Starting today, September 29th, a new law goes into effect that bans smoking on all San Clemente municipal trails.  According to this article in the OC Register, the law bans smoking on the heavily-used San Clemente Coastal Trail and all inland trails.  The City Council originally pushed to have smoking banned on the Coastal Trail because of the number of people who frequent the trail but decided to extend the law to inland trails because of fize hazards and the connectivity of some trails to San Clemente park trails that have already banned smoking.

The various hiking, walking and bicycle trails in San Clemente are one of the amenities that makes this coastal community such a great place to live.  San Clemente is a community that encourages outdoor activities for adults and children by consistently maintaining and improving its parks and trails.  By banning smoking on the municipal trails in San Clemente, the City Council has again shown its willingness to protect the beautiful environment found here.  The move to ban smoking on the San Clemente Coastal Trail was entirely expected.  The trail, which runs from North Beach to Calafia, is the most heavily-populated trail by adults and children alike and serves as a crossing point to the various San Clemente beaches.  Keeping the trail free of cigarette butts and smoke in the air will ensure that the quality of the popular Coastal Trail and our beaches remains intact (and I'm sure the people who exercise on the trail will not be too upset about breathing fresh air).  I applaud the City Council for extending the ban to inland trails; as the canyons of San Clemente are filled with wild brush, this will only help to curb potentially devastating fires in the area (as we've seen in Irvine and San Diego during the past couple of hot summers).

For more information on the San Clemente City Council's smoking ban on municipal trails, please visit their website.