Document text
Lily Prairie users take plans to J'ville council By MELISSA MARTIN JACKSONVILLE -- Motorcyclists, mountain bikers and hikers have started working on a master plan that will allow them to share the same mountain, the city council learned this week. The 400 members of the Motorcycle Riders Association are more than happy to share their 220 acres known as Lily Prairie with hikers or folks who ride horses or mountain bikes, a spokesman says. "We want to form a comprehensive use plan for the area so that we all understand what each other is doing on our own properties,'' said Tyrrell Hart, Lily Prairie project coordinator for the motorcycle group. The motorcycle group is just one of several property owners near the Jacksonville watershed. Others include Spalding Lumber, Boise Cascade and the Bureau of Land Management, which has designated its property for ATV use. They all met with city council members and the state's coordinator for the all-terrain vehicle program to begin writing a recreation plan for the area. They meet again on Jan. 4. The motorcycle association hopes the BLM will take the lead in managing the entire area, Hart says. The Motorcycle Riders Association is a 33-year-old corporation that purchased the Lily Prairie property in 1971. Members have built parking lots and a restroom and drilled a well at the site. "We have women and children that ride -- it's a family group," Hart says. The motorcyclists finance their projects by sponsoring events such as poker runs. The association recently received a $20,000 grant through the Oregon State Park's all-terrain vehicle program, which is financed through gas tax dollars. The local motorcyclists will use the money to rehabilitate a road that's near Lily Prairie. "We plan to bring it up to standard for a vehicle to drive on it," Hart says. They hope to have culverts and ditches in by April. The Lily Prairie recreation site is open to the public, Hart says. "That's why we bought it, to give the public a place to go for picnics and rides." In other action Tuesday, the city council scheduled a hearing for 7 p.m. Jan. 12 to discuss the status of Jackson Creek Estates, a 30-unit townhouse development on F Street. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA