State Lands Road and Trails Plan, Sonoma Creek Watershed

Abstract:

Project description:  Sonoma Ecology Center will develop a road and trail plan for public lands managed by California Department of State Parks and California Department of Developmental Services in Sonoma Creek Watershed.  SEC will (1) coordinate, attend, and document interagency meetings; (2) conduct public outreach; (3) develop coordinated trail and road management plan for each park area; (4) write final report that incorporates agency, public, and existing technical information and calendar as well as strategy for managing trails and roads in four public lands areas in Sonoma Valley: Annadel State Park, Jack London State Historic Park, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, and Sonoma Developmental Center.

Purpose: The lands in Annadel State Park, Jack London State Historic Park, Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, and Sonoma Developmental Center in Sonoma Creek Watershed are under the responsibility of the State agencies California Department of Parks and Recreation and California Department of Development Services. Historically, trail and road building on these headwaters properties was accomplished without regard for water-quality and soil erosion considerations. With valuable access needed, however, by agencies such as the California Department of Forestry and Fire, which has fire suppression jurisdiction, old roads and trails must be retained or rebuilt. Additionally, visitor pressure has increased on old trail alignments due to increased population in general, increasing the visibility and controversy of areas deep in the state lands backcountry areas. To complicate matters, DPR and DDS share borders and have conflicting needs for using existing road alignments that connect adjoining parcels. The State agencies have a strong desire to realign roads and trails to be environmentally correct as well as meeting the missions of their organizations; however, with cuts in funding to these agencies, cooperation and conversation about best management practices are not possible. A road and trail plan for all four properties will provide the basis for interagency cooperation and public outreach related to recent and forthcoming road improvement projects as well as restoration activities that include re-engineered primary access roads, restored crossings, and realignment and restoration of trails. Critical impacts that will occur if the project is not implemented: unplanned "band-aid" fixes will continue, including annual grading on poor alignments just before the rainy season; stakeholders with valuable input will be left out of planning and brainstorming sessions; water quality will be affected adversely by poorly considered projects; trail and road realignment will continue piecemeal rather than according to a well planned, visionary instrument; and degradation of the land bases will continue.

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