Flightline Progress Blog

The most urgent items are;
1) to get the Conservation Easement (CE) ammended to allow bikes on the portion of property where Skyline and Safety Center trails are

and
2) halt the destruction of the Skyline Trail until a Trail Assessement and Trail Plan have been determined.
SDMBA is actively working on the task of finding out of how to apply for the ammendment to the CE. Maryanne Vancio has been contacted and is working on it with us. As soon as we find the proper avenue to proceed, we will follow through.
As Markus Spielgelberg has said from the first correspondence, his agency, the CNLM, is not against mountain biking, but must operate under the terms of the CE and under direction of the County.
So, to halt the destruction of trail, it would take an order from the County to CNLM. SDMBA is pursuing the possiblity of finding a sympathetic ear at the County and simply having them tell CNLM to postpone plans until a resolution is reached. This would be the best situation, financially and politically for everyone. Again SDMBA has made Maryanne Vancio aware that this would be in the best interest of all. We are awaiting her reply. As you know she has been away and has to catch up on the issue here. Also, Flightline is not the only thing she has to deal with in her position, so I suggest we try to let her do her job, and let the distractions be minimal. SDMBA will follow up with her this week to be sure this stays on the front burner.
The other alternative is to have legal representation and challenge the order to remove the trail on a legal level. This would be the back up plan, since it is less desireable and has the potential to ruin releations between the involved parties. But if you want to resort to this tactic, the plan would need to be ready to enact, because the destruction could occur quickly, and other avenues take time.
Please remeber what Markus wrote early on ” I want to let you know that this will take some time! Any trail plans will require input from the County, City of Carlsbad, County DPW, wildlife agencies and potentially others. It will also require an ammendment to the CE. But don’t be discouraged. If you want to legally use the property and get the trails you desire, then you will have to get involved and do it through the legal process. CNLM will work with you, of course.”
I don’t think directly asking CNLM to do anything right now, will have any immediate effect. The trail users and the community need to get involved at a much higher level. Maybe find out who the City Council members are that have jurisdiction over this area and contact them. Call. Write. The signatures on the petition at Rideflightline.com website shows the support you have behind you. Its impressive! The voices need to be heard by the agency that has the authority to do something.
I am sending this email to RideFlightline also. I am sorry this is long, but I hope the guys at RideFlightline.com can share the pertinent information in a newsletter of some sort.
By the way, City of Carlsbad will be voting on Prop. D and Prop E this election period. Prop D would allow the “Flower Fields” to be used as public open space, allowing public access and recreation, including parks, trails and public facitilities, (once agriculture was no longer viable in the area). Prop. E would not allow any of this to occur. Anyone in the voting in the City of Carlsbad should be voting.

VOTE: YES on Prop. D and No on Prop. E.. This is the kind of ground work that need to be laid to assure that there are trails in the future.
Mountain Bikers need to get involved and represent themselves when committees are formed and plans are announced and voted on. It takes involvement in communitee decisions and on a political level unfortunately. This is what SDMBA tries to achieve. Otherwise it appears that mtn bikers just sit back and ride in the shadows until the little secret spots get exposed and we are made to lool like criminals in the minds of those that do sit on committees and make the rules for the community.