California AB 2494: A Historic Shift for Our Trails and Open Spaces

California Assembly Bill 2494 (Rogers) is a landmark piece of legislation currently making its way through the state legislature. It’s a bill we think the entire cycling and trails community should know about. The bill redefines how California manages its State Demonstration Forests by moving away from outdated mandates focused solely on maximum sustained logging yields. It replaces them with a modern, multi-benefit management strategy that directly impacts recreational access and infrastructure. This legislation isn’t just about updating state forest guidelines. It is about shaping the future of access and recreation on all open spaces, including private, public, local, state, and federal lands.

📢 CALL TO ACTION: Stand Up for Our Trails. Stand Up for Our Demonstration Forests.

We need your voice! The success of AB 2494 depends on the active engagement of the cycling and trails community.

Contact your state representatives today and request their support for AB 2494. Tell them that equitable trail access, sustainable forestry, and modern land management matter to you and your community! Let’s ensure this historic shift becomes a reality.

Understanding State Demonstration Forests

Managed by CAL FIRE, State Demonstration Forests were established as “living laboratories” to pioneer innovative forestry practices. Historically, their primary mandate focused on maximizing sustained logging yields, with public recreation and access viewed as secondary considerations. California’s 14 Demonstration Forests encompass approximately 85,000 acres, which is relatively small compared to the California State Parks (CASP) or federal systems. Demo forests, for instance, represent only about 5.3% of the total acreage protected and maintained by the state park system.

Despite the program’s small relative scale State Demonstration Forests hold immense value both to the local communities that access them and to private and public land holders who rely on the research conducted there to inform their forestry management practices.

The “Big Three” for Mountain Bikers

Three specific demonstration forests provide highly prized recreational access for California’s mountain biking community:

• Soquel Demonstration State Forest (SDSF): Nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, “Demo” offers 19–32 miles of world-class singletrack and purpose-built flow trails that attract riders from across the state.
• Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest (BMDSF): Located in Lake County, this area features 49 miles of multi-use trails through lush forests, with ongoing restoration and expansion led by local stewardship groups.
• Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF): Situated on the Mendocino Coast, Jackson boasts 80–100 miles of pristine singletrack winding through majestic coastal redwoods.

The Ripple Effect: Multi-Benefit Management and Research

As a statewide coalition, our interest in AB 2494 is twofold: protecting local access today while advancing modern land management practices for tomorrow. Operationally, we are keenly focused on how this bill will impact the existing and highly prized recreation access and infrastructure at Boggs, Jackson, and Soquel Demonstration State Forests, as well as future opportunities at forests like LaTour and Mountain Home. It is essential that statewide progress does not come at the expense of our local partners. Equally important is the bill’s long-term potential; we are deeply invested in how the research generated by the Demonstration State Forest program will in time help public and private land managers improve management practices across all of California’s open spaces.

This legislation changes the game for land management across the state in several key ways:

• Elevating Recreation to a Core Public Benefit: Section 4631.5 of the bill explicitly co-prioritizes recreation as a legally recognized “public benefit” alongside cultural and natural resource-related benefits. This is a historic milestone that recognizes the value of these spaces for serving the physical and mental health of Californians.
• Scaling Impact Across All Open Spaces: By design, Demonstration State Forests are intended to advance innovative forestry practices in California. By modernizing the program’s scope to include the intersections of sustainable forestry, recreation, conservation, and tribal stewardship, the resulting research will generate critical insights for public access. This research will provide public and private land managers with the knowledge needed to implement multi-benefit approaches across all of California’s open spaces.
• Protecting Local Access Today and Tomorrow: Operationally, the bill focuses on maintaining highly prized existing recreation access and infrastructure at Boggs, Jackson, and Soquel Demonstration State Forests. It also looks ahead to future recreation opportunities at forests like LaTour and Mountain Home.
• Aligning with Statewide Conservation Goals: The legislation aligns state forests with the California Natural Resources Agency’s major conservation initiatives, including 30×30, the Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force, and Outdoors for All.
• Valuing Stewardship Partnerships: The bill recognizes the critical importance of partnerships, specifically highlighting tribal entities and nonprofit stewardship organizations and their role in the ongoing management of open spaces.
• Securing Reliable Funding: To offset the likely loss of timber harvesting revenues, the bill taps into the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund (TRFRF) as an essential supplemental funding source. The TRFRF has consistently maintained sufficient reserves to ensure the program’s estimated $10 million cost can be reliably fulfilled without jeopardizing its intended benefits.

Coalition Sign-On Organizations

We are incredibly proud to stand alongside a unified community of trail, conservation, and outdoor recreation leaders supporting this legislation:

• Jake Bayless, President – California Trails Foundation
• Matt De Young, Executive Director – Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship
• Tom Boss, Executive Director – Redwood Trails Alliance
• Steve Messer, President – Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association
• Peter Hulburt, Executive Director – San Diego Mountain Biking Association
• Brandon La Rue, Executive Director – SoCal League
• Michelle Petersen, President – Mount Diablo Trails Alliance
• Jessica Tseng, President – Silicon Valley Mountain Bikers
• Jamuel Starkey, President – Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay
• Adam Sherf, President – Willits Area Cyclists
• Neil Davis, President – Ukiah Valley Trail Group
• David Browning, President – Orange County Mountain Bike Association
• Todd Keller, Director of Government Affairs – International Mountain Bicycling Association
• Noelle Battle, Executive Director – Bikepacking Roots
• Rachel Fussell, Senior Manager of Recreation Policy – People For Bikes
• Lexie Gritlefeld, Executive Director – California Outdoor Recreation Partnership
• Louis Geltman, Vice President for Policy and Government Relations – Outdoor Alliance