A Viable South Fork American River Shuttle -- Myth or Reality?

Posted for Theresa L. Simsiman

Over the past year the El Dorado County River Management Advisory Committee (RMAC) and other river community members have tossed around the elusive idea of a South Fork American River Shuttle program. Elusive in the fact that creating a viable shuttle would require more than just one single entity. In fact it was apparent from the beginning, that an affordable & convenient shuttle program could not succeed without the combined efforts of the community. Thankfully, we have a great SFA community to do just that — succeed!

250 total participants responded to the the SFA Shuttle Survey posted on surveymonkey.com last January. Using the survey results from the first 100 respondents a community meeting was called and a general plan was put together:

• WHO — Dan Crandall and The River Store


• WHAT — A shuttle for river recreation & Coloma/Lotus Community at $5/person including kayak etc & $20/raft using 2 vans with equipment trailers to run on weekends & one weekday


• WHERE — The South Fork American River Corridor


• WHEN — Test runs in July, full Service runs in August, September, October 2008 & May, June 2009 — based on the county fiscal year


• HOW — A grant proposal for AB2766 funding administered by the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and additional matching funds requested from the River Trust Fund through RMAC

Long story short — The River Store Shuttle proposal was chosen to be recommended to the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS) for funding. This means we have one final hurdle which is approval of AQMD AB2766 funding by the Board of Supervisors during a meeting in June. If you would like to show your support of The River Store SFA Shuttle to the El Dorado County BOS, please email me your name, address & phone number and I will include it in a letter to be presented at this meeting — jericah@earthlink.net

Now for the long story — The El Dorado County AQMD grant is the key component of the plan, in other words, without these funds a viable shuttle program would go no where. This particular grant was established by AB2766 and is funded through DMV surcharges. It has been distributed in the past to programs like the American River Music Festival shuttle and the Apple Hill shuttle. Every year the El Dorado County AQMD requests AB2766 proposals & rewards a grant based on a point system that rates the proposals ability to lower emissions. In this case it proved to be challenging because traffic from river recreation, alone, did not lower emissions enough to give us the points needed to compete with other requests.

Luckily for us, other community members stepped in to provide a solution. Martin Harris, Vice President & Landowner Representative to RMAC, abstained from the River Trust Fund vote in order to help pursue the shuttle program with an interest in expanding it for other community members like Coloma/Lotus youth. And Mindy Jackson, El Dorado County Transit Director, also expressed interest in the hopes of integrating county service & possibly assisting with some version to reach neighboring communities Cool and Georgetown. After a few conversations they offered up the "if it where a big fat snake it would bite you" solution ... fill the empty return runs of the river shuttle with community transit or what is fondly referred to as "dead head" transit. In one fell swoop the ridership would double and increase the proposal's points for lowering emissions.

Finally armed with a decent amount of points, matching funds from the River Trust Fund approved by RMAC and letters of support from BLM, State Parks, El Dorado County Transit, El Dorado County Airports Parks & Grounds Division and the Coloma Lotus Chamber of Commerce a grant proposal was submitted for consideration to AQMD on behalf of The River Store Shuttle to provide service for river recreation & the community resulting in what is detailed above.

In closing I would like to acknowledge some of the community folks who gave of their time & advice to help move a myth into reality:

• RMAC members — Hilde Schweitzer, Martin Harris, Tim Lasko, Marilyn Tahl, Dave Martinez, Steve Liles & Bill Deitchman
• Bill Center
• Chuck Seidler
• "Bronco Bob" Hunden
• Gary Johnson
• BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner — Jeff Horn
• El Dorado County Transit Director — Mindy Jackson
• El Dorado County AQMD Air Quality Engineer — Carolyn Craig
• El Dorado County River Recreation Supervisor — Noah Rucker Triplett
• El Dorado County Sheriff — Brian Schaub
• Coloma Lotus Chamber of Commerce President — Marjorie Sanborn
• Coloma Lotus Chamber of Commerce Vice President — Sara Schwartz Kendall

Hoping to hear from the river community once more!

Sincerely,
Theresa L. Simsiman
(916) 835-1460

Paddle with the Pros

Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25, 2008, there will be a series of kayak races and an outdoor BBQ dinner party on the beautiful South Fork of the American River, all to benefit First Descents, a kayak and outdoor experience for Young Adults with Cancer.

The "Paddle with the Pros" event will feature a boatercross race, men's and women's downriver races, a free roll clinic, a class III+ Poker Race, and an after-party with the pros featuring a dinner, video premiere and raffle. Amateur paddlers will rub shoulders with some of the true legends of the sport, including Brad Ludden, Eric Jackson, Corey Nielsen and members of the Jackson Kayak Team. Don't worry, they won't be racing — they'll just be there to wreak a little havoc on the water while the amateurs compete in class II boatercross and downriver races and a Class III+ poker race.

The event will benefit a program founded in 2001 by Ludden to empower young adult cancer survivors through kayaking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing and other outdoor activities. Additional event information and registration forms are available at Paddle with the Pros.

Can you help answer these questions?

Lately we've received a bunch of emails from folks with questions about the American River, and unfortunately we can't answer some of them. We're hoping you might be able to help. If you can answer any of these questions, please post your answer as a comment, or use our contact form to provide a private response. Thanks!!

1. From Leslie: My co-worker and I are looking into some historic information, and have come across a letter of one of her relatives by the name of A.D. Smead who is describing a time in 1849 where he and others in his party came over the Sierra Nevadas to Old Weavertown then down to Shingle Springs were they left the road and went to Moccasin river where they first mined for gold with rockers hollowed out of round logs. We are interested in finding out more about the Moccasin River and if it has changed names, and about Old Weavertown and where it was located.


2. From Craig: Is there any shuttle service available for the South Fork these days?


3. From Rich: I was wondering if someone could tell me if there is public boat or kayak access to the Chili Bar Reservoir below the White Rock Powerhouse?


4. From Fentress: Your website mentions that there are more deaths on the "Lower American" than on the 3 forks. Can you provide me with the number of deaths occurring in past years on each fork and on the Lower American? Alternatively or conjunctively, can you refer me to any agencies (name and telephone number) who keep records on the number of deaths?
   
   Similarly, I'd like to know about injuries common to going down each of the forks. I wanted to know if any records are kept regarding various types and frequencies of injury. I was also wondering the differences in kayaking, canoeing, and rafting with respect to deaths and injuries. Which is safest and, conversely, least safe? Are any records kept regarding this?

Thanks to Betty Sederquist for letting us use her picture of poppies on the South Fork of the American.

Great resource for hikers

We recently discovered Russell Towle's blog, North Fork of the American River, "Accounts of explorations in the Great American Canyon, Placer County's Yosemite." As Russell says,

It is my philosophy that the old trails of the North Fork need to be known, not unknown. The North Fork of the American River--its wildness, its beautiful scenery, its historic trails and mining ditches and prehistoric sites--deserves every kind of protection and preservation. But this protection and preservation is hardly possible if no one knows the great canyon, and its great old trails.

Russell has done his part. In over 100 posts over several years, he tells stories of his hikes in the North Fork canyons. He talks of wildlife, goemorphology, trails, and conservation politics. Interspersed with the stories are maps and trail logistics. Highly recommended!