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info@hopevalleyca.com
Friends
of Hope Valley,
P.O.Box 431
Markleeville, CA 96120
Board of Directors
Debbi Waldear
(President)
John Barr
Gay Havens
Yvonne Chen
Jim Donald
Greg Hayes
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Spring
2010 Newsletter
THE LITTLE MOUSE THAT ROARED
FOHV’s US District Court Trial Date Set
John Barr
More than ten years after the Dressler family closed
trails through Pleasant Valley – trails used by the public for hundreds
years to access the Alpine County high country, including the Pacific Crest
Trail (PCT) and the Mokelumne Wilderness Area – the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of California has set a jury trial
date of January 11, 2011 for FOHV v. Frederick Company, et al.
Currently FOHV is engaged in a time- and resource-intensive process of pre-trial
discovery, which must be completed by August 6, 2010. As the trial date
approaches, FOHV is in need of both additional witnesses for the case who
used the trails before and during the 1970s and financial support for its
legal efforts.
The trails were closed in 1999. During the years following the trails’
closure, FOHV tried to persuade the landowner to voluntarily reopen these
trails for public use. For eight years all efforts to come to an amicable
resolution were rebuffed. With no other recourse, FOHV filed a lawsuit in
an effort to reopen the trails.
FOHV has engaged the eminent San Francisco environmental law firm Shute,
Mihaly & Weinberger LLP (SMW) in pursuing the goal of reopening the
closed trails to the public. Attorneys Matthew Zinn of SMW and Rod Kerr
of Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP filed the lawsuit on FOHV’s behalf.
FOHV’s position is that the long history of continuous public use
of the trails in Pleasant Valley has created by implied dedication public
easements where the trails cross private land. There is ample evidence demonstrating
lengthy historical use. Washoe tribes used the trails to access the high
country. A map drawn by a state judge in 1864 depicts a trail running through
Pleasant Valley, as do USGS topographic maps of the region.
Community members who used the Pleasant Valley trails at any time before
the 1980s are asked to contact Friends of Hope Valley by emailing info@hopevalleyca.com
or to call FOHV’s lawyer, Matthew Zinn of Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger
LLP, at 415-552-7272 as soon as possible. Potential witnesses will be interviewed
by FOHV’s legal team, possibly deposed by the defendant’s lawyers,
and may be asked to testify in court in Sacramento. The deadline to discover
witnesses is approaching and is essential to building the case for the trail’s
historic use.
FOHV is also reaching out to organizations and individuals who are like-minded
for donations to fund the continuing pursuit of victory in this lawsuit.
Your support is appreciated. Please send tax-deductible
contributions to Friends of Hope Valley, PO Box 431, Markleeville, CA 96120
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