Ending the attempted theft of public property:

The Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road/Lincoln Highway west of Donner Lake

"This grant is made subject to all easements, covenants, conditions, reservations and restrictions of record."

The Cadjews' 1987 deed from Southern Pacific Development

"Subject to any and all easements and rights of way in, upon or across said lands." Southern Pacific Development's 1972 deed from Southern Pacific Railroad ("same" company)

Past articles on this website:










August 22, 2006:
This past July 3rd, as we and several hikers were about to take a pre-announced hike on the trail to the summit, a contingent from the
Truckee Police (including Police Chief Berry) and Nevada County Sheriff deputies, including a detective, met us at the trailhead and told
us we would be arrested if we hiked on the trail past Cadjew’s barricade. The Town of Truckee's Vice Mayor and the Community
Development Director John McGlaughlin were also there for some reason.
At one point, Chief Berry suggested that we “talk to Frank Cadjew” who was at his untaxed micro-cabin on Donner Pass Road (or as
Ted Owens insists on referring to it, Mr. Cadjew's "house" or "residence" or "cabin"). With the OK from Berry, Stan (our co-chairman) then
hiked past the barricade another few hundred feet to Cadjew’s building. As Stan walked onto the Cadjews deck, he was surprised to
see none other than Supervisor Ted Owens, who appeared to also be surprised to see Stan. Out in the driveway were several
government vehicles. Does this sound like the proper activity for a County Supervisor? Not to us.
Owens proceeded to make more of his now-famous outlandish claims, including a claim that our recent plotted survey (based on a
1915 official state survey) is not accurate because it used GPS technology (wonder how often homebuilder Owens uses GPS surveys for
his own benefit).
Cadjew even claimed that pioneers never used this road!
It was at this meeting that Stan heard Owens say that his push to abandon the old road was over "for now" due to Caltrans' requirement
for a CEQA report (see below for more detail).
And Owens made no mention of his ludicrous "alternative" trail sham that he tried to shove down our throats just a few months ago (see
below). No mention of it now, probably because Mr. Cadjew never even committed to giving land for such a purpose and certainly doesn't
want to pay for a required CEQA report for such a trail and certainly doesn't want to pay for construction of a mile-long trail and bridge!

So now all Owens has left is to use his position to influence law enforcement to keep the public off the publicly-owned trail!  Despite
Owens' claims, he has NO LEGAL BASIS to continue this fraud! He has provided not one bit of evidence to support his false claims!


July 4, 2006:
WE WON! (one battle)
Nevada County has decided to rescind its formal request to Caltrans to legally abandon the Historic Donner Trail, known to Caltrans as
Highway 37. This was told to us by none other than Supervisor Ted Owens on July 3rd.
Apparently, Caltrans' CEQA requirement proved to be too much for Ted Owens. Owens could not ask Nevada County taxpayers
to fund the CEQA which had as its goal the removal of a public right-of-way which would benefit a private property owner. The value of the
removal of the historic right-of-way  could be worth millions!
However, it is clear that the game-playing by Owens and other politicians is still continuing--we will continue the fight. Check back for
details.
Thanks to all our supporters!


April 25, 2006:
"Ya, what if we say that due to the December storm, the road no longer exists! Great
idea! I can announce it at the next Board meeting."
(headline is imaginary; the following quotes are real)
March 21st Board of Supervisors meeting:
Ted Owens: “I did meet with the Truckee Historical Society on the stock trail issue. That’s going to go away for awhile, it appears.”

Ted Owens: “We did have, on the 15th, believe it or not, another stock trail meeting*, where I learned that, one of the interesting things I
would like to talk to you about Mr. Shulman, is approximately 2000, maybe 2500 feet of the old road, contested as to whether it was the
stock trail or not, was wiped out in the storm event of December, so that will total somewhere in the neighborhood of 3500 feet of no
road, that no longer exists. So we’ll be talking about that.”
(above quote is word-for-word, just as Owens said it; no typos)
(Mr. Shulman is the county counsel; their legal advisor) (3500 feet is 2/3 of a mile!)

March 24th Sierra Sun article:
Ted Owens: “A large section of the trail washed away during winter storms,” said Supervisor Owens, and he believes his trail alternative
is now an even better proposal. “The new trail alignment will bypass the portion of the trail that was damaged by winter storms, keeping
the trail from passing next to the property owner’s cabin.”

"Road no longer exists." Hmmm. Does homebuilder Ted Owens mean the topsoil for 2/3 of a mile washed away? Or did 2/3 of a mile of
the stream change course after centuries in the same location? Wonder what Owens will say when we see that 2/3 of a mile of the road
hasn’t ceased to exist? Read more about this below.

