Blazing a New Trail : The U. S. Forest Service has crafted a unique compromise that is intended to protect a rare toad and will also give motorcyclists access to a favorite path.

Deep in Los Padres National Forest, the battle to pluck the arroyo toad from the brink of extinction took as many twists as the old trail that sparked this conflict between those who want to preserve public lands and those who want to play on them.

For decades, Snowy Trail has been a favorite of motorcycle riders, a narrow path that slices across the forest floor, punching through Piru Creek in this rugged northeast corner of Ventura County.

But for the past five years, it has been off-limits to off-road enthusiasts, primarily because of fears that trail bikers would wipe out the local population of the arroyo toad, an endangered species that lives and breeds dangerously close to the creek crossing.

Finally, after years of study and debate, federal officials have forged a compromise as rare as the toad itself, one that will allow motorcyclists to pursue their pleasure on the popular mountain path yet is meant to protect the area’s fragile resources.

“I think this is a real success story,” said Mark Bethke, district ranger for the U. S. Forest Service at Mt. Pinos.

“I think a good partnership has been formed,” he added. “I would hope this is something we can build upon, that instead of closing areas of the forest, we can work together to keep them open and still protect the resources.”

The issue highlights the federal mandate to manage the forest by balancing biological protection and recreational use. And it illustrates what Forest Service officials hope is a new spirit of compromise on the part of individuals and groups that traditionally have been at loggerheads.

“We’re land managers, and we’re managing land for an American public that has lots of different wants and desires,” Bethke said. “We’re trying to make it work for everybody.”

For several years, Forest Service officials have been working on a new route for Snowy Trail, culminating in a draft of a federal plan released recently for public review and comment.

Under the proposal, a new trail would be constructed that would cross Piru Creek about half a mile upstream from the present crossing, steering clear of the toad’s habitat and other sensitive resources.

At the new crossing, the trail would tie in with the existing Snowy Trail as it pushes deeper into the forest and ascends Alamo Mountain.

An existing stretch of the trail, about 1 1/2 miles, would be permanently closed and, where possible, replanted with native vegetation and returned to its original condition.

Officials have designed several alternatives for rerouting Snowy Trail. Under the Forest Service’s preferred alternative, the length of the motorcycle trail would be extended from 7.6 miles to nearly 11 miles.

Environmentalists and off-road enthusiasts say the proposal benefits everyone who has a stake in Snowy Trail.

“In a perfect world, I’m not really sure that off-road motorcycle uses are really compatible with a lot of other things I think the forest is about,” said Sam Sweet, a UC Santa Barbara biology professor and expert on the arroyo toad.

“But given the reality of the situation, I think they’ve done a pretty good job,” he said. “It solves the problem that I am most directly involved with.”

Steve Kuehl, immediate past president of the California Off Road Vehicle Assn., points out that motorcyclists have had a historic and legal right to that part of the forest for more than 30 years.

“We’re ecstatic that something is finally going to happen,” the Riverside County resident said. “I’m just pleased as punch that the Forest Service has gotten this document out, and I think the whole community is real hopeful that we’ll get something accomplished and move forward.

“The main thing was, we didn’t want to lose this trail.”

It is easy to see why Snowy Trail is so popular.

From the Hungry Valley campground just west of the Golden State Freeway, the old mining trail drops more than 50 feet down a rutted sandstone gulch to the forest floor.

It merges with a dry wash, snaking through thick patches of chaparral, sagebrush and wildflowers. The deeply rutted path climbs and dives, forming the equivalent of moguls on a bumpy ski run.

“It’s one of the most difficult, challenging trails,” said Kuehl, 37, who has ridden motorcycles on the trail for more than two decades. “This is one of the ones that my dad took me up and said, ‘If you can do this, you’re a man.’ ”

As the trail nears Piru Creek, the canopy of vegetation and woodlands turns bright green.

Quail scurry through the tall grass. Lizards scamper along the sandy floor. On a recent day, a lone mule deer emerged, dancing along the trail before wading through the natural creek crossing and vanishing into the forest.

Up to 7,500 motorcyclists a year once buzzed up and down Snowy Trail, crossing Piru Creek at precisely this point. As it turns out, the crossing is in one of the most sensitive areas of the forest.

Nearby, archeologists have unearthed significant finds, including the remnants of prehistoric Native American societies that once lived on the creek’s loamy banks.

Moreover, the creek crossing provides habitat for endangered and threatened species, including the arroyo toad ( Bufo microscaphus californicus) , a tiny amphibian that won federal protected status late last year because it was edging closer to extinction.

Once widely represented in coastal Southern California rivers, the toad has vanished from about 75% of its former range, Sweet said.

In 1991 in Los Padres National Forest, there were about 350 adult toads, the world’s largest population. Since then, Sweet said their numbers have increased, but it is impossible to say by how much.

“It was an attraction, a real attraction and essentially impossible to control,” Sweet said of the creek crossing, which became a popular spot for people to rest and even set up camp.

“The toads were getting pretty well messed up,” he said. “What we were seeing out there was a total loss of all the toad-breeding efforts every year.”

Snowy Trail was first closed in the summer of 1990 because of potential fire danger. Later that year, forest officials agreed to keep the trail closed while they studied the area and decided what to do about the environmental and historical concerns.

In late 1991, the Forest Service announced that it intended to reopen the motorcycle trail just 10 feet downstream from the toad’s breeding pool, a decision appealed by environmentalists.

Heeding warnings that the move could wipe out the local toad population, forest officials withdrew their decision, opting instead to perform a more extensive environmental review of the area.

By the fall of 1992, the Forest Service was studying new routes for the recreational trail to avoid the sensitive areas.

“These things take time and they’re not the only things we do,” said Lisa Krueger, the Forest Service’s resource officer who wrote the bulk of the environmental report now under review.

“But I’m extremely pleased with what we have,” she said. “I believe we’ve done an excellent job of looking at all the issues brought before us, and I think we’ve come up with a proposal that is going to benefit everyone.”

The Forest Service will collect verbal and written responses to the trail plan from the public until May 22. (Write to Mt. Pinos Ranger District, HC1 Box 400, Frazier Park 93225, or call 245-3731.)

Afterward, officials will address those comments and hope to publish the final plan by mid-July. Then the district ranger will choose from among the alternatives presented in that document, and that decision is final but can be appealed.

Forest officials hope to start trail construction this fall. It can’t be soon enough for Kuehl and other off-road riders, who say they will volunteer to help build the new trail and restore the old one to its natural state.

“We’re not doing this to look like a bunch of good guys; we’re doing this because we have a vested interest in this area,” he said. “From the very beginning, we’ve always wanted to do the right thing.”