PORT ANGELES — Clallam County lawmakers inked a license agreement with the forest management company Green Crow to provide public access to a soon-to-be-built segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail’s off-road spur of west of Port Angeles.
The Clallam County Chain Gang — the county’s inmate work crew — and a volunteer group led by Lorrie Campbell of the road department are more than halfway finished with the 25-mile Adventure Route of the Olympic Discovery Trail between the Elwha River Valley and Lake Crescent.
“The worst [of the construction] is over,” said Jon Beltrami, Chain Gang officer with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’re just finishing a few pieces here and there. Then it will be all built.”
The section is part of the Olympic Discovery Trail, which will eventually connect Port Townsend with LaPush.
Portions of the segment now under construction in Clallam County, a single-track trail, are already a popular alternative for hikers, mountain bikers and horse riders.
A land-use licence with the state Department of Natural Resources requires the county to relocate most of the Adventure Route from logging roads to trail-only segments by the end of this year.
Steeper sections of the old trail are being rerouted to give mountain bikers optimum trail grades of 3 to 5 percent, Beltrami said.
The no-cost agreement with Green Crow will allow the county to build, maintain and allow public access on a short section of the trail between state Highway 112 and Eden Valley Road.
That entire section is closed for logging, and will be opened at the end of June, Clallam County Transportation Program Manager Rich James said.
To date, 12.8 miles of the Adventure Route are single-track and 11.7 miles are roadway. By summer, the single-track mileage will increase to 16, James said.
A three-mile stretch in the Lyre River Canyon will remain road for the longterm.
Ron Richards of Port Angeles raised concerns over liability issues during a public comment period in Tuesday’s board meeting. Richards said the fire prevention provisions put the county at risk.
“When I read an agreement like this, I’m especially upset what the county is giving away,” Richards told the three commissioners.
“In essence, you are turning the county into an insurance company and charging no premium or very little premium for very big risk.”
If a member of the public using the trail starts a fire on Green Crow property, the county could be held liable. Richards said the provisions are too broad and should be fleshed out in court.
“I would urge you to send this back to the drawing board,” he said.
Before voting unanimously to approve the agreement, the commissioners tried to assuage Richards’ concerns.
“In a fair amount of decisions we make here, board members are risk managers,” said commissioner Steve Tharinger, who was involved in persuading Green Crow to sign the agreement during a one-year negotiation process.
“Obviously, any court or any attorney can gin up some issues around whatever might be in the document, but I think this is really focused on trail users. And that, in my view, limits a lot of the impacts that might be caused and what we can be liable for.”
The agreement with Green Crow is valid through December 2020 and can be terminated with notice.
Construction of the single-track trail is being funded through a state Recreation and Conservation Office grant.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.