* On this day, Owens talked about 8 meetings he had had in the past few weeks, and for 7 of the 8 meetings he mentioned the names of
each group or individual he met with. But not this second stock trail meeting where he "learned" such amazing facts about a road
disappearing--the same public road he wants to give to Mr. Cadjew.
Supervisor Owens' statements here and elsewhere make very clear that he will stop at nothing in his attempt to benefit a private party at
the public's expense.

March 24, 2006:
Sierra Sun article:

Caltrans wants enviro review of trail alternative
15-year fight over Donner Summit path access continues
By David Bunker
Caltrans is asking that Nevada County perform an initial environmental review before abandoning a historic stock trail that runs from
Donner Lake to Donner Summit.
Backers of allowing full public access on the stock trail, which corresponds with the Dutch Flat Wagon Road route and old Highway 37,
were pleased with Caltrans’ request. They hope the environmental review will lead to the preservation of the old road and open public
access for recreational uses.
The stock trail has been at the center of a controversy over public recreational access across private land for nearly 15 years. While a
group of Donner Lake homeowners insist the public has a right to use the trail, the property owner and Nevada County staff say the old
stock trail right-of-way can be used only for the transportation of livestock.
We are very glad to hear that Caltrans agrees that this road is a valuable historical resource and they are requiring a [California
Environmental Quality Act] study before any abandonment hearing,” said Rick Martel, who is part of the Historic Donner Trail Committee,
based in Stockton, Calif., which is pushing for the trail’s preservation.
Caltrans is asking for the environmental review because of the historic nature of the trail.
Nevada County District 5 Supervisor Ted Owens, who brought the issue before the county board and backs an alternative trail through
the same piece of private property, said the request by Caltrans was expected.
“The initial study is in no way a road block,” Owens said. “It was anticipated.” Why then didn't you complete it before asking Caltrans for
permission?
Owens said the issue will likely be on hold until the snow melts and the research for an initial study can be completed.  Will you make
the taxpayers pay for this Owens?
A large section of the trail washed away during winter storms, said Owens, Nonsense--and we'll prove it
and he believes his trail alternative, backed by the Truckee Trails Foundation aka the Town of Truckee,
is now an even better proposal. Of course you do.
The new trail alignment will bypass the portion of the trail that was damaged by winter storms, keeping the trail from passing next to the
property owner’s cabin, Owens said. It will then tie back into the stock trail as it gains elevation. Look at Owens' proposed alternate trail
map above--it "bypasses" the old trial by a mile! And Cadjew doesn't live in or pay taxes on his tiny shack.



March 12, 2006:

Great News--
Caltrans Puts Up Roadblock to the Owens Giveaway Plan!

Caltrans is now requiring a CEQA initial report to be completed prior to any abandonment hearing "due to the potential historical
significance of the trail." Will Owens try to have Nevada County taxpayers pay for this CEQA report so that one private party will
benefit?         
(California Environmental Quality Act)


Feb. 24, 2006:

Will the lies ever end?

