El Dorado County - Based on safety concerns by area residents, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Mother Lode Field Office is issuing a temporary restriction order prohibiting the discharge of firearms in Kanaka Valley. The restriction is in effect while a long-range management plan for the area is developed.
Kanaka Valley, located near Pine Hill Preserve in western El Dorado County, was brought into federal ownership in February 2010 through a cooperative acquisition process with the Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, American River Conservancy and BLM. This 695-acre property links existing public and state lands into a continuous corridor.
“We have been holding a series of public meetings to develop a long-range plan for Kanaka Valley,” said Bill Haigh, BLM Mother Lode Field Office manager. “During those meetings, residents expressed safety concerns about shooting on the public lands. The temporary closure will give us time to address those concerns in the long-range plan.”
The access point to the public lands is located on the narrow county road, Kanaka Valley Road. Neither appropriate visitor resources (signage, fencing, parking, trails etc) nor an activity plan to guide these activities have yet been developed for Kanaka Valley.
There is high potential for visitors and neighbors to Kanaka Valley to be injured by stray bullets or confusion about the locations of property boundaries, public roads, established trails and other public ways, he explained.
The next meeting will be October 7th in Rescue for the community-based management plan of the Kanaka Valley. The meetings will run from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Rescue Union School District Board Room. For more information, contact Lauren Fety, BLM biological science technician, at (916) 941-3133, email Kanaka Valley Planning This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or go to the BLM Mother Lode Field Office website.
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