Lawmakers clarify when Bump & Grind Trail will be open/closed
A bill to clarify the conditions of opening theupper part of a popular Coachella Valley hiking trail was passed by the stateAssembly today.
Assembly Bill 1097 — which relates to the Mirage Hiking Trail known asthe “Bump & Grind” — unanimously passed, according to Assemblyman BrianNestande’s office.
The legislation states that the trail in the Rancho Mirage-Palm Desertarea will be open from May through January and closed for three months fromFebruary through April, which is the lambing season for the local Peninsularbighorn sheep.
As part of an agreement in another bill, AB 880, a local entity willmanage the signs along the trail, and will put up a gate at the top of thetrail so hikers don’t go down the back of the mountain, according to Nestande’soffice.
“While everyone agreed on the months the trail would be open and closedduring the lambing season for the bighorn sheep, as we moved through theprocess, it was determined that we needed to specify the exact months instatute in order to avoid a lengthy and costly (environmental quality) study,”said Nestande, R-Palm Desert.
AB 1097 will go to the Senate, where it will be heard in the NaturalResources Committee.
AB 880, which re-opened the upper part of the trail to hikers for ninemonths of the year, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September and took effectin January.
The upper portion of the trail was closed in 2011 by California gameofficials because it was deemed an important bighorn sheep lambing area.
