highway Route 101
from that point to the Oregon state line is hereby designated as the
Coast Highway Heritage Corridor.

5077.8. In order to promote disability access along the heritage
corridors, the director shall recognize the South Yuba Independence
Trail South Yuba Project as one of California's primary wheelchair
wilderness and backpacking trails.