Here is Nevada County Supervisor and homebuilder Ted Owen's column published in the Sierra Sun on Feb 23, 3006: (His words are in
red; our response is in blue)
My Turn: 'Whoa' on the stock trail (or Ted Owens' continuing pathetic support of a private party at the expense of the public)
by Ted Owens
The "stock trail" has been getting a good deal of ink lately even though the acrimony and finger pointing has been going on for more than
15 years without result. It is clearly an issue worthy of discussion in a public hearing by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors, where
all interested can participate in the discussion and solution.
The author of "Red Herrings on the Historic Trail" (My Turn column Sierra Sun Feb. 22) wishes to avoid such a hearing and attempts to
present to you, my fellow citizens of Truckee, what my positions are on the matter. The writer, "Co-chairman of the Historic Donner Trail
Committee," located in Stockton, Calif., according to his letterhead, has not discussed with me my findings, thoughts or position on
specifics. He must be a mind-reader or know someone in my gym. I intend to save those for the public hearing.
Owens--if this is the case, why do you proceed to give your position in this column?
Owens accuses "the author" of wanting to “avoid a hearing where all interested can participate…” It is worth noting the official notice for
the February 14th Board of Supervisors meeting:
“Nevada County Supervisor Ted Owens will be bringing the attached agenda item to the Board on Tuesday, February 14, 2006
requesting permission from Caltrans to vacate the stock trail easement across Mr. Frank Cadjew's property…Caltrans' permission
is needed before the county can initiate a vacation process. Board discussion on Feb. 14 will not include public testimony and
debate.”
(Only after we complained, were we allowed 3 minutes to speak).
Owens makes clear he doesn’t want debate on this matter.
Owens makes clear he wants to vacate the trail easement.
Owens makes clear he in the letter he sent to Caltrans that he has already made his decision, with 10 reasons supporting the
abandonment and none against. And of his 10 reasons, four continue the sham argument that there is no legal location of the road.
Owens' "public hearing" is only to decide where to put the "tentatively agreed to" alternate trail--his letter to Caltrans makes this clear.
However, let me offer a few foundational points on the issue. The writer has claimed that Leigh Fitzpatrick of the Truckee Trails
Foundation and I are intent upon two things; "taking" a historic trail and "taking" general access away from the public and gift them to a
property owner.
Actually, it is the opposite. Mr. Fitzpatrick and I have endeavored to meet the needs of the property owner, trail enthusiasts, and address
the historical integrity we all value. Besides, we cannot "take" that which we do not "have".
The biggest load of BS--The County of Nevada DOES "have" the trail--why would you, Owens, need to ask Caltrans to abandon it if the
county didn't "have" it? Endeavor this!
The historic trail - physically every rock, sage and tree - are already Mr. Cadjew's property. The easement, designated as a "Stock Trail",
as the Sierra Sun editorial ("'Over our dead bodies' isn't a negotiating point" Sierra Sun Feb. 15) accurately pointed out, was for the
limited purpose of driving untethered stock. It is not unlike a public utility easement many of us have on our rightfully owned property here
in Truckee - the use is limited and specific.
It is very much unlike a public utility easement! Owens is continuing his made-up claim that the trail “was for the limited purpose of
driving untethered stock” and therefore it is legally off-limits to the public, while he again refuses to provide evidence for his claim--
because he has none! There is no law restricting public use of stock trails. Owens is flat-out LYING when he says otherwise.
Again, we need to point out that Owens is attempting to seriously weaken or eliminate the property rights of all easement holders with
his outrageous actions in this matter.
Yet we have a property owner working in a collaborative and generous manner within our community to meet the most needs for the
most people. In true Truckee fashion, he deserves this public hearing. Owens, are you his attorney?
So who is the property owner anyway? I'm tired of referring to him that way. Is someone forcing you to write "property owner?" What a
clown. He is Frank Cadjew, called "Bucky" by his friends. His wife is Julie, but I just call her Mrs. Cadjew. Lifetime Truckee resident Ron
Borden ran into me recently and told me "Bucky" got the nickname in elementary school, which back then was today's Truckee
Community Center in town. Bucky was raised in Truckee by his grandmother, and still owns the house he grew up in on High Street. He
has a strong and personal attachment to his land at Donner Lake, and is above all, more "local" than many of us have an opportunity of
becoming.
Here, Owens makes clear he has added a new role for himself to the role of legal advocate for Mr. Cadjew--Owens is now the public
relations spin doctor for Mr. Cadjew. His silly portrayal of Mr. Cadjew as a generous, true “local” is a bit hard for us to stomach, since for
14 years, Mr. Cadjew has kept Truckee locals from enjoying their public trail by piling up boulders in the trailway and posting signs
warning Truckee locals of his “Rottweiler Guard Dogs Ahead” (and the implied violent attack by the dogs). Add to that the many first-hand
accounts of a rifle-bearing Mr. Cadjew and his associates ordering Truckee locals off their public trail.
No, we don’t need to be mind-readers Mr. Owens, you’ve made your “position” perfectly clear.
Those of us who wish to preserve this historic trail (and many of us are locals) never thought we’d see the day that our trail would be in
imminent danger of being lost forever. What is even more shocking is to see that the lead proponent of giving our trail to a private
individual is a politician and a "fellow citizen of Truckee."
Let's get it all out at the hearing. That's the ball field I was elected to play on, not the newspapers.
So Owens prefers to “play” in his “hearings” rather than the newspapers. We can see why.


Feb. 15, 2005:

Representing Private Interests
The Nevada County Supervisors voted Tuesday, February 14, to send a letter to Caltrans asking for permission to abandon our historic
trail, officially known as State Highway 37/Lincoln Highway. Despite comments from many members of the public unanimously
opposing the sending of Ted Owens' letter, and despite the display of over 250 signed petitions from our supporters, and despite being
told that their claim that the trail cannot be legally located is FALSE, they just went ahead with their plans to give this public right-of-way to
a private party.

SO WE ASK, Supervisor and homebuilder Owens and Supervisor and land surveyor Spencer:----Why are you working so hard to give
away the public's property to a private individual?!
Why do you ignore facts that dispute your claims when those facts benefit the public's interest while you continue to put out false and
misleading statements when they benefit Mr. Cadjew? Your actions during all this are HIGHLY UNUSUAL and VERY SUSPICIOUS!

Even more suspicious than when you, Mr. Spencer, came to OUR meeting in October of 2004 claiming you were interested in helping us
do the needed trail survey, one month before your election. A year later, before ANY action by Mr. Cadjew against the County, you write on
County letterhead that you will suggest that Mr. Cadjew ask for an abandonment and that you are betting on Mr. Cadjew to win "in court."
(Click here to see Spencer's letter).

