{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Railbanking authorized; master plan introduced","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":390,"description":"October 26, 2022 — The Surface Transportation Board, the federal entity that regulates railroads, issued another ruling on the Great Redwood Trail this week, deciding that the agency can convert 176 miles of line to a trail. The Great Redwood Trail Agency will be allowed to railbank the track, which means filling it in with aggregate or dirt so that the railroad ties serve as a frame for the trail.\r\n\r\nThe track runs from Commercial Street in Willits, where the Skunk Train depot is, to just outside Eureka. Robert Pinoli, the President and CEO of Mendocino Railway, the Skunk Train’s parent company, did not know what the Agency’s plans regarding the depot are. Representatives for the Agency and the State Coastal Conservancy, which is now in charge of the trail, have not addressed our question about the depot.\r\n\r\nLast week, the Surface Transportation Board rejected Mendocino Railway’s bid to purchase thirteen miles of track from the depot to Longvale. \r\n\r\nA few hours after the Surface Transportation Board’s Monday- afternoon approval to railbank the line, Senator Mike McGuire held a virtual Town Hall to unveil the first step of the trail’s “master plan,” a process he expects will take two to three years before building the trail can begin.\r\n\r\nKaryn Gear, of the State Coastal Conservancy, is the Executive Director of the Great Redwood Trail Agency. The Conservancy has been involved in conservation projects on the shoreline as well as inland rivers bearing anadromous fish. Gear spoke about her organization’s role in the planning process.\r\n \r\n“The Conservancy was asked by Senator McGuire and the Legislature to take a leadership role in doing the master planning for this project, and also to help be the interim staff for the Great Redwood Trail Agency,” she began. “The Legislature appropriated ten million dollars to the Conservancy to do just that, to help move this project forward. So the first thing we did, after we started looking for additional staff with expertise...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}