Trails Trust starts raising money to repair Bizz Johnson Trail east tunnel

Engineers estimate repairs to the east tunnel on the Bizz Johnson Trail will cost $50,000, according to Dayne Barron, manager of the Bureau of Land Management’s Eagle Lake Field Office.

Barron told the Board of Supervisors last week the Lassen Land and Trails Trust set up an account for private donations.

The BLM closed the tunnel a year ago because debris was falling from the ceiling of the tunnel located at about mile 20 of the Bizz Johnson Marathon held each October. The marathon takes runners from Westwood to Susanville on the 26-mile rails-to-trails conversion that follows the path of the Fernley and Lassen Railroad, built in 1914.

In August 2005, Barron told the board an 8-10 foot layer of sand silt and ash above the wood panels on the tunnel ceiling contains a “loose conglomerate of rocks that becomes saturated with ground water, which seeps onto the overhead panels.”

Heavy moisture in spring 2005 contributed to rotting the panels allowing the loose material to fall on the trail. The BLM must now replace at least three sections of angle panels, cribbing and ceiling panels.

Trail users reported rocks had fallen from the ceiling at the east end of the 91-year-old tunnel. After surveying the situation, BLM’s engineering staff recommended the closure.

A large Conex shipping container from Sierra Army Depot allowed runners to avoid the falling debris and use the tunnel for the marathon on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 and 9, 2005. Since the Conex box was removed after the race, trail users must one again use a bypass trail to get around the closed tunnel.

At the March 21 supervisors meeting, Barron repeated his goal of having the roof repaired before the 2006 marathon. He said the work is not difficult, but the materials are expensive.

“We’ll get somebody in there with a lift,” he said. “The job itself will not take long at all.”

However, the BLM must do an environmental assessment, which Barron said won’t be too involved. He said he’d already talked with the BLM’s cultural resources people. After the EA, the BLM will contract out the work.

If the trails trust raises the money by summer, Barron said the tunnel could be repaired in time for the October marathon, but he added “That’s just a wild guess.”

LLTT Board Member David Sowers said the trust donated $374 toward the effort. The LLTT Board of Directors transferred funds from its hiking club to initiate the account for the tunnel repairs, according to a trust press release.

Donors may send contributions to: Lassen Land and Trails Trust, PO Box 1461, Susanville, CA 96130. Check memos should be marked “Tunnel Repair Fund.”

“The board feels that community support remains strong for a permanent repair and continued availability of the tunnel for recreation use and special events such as the Bizz Johnson Marathon,” said Jan Heid, LLTT executive director. “We are pleased to provide a means for Bizz Johnson Trail supporters to demonstrate their concern for the trail.”

Heid said LLTT and the BLM plan to create a partnership to manage and maintain the trail. Those interested in volunteering for trail projects may call Heid at 257-3252 or Barron at 257-0456.

Sowers also started a personal effort.

“I have bike bells for sale,” Sowers said on Wednesday, March 22. “ I have nine left out of 20. They’re $20 or better. I got $100 for one yesterday.”

Within minutes, he’d sold three more. The bells are engraved to read “Bike the Bizz” and the first 100 will be numbered. Sowers said an anonymous donor paid for the first 20 bells and he planned to have 20 more for sale as soon as they were available.

Supervisor Jim Chapman said the law requires bike riders to ring a bike bell to notify other trail users when they’re approaching from behind.