SACRAMENTO, 22 June 2010 – Today on the West Steps of the State Capitol, The Sierra Fund released the Gold Country Recreational Trails and Abandoned Mines Assessment, which documents that outdoor enthusiasts including Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) riders, mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians are recreating in abandoned mine areas that are contaminated with dangerous levels of lead, arsenic and asbestos.
In some cases, these outdoor recreationists are being encouraged to visit contaminated sites because officially sanctioned recreational trails in National Forests have been routed on, through and into abandoned mine lands, old mill sites, mine tailings and waste rock piles.