For Release: November 19, 2004 #CCal-05-21
Contact: John Scull (916) 985-4474/Lorna Dobrovolny (530) 272-0298

South Yuba Planning Meeting to Discuss Parking Capacity of Popular Recreation Sites

Available parking capacity at popular recreation sites along the South Yuba River will be the major topic at the next meeting of the South Yuba River Planning Group, Tuesday, November 23, between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., in the L.O.V.E. Building, 660 Minnie Street, Condon Park in Grass Valley. As time allows, other river planning and management issues, including plan implementation procedures, will be brought up.

According to Bureau of Land Management planner Jim Eicher, parking capacity is the limiting factor that governs the amount of visitor use at the river. Since the population of California and Nevada County is continuing to grow, the number of people wanting to visit the South Yuba is also expected to grow, putting pressure on the managing agencies to accommodate them. The sites under discussion will include Jones Bar, the Highway 49 Bridge, Hoyt's Crossing, Purdon Crossing, Edwards Crossing, and Humbug Creek.

The meeting will be the 39th in a series of planning meetings sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Nevada County Planning Department. The agencies are using the community-based planning process to create the draft management plan. This process directly involves interested private citizens in determining the contents of the draft plan by working in cooperation with each other and the land management agencies. Agency personnel and meeting participants will work together on deciding what management actions are best for resolving these and other river issues. Recommendations from the planning group will form the basis of a draft comprehensive management plan which will be presented to the public next year, along with an environmental analysis.

The South Yuba River is a popular outdoor recreation destination for many Nevada County residents as well as people from outside the region who enjoy the opportunities for swimming, hiking, sunbathing, and nature appreciation in the highly scenic river canyon. It is a state-designated Wild and Scenic River, and has been recommended for the same status on the federal level.

For more information, please call the South Yuba River hotline at (530) 272-6356, or log on to the South Yuba River Plan website at http://www.southyubariverplan.com.

-BLM-

Folsom Field Office, 63 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630
Visit our web site: www.ca.blm.gov/folsom