May 5, 2005 note: Supervisor John Spencer may be seeing the light: In an April Supervisors meeting, he questioned the board's role in
the trail matter. Someone must have tried one more tactic to help Cadjew, namely using Prescriptive right or Adverse possession, since
Spencer said he believed that it was a judicial function to prove that a person has established a prescriptive right. The County Counsel
should point out that it's not even a judicial function, since statutorily, a prescriptive right or "Adverse Possession" cannot be claimed on
government property!

HERE'S A NEWS FLASH, OWENS AND SPENCER: MR. CADJEW IS NOT YOUR CLIENT! MR. CADJEW CAN HIRE HIS OWN ATTORNEY
TO BATTLE THE COUNTY OR THE STATE. YOUR ACTIONS FLY IN THE FACE OF THE LAW, ALL LOGIC, AND YOUR DUTIES TO
PROTECT THE PUBLIC FROM ATTEMPTS TO TAKE PUBLIC PROPERTY!

This matter could have been easily dealt with at any time, including at this week's Board meeting, by allowing law enforcement to do its
job as it would with any other lawbreaker. But no, Owens and Spencer initiate action on behalf of this private individual and refuse to
consider opposition by the vast majority of the public. Last year, Owens and the others in Cadjew's camp even opposed conducting a
survey on Cadjew's property to correctly locate the historic road! The historic road  they claim cannot be located yet will be available for
once-a-year hikes! (We have a legal survey from 1915 California State survey data).

To our supporters:
We will be following up with Caltrans if this matter gets that far and convince them to not permit Nevada County to abandon the trail. We
are happy to say that, due to all the recent publicity, as of today, February 15, we have new support, including the Oregon-California Trail
Association and two other major national historic agencies.
One benefit of this meeting on Tuesday was that we finally got to see their proposed alternate trail route, originally promoted by former
NC Supervisor and now Truckee Councilmember, Barbara Green 3 years ago (she the recipient of a $2000 campaign contribution
from the Cadjews in 2004).
Above is the map provided by Owens at the Board of Supervisors meeting... This obscene proposed alternate trail through very rough
terrain is the result of warped minds working together:

Our first message on this website - October 2005:
Our most important project at this time is to stop the Nevada County Board of Supervisors from “abandoning” (the
official term) the trail right-of-way. This means they would actually give away the rights to the right-of-way from Nevada
County to a private party! If this is done, the trail will be lost forever.

In his letter of June 6, 1992 regarding Mr. Cadjew (the party blocking the public trail), Mr. G. B. Tucker, then Nevada
County Supervisor (one with more educated eyes than some on the current board), documented the transfer of this
road from the State of California to Nevada County. Mr.Tucker wrote, “After considerable background research and
case review, it is concluded that public access could not be legally denied.” He further noted that Mr. Cadjew was
given notice to remove the blockage and any other obstruction to the access or legal action would be taken.

This was over 13 years ago! Mr. Cadjew STILL has no legal right whatsoever to block access to the trail right-of-way.
The trail is there where it always has been, and there is no need at all to negotiate with Mr. Cadjew for an alternate
route or anything else. Such a compromise would invalidate the historic integrity of the original trail and would be
completely unacceptable. If such a backroom deal were struck, the trail would lose its historic importance forever, and
there would be no turning back. It would simply be gone to future generations who would want to walk the real path of
California's pioneer's and early automobile drivers.

With help from the new Google Earth program, we now have a 3D
video that gives a very accurate representation of what their
"Alternate trail" would really be like. To view, click here
(It will load in 1 to 2 minutes on a high-speed connection.)
Google Earth also allowed us to determine the exact elevation points of their
proposed trail, which make it even more laughable. Keep in mind that the
original trail, laid out most likely by Indians, was a nice gradual climb throughout
the entire route. Here are the elevation points of their proposed trail:
Actual
elevation
in feet:
5961 - at trailhead on Old Hwy Drive, then up a very gradual 86 feet
6047 - take off from original trail at the barricade, then down 30 feet in a steep
           drop into rocky Summit Creek for a horizontal distance of 200 feet!
6017 - then up 50 feet in a steep climb for a horizontal distance of 324 feet!
6067 - then down 70 feet
5997 - then up 297 feet in 2100 feet horizontal distance!
6294 - then down 24 feet
6270 - then up 3 feet
6373 - then down 22 feet
6351 - then up 126 feet
6477 - then down 30 feet
6444 - then up 57 feet
6501 - then down 67 feet
6434 - then up 20 feet
6454 - back at original trail

As we said before, only warped minds could come up with such an idea.