Hikers Fire Back At Proposed Land Exchange

A show of force Wednesday by desert hikers.

A proposed land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management and a local Indian tribe could bar tourists and local hikers from walking popular trails.

Frustrated residents voiced their anger at a Palm Springs city council meeting.

The BLM might give up land in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument — including the popular Skyline Trail.

Hiking clubs said the proposed land exchange is unfair and that ultimately the public loses.

“If this land transfers out of the public domain,” said Larry Liguorni, president of the Coachella Valley Hikers Club. “We would have no voice or vote in it’s future use.”

The public would receive a little more than two square miles of land from the deal. But it would also have to give the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians more than nine square miles of land which includes popular hiking and biking trails.

“The Thielman Trail is the only trail that comes from the west, from Palm Springs to get to that area,” said Gary Lueders, with the Desert Trail Coalition. “To Goat Trail, to Wildhorse Trail and other trails in that area that bikers enjoy.”

The two square miles the public would receive are in a remote location south of Murray Peak, “And not amountable to development for recreational or other commercial use,” said Hans Ewoldsen, a resident of Palm Springs.

Hikers said that most of that area can only be accessed through the entrance of Indian Canyons which would cost money each time.

Sections 16 and 36 of the land that the public would give up are at the center of the debate.

Thousands of people across the country visit trails in these areas each year.

The current Agua Caliente tribal council doesn’t plan on eliminating popular trails for development, according to the CVHC. But hikers worry that could change in the future.

“Years down the road, perhaps there may be a whole different council and there could be some changes,” said Lueders.

The council responded to the dozens of hikers that showed up for the meeting.

In the past, It has drafted a letter approving the exchange. But the council will now revise that letter stating that sections 16 and 36 of the deal should be excluded which is exactly what the public asked for.

The city will provide that revised letter to the council on Nov. 17. The council will then vote on whether or not to approve it.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the public to officially comment to the BLM on the matter is Nov. 19. The BLM would then decide on whether or not to move forward with the exchange.

Neither the BLM or tribe could be reached for this report.