Will Eel River canyon railroad be turned into trail?

The North Coast Railroad Authority is considering allowing a portion of its 145 miles of decrepit railroad tracks between Willits and Humboldt Bay to be converted into a trail for hikers, bikers and equestrians.

It's been 13 years since freight trains ran along the slide-prone tracks through the Eel River canyon. A resolution scheduled to come before the NCRA board Wednesday at its Novato meeting acknowledges the line won't be returned to train service any time soon.

"It is apparent the NCRA lacks the financing or the prospect of financing to restore the Eel River Division to service," states the resolution, which was drafted by the agency's staff.

Nor are there any rail operators interested in committing to operating a freight line through the canyon, according to the resolution.

But there is a lot of interest in developing trails along railroad lines. Chris Weston, a Humboldt County teacher who founded the Eel River Trails Association, has been promoting the idea of an Eel River trail. He believes it would open the area to recreational uses and tourism.

The resolution provides several options for the NCRA board. One seeks its blessing for efforts to build a trail along a 95-mile stretch of the Eel River section of the rail line. Under this scenario, the rail agency would partner with a yet-to-be identified group that would take responsibility for the land and fund construction and maintenance of the trail system.

All of the options would preserve the NCRA's rights to reopen the rail line through the Eel River canyon in the future using a process known as "railbanking."

Such trails exist throughout the country. About 19,000 miles of abandoned railroad tracks nationwide have been converted to trails since the 1970s, according to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C.

They include the 4.4-mile Old Railroad Grade trail on Mount Tamalpais; the 5.8-mile San Francisco Embarcadero trail; the 9.8-mile Sacramento Northern Bike Trail; and the 161-mile Cowboy Trail in Nebraska, the nation's longest rail-to-trails conversion project, according to the Conservancy.

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This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 12, 2011

The North Coast Railroad Authority will meet Wednesday in Novato. An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the location of the meeting. The board will consider a resolution to convert about 95 miles of its line between Willits and Humboldt Bay to trails. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the board was considering trails along a 145-mile section between Willits and Humboldt Bay.