North Trinity Hiking Trail PDFs...
Last modified on: Saturday, 16-Sep-2017 18:28:37 EDT
Trinity Lake Report
9/16/17 - The lake elevtaion is 2,329', down 41' from the spillway. We had a great boating season even without a marina in Trinity Center. Hopefully next year we'll have that facility back in business!
The lake is still reportedly 105% of normal for the date. Of course, that's the "new normal"
since this fish engineering science experiment began. Stuarts Fork ramp is closed now, and Bowerman
Ramp is nearing the end, but we are having a great boating season. We see the occasional houseboat
up at the north end of the lake.
Here is a graph
of historic lake elevation (updated 9/15) showing spillway and Trinity Center ramp elevations.
(The gaps in the line on the graph are due to missing or bad data in the state's database.)
California Boating and Waterways Commission
Approved Our Boat Ramp Project!
At the Feb 8 meeting of the state Boating and Waterways commission in Weaverville,
approval was granted for the $1.64 million improvement project for the Trinity Center
launching facility. The grant will be given to the USFS to do the work since they manage
the National Recreation Area that controls recreation on Trinity Lake.
The USFS has applied for a $1.64 million grant to improve the parking, restroom and launch
facilities at our boat ramp. The plan is to extend and re-pave the double-lane ramp down to
the bottom of the current single-lane, put in a new floating courtesy dock, install
all-new restrooms, and more! The details are in
this document.
The day before the meeting, on Feb 7, the commission toured the Trinity Center ramp and concluded
that this is a very valuable resource for our community in need of overhaul.
A strong showing of local support both at the ramp tour and at the meeting in Weaverville went
a long way toward convincing commission members of the need. They said multiple times that they
were impressed with the public show of support for the project.
The work will need to be done at a lower lake level, and the end of the drought this year is
ironic timing, but the project is approved and actually includes funding for a small cofferdam
to allow work even if the ramp is not fully exposed.
A big Thank You to California Department of Boating and Waterways, the USFS NRA team, the Trinity Collaborative,
and, of course, a small, tireless group of locals who fought to keep this project on the radar and moving forward!
USFS Local Fuels Reduction Project - DONE !!
(except for the burning!)
The Forest Service project east
of Hwy 3 just north of KOA is done and looks great.
Here is a map of the project area.
The treatment removed trees up to 8", with a few 10" trees,
to reduce the density of ladder fuels. The intent is keep the forest
canopy to prevent sunlight from reaching the ground and regrowing the brush.
There are hundreds of slash piles that remain, and with all the moisture, we can expect burining this spring.
2015 Draft Long-Term Plan for Protecting Late
Summer Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River
US Reclamation solicited comments on a draft plan to make their late-summer augmentation release
(up to 83,000 acre feet) permanent. Comments were due Aug 20, 2015. The draft plan and posted comments
are available at
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/lt-plan.html.
Trinity Lake Revitalization Alliance submitted
comments on this draft. Our first comment is that the title of the plan is biased and reflects an
unscientific assumption that the salmon need protecting.
Under the plan's preferred action, water would be released if "triggers" occur
in the lower Klamath River.
Reclamation is supposed to answer all submitted comments, modify the plan accordingly, and
then issue an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) in Spring 2016. At that time, the public can
again submit comments on the EIS and final plan.
TLRA's position is that these extra water releases beyond the Trinity River Record of Decision
(ROD) damage Trinity County and the businesses and communities in the North Lake. Lake recreation
is a huge part of Trinity County's only remaining legal economy: tourism.
Therefore, Trinity County and lake-based businesses should be compensated for damage due
to diminished lake levels and boat facilities improvements should be funded to increase
the public ability to safety access the lake for recreation.
Trinity County Code Enforcement
Here are a few quick links to documents on the Trinity County website:
Bay Delta Conservation Plan and Delta Tunnels
Controversy continues
as more people become aware of the Governor's proposal to divert Northern Calif water south through
two 32-foot diameter tunnels under the Delta. You can read much about this plan on our Stop
the Tunnels page. Below are some recent articles and news:
