Under State Senator Mike McGuire's leadership and with strong support from Representative Jim Wood, the bill formerly known as the Great Redwood Trail Act was signed into law on September 30th. SB 1029, now titled the North Coast Railroad Authority Closure and Transition to Trails Act, scaled back some of the ambition of the original bill but still mandates a two-year phased shut down of the NCRA, a clean-up of its mess, and railbanking of the right-of-way. It also gets the assessment and planning process for the Great Redwood Trail going.

This is a huge victory for Friends of the Eel River and North Coast residents who have been fighting to get this boondoggle resolved for decades. Now it's time to get to work on building the future we want to see for this community resource. Stay tuned for ways to get involved in planning and implementing the broader vision of the Great Redwood Trail.