Mark Prado of the Marin Independent Journal reports that METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield has erected a metal fence (Photo#1, Photo#2, Photo#3) on his property on a Terra Linda (California) hilltop, closing off a popular trail and angering hikers, bikers and equestrians.

Someone scrawled "SHAME DISGRACE" on the 300-foot-long, 8-to 10-foot-high corrugated metal silver fence adorned with barbed wire at its far edges.

"Look at the barbed wire. This a serious fence," said hiker Tom McMillan of San Rafael, as he walked along the shiny behemoth late last week.

The fence, at the end of a fire road in the Terra Linda-Sleepy Hollow Divide open space preserve, went up in its present configuration in the past several weeks, according to trail users.

For one of the few times in recent memory, bikers, hikers and equestrians — groups often at odds on trail access issues — are coming together to criticize the fence, saying it blocks access from the Luiz Ranch Fire Road that dates back more than 50 years.

"I now have to get on the road with cars and go another three to seven miles to get to where I want to go," said biker David Lazarini of San Rafael. "It was always open, and it has changed suddenly."

But David Warner of Redhorse Constructors Inc. of San Rafael said vandalism of a previous, smaller gate, and of signs and other property along the trail, prompted Hetfield to block access with the large structure.

"It is private property," said Warner, who does construction work for the rocker. "There was some damage done by certain people. If people were cool, this would not be an issue."

Read the entire report from the Marin Independent Journal.