Cycling: Horsing Around with the Barnabe Trail

Seems like a clear case of The Man sticking it to All-American recreational outdoor enthusiasts who just want to breathe clean air and stretch out their legs in nature's grandeur. But hold on a second. The Chron article doesn't really do Mease and Salah justice, implying in the lead paragraphs that they have cut off all access to the popular trail and clearly painting them as the heavies.

Buried back on page B5, well beyond the attention span of the typical reader (are there still such things as hardcopy readers?), Chron writer Peter Fimrite notes, "Mease and Salah have continued to allow the public to use the fire road, blocking off only one-quarter mile of a driveway leading to it after what they said were a series of conflicts with equestrians." And there we have it folks, the real driving force behind this "conflict" -- it's not that Mease and Salah are really disrupting public use of this trail, it's that they won't let equestrians cross their property to get to the trail.

We can't really blame Mease and Salah for wanting to keep their private property private. Don't we all feel that way about our stuff? Of course we do. It's the American Dream right? So what's the problem? The county permit they got to build on the property omits any requirement to sell or donate a public access easement, so what up? Why is this issue any different than the thousands of other situations in which once publicly accessible land becomes developed and is no longer accessible?

The difference is that equestrians, a powerful, well connected, and monied demographic, is being affected directly and disproportionately by this situation, and they don't like it one bit. Equestrians have long challenged mountain bike use on public and private trails, often accusing mountain bikers of dangerous and destructive activity without any regard for the damage a horse's hooves, bowels, or bladder can do to a trail.

Ah, but now it's the equestrians that are being objectionable and causing the problems. Close scrutiny of Fimrite's article shows that all of the confrontations between the landowners and "the public" have actually been between the landowners and equestrians. The real, real, real issue is that the landowners have blocked off a driveway, on their property, that equestrians have traditionally used to access the actual trail -- and the equestrians are pissed.

Especially pissed is Diana Dougherty, a neighboring landowner of Mease and Salah. Dougherty, a Director of the Golden Gate Arabian Horse Association, owns the Dougherty Arabians horse ranch and is now infuriated that she cannot access the Barnabe by riding her horses across Mease and Salah's property. "I just don't see how someone can buy a piece of property with public access on it and then decide he wants his own private space" Dougherty whines. Wha? We wonder if there was ever public access on Dougherty's property and how she would feel if mountain bikers or hikers wanted to move through her property on their way to trails beyond. We wonder.

Remember, Mease and Salah are not denying pubic access to the part of the Barnabe that runs across their property, they are only blocking the public from accessing the trail through their property. As David Mease states, "Why not? Because it's our property."

This unnecessary conflict unfortunately distracts away from the real issue of disappearing public lands at the hands of developers and corporations. Note that in Fimrite's article there are no quotes from non-equestrians arguing against Mease and Salah's rights. There is no specific direct reference to complaints from hikers or mountain bikers, because use of the trail is not threatened. The only thing threatened is easy access to the trail for equestrians. But since that won't fly, they've circled their wagons and presented this as the last stand for open space recreation.

Equestrians are not used to losing, and they will not go down without a fight on this one (although it looks like their website already has). If legal action planned by the Marin Horse Council doesn't pan out, look for the horse people to cut a side deal. Possibly one that grants them and maybe hikers exclusive easement, but restricts mountain bikers. Unless Mease and Salah cave, this conflict will continue to get uglier.

Mountain bikers are not really affected this time, but they could get ahead of the game by thinking of long-range solutions to the problem of dwindling public open space. Ideas like going vertical -- building elevated trails or underground trails -- or constructing artificial islands in lakes and oceans, like the Hong Kong airport. There's always the moon -- if we could just figure out how to ever get there.