Sonoma Trails » Sonoma County Regional Parks

SCTC Board of Directors Meeting — Monday, Dec. 5th

Geoffrey — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:50:27 +0000

You are invited to join the upcoming Sonoma County Trails Council Board

Image by ingridtaylar via Flickr

Meeting on Monday, Dec. 5th at 6 pm at the Bike Monkey office in downtown Santa Rosa (640 3rd Street, Suite #C). Please note that we have moved the date to avoid the holidays. Meetings for 2012 will be moved to the 4th Monday of each month unless otherwise noted.

These meetings, held once a month, are an excellent opportunity to learn about trail projects, park news and events. At this month’s meeting we will be discussing trail work opportunities, introducing new Board of Directors members, and updates from the new Sonoma County Parks Alliance, a group working to address the threatened State Park closures (which includes our local Annadel, Sugarloaf, Jack London and Austin Creek Parks).We recently modified the meeting agenda (attached) to encourage more community attendance. The first part of the meeting will cover projects, advocacy and news. You are also welcome to stay for the second part of the meeting, which will focus on SCTC organizational business.

Please let us know if you’d like more information about SCTC and the upcoming meetings. I hope you’ll join us!For current trail work opportunities check out th
e attached agenda.

SCTC_2012-12-05_agenda

Taylor Mountain Community Meeting # 4 — Dec. 6, 2011

Geoffrey — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:23:06 +0000

We hope you’ll attend the next Taylor Mountain park community meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6.

Volunteer Opportunities with Regional Parks

Geoffrey — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:47:06 +0000

From John Ryan, Volunteer/Intern Coordinator for Sonoma County Regional Parks:

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The Regional Parks Department is moving to a Sustainability Model of management in which we will be more financially responsible and self-sustaining and more operationally efficient.

As part of this transition, the Department is looking at numerous opportunities to increase revenues to support our Parks. We have many wonderful properties where we can offer programs, enhance services, and provide even more memorable experiences for Park users. We want to maintain the beauty of our Parks while also raising revenue that we can use to support them and keep entrance fees low.

The Department is looking for volunteers to help park staff develop and implement plans to generate revenue. There are many possibilities; some examples include:

Developing and implementing a strategy to increase the use of County Parks for special events.
Creating a plan for increased concessions at Parks, such as Doran Beach.
Creating a plan to increase camping facilities at County Parks, as well as cabins and/or yurts.
Analyzing the relationship between tourism, the economy, and local Parks.
Creating a business plan for a local Park.

Volunteers could be tremendously helpful in different ways. One option is to provide regular assistance to Parks staff working on these issues – conducting Internet research, contacting other Parks departments, analyzing the market potential for new programs, etc. Another option is to take a lead role on a particular idea, such as one of those noted above.

Volunteers will receive support from the Department, but should work well independently. Strong analytic and writing skills are necessary. The ideal candidate should be able to commit 5 to 10 hours a week for the duration of the project. If you can volunteer please contact John Ryan or if you have a particular revenue generating idea send it to him in an e-mail:

John Ryan
Volunteer/Intern Coordinator
Sonoma County Regional Parks
707-565-3356
www.sonomacountyparks.org

For additional information, contact:

Don Schwartz
Business Development Manager
Sonoma County Regional Parks
707-565-3777
Don.Schwartz@Sonoma-county.org

This is a great opportunity to help your Sonoma County Regional Park during these tough budgetary times. Even if you are not available you might know someone, a student, retiree, etc. who could really help us out.

Taylor Mountain Community Meeting #3 — June 29, 2011

Geoffrey — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:54:08 +0000

Please come join us at the next community meeting for the Taylor Mountain Master Plan on June 29!

Sara Press, AICP

Associate Open Space Planner

Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District

747 Mendocino Avenue, Suite 100

Santa Rosa, CA 95401

ph: 707-565-7360

direct: 707-565-7368

fax: 707-565-7359

www.sonomaopenspace.org

Hood Mountain Workday, March 8

Geoffrey — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:29:37 +0000

From John Ryan (SC Regional Parks) and Dave Chalk:

Well, we’ll try it again! On Tuesday, March 8, is our next regularly scheduled work day at Hood Mtn. Hopefully the weather will cooperate better this time. Please wear weather appropriate clothing, bring liquids, lunch and gloves. Meet at 9:00AM at the Pythian Rd parking lot 1.5 miles north of Hwy 12. Parking passes, all tools and instruction, snacks and refreshments will be provided by Regional Parks. Please contact Dave Chalk or John Ryan if you’re able to attend. As before, if the work day is cancelled due to bad weather we’ll notify you by email.

Upcoming workdays

Tuesday, March 8th
Thursday, March 24th
Saturday, April 9th
Thursday, April 28th
Wednesday, May 25th
Saturday, June 4th National Trail Days

Thanks,

John Ryan
Volunteer Coordinator
Sonoma County Regional Parks
707-565-3356
sonomacountyparks.org

Hood Mountain Workday, Feb. 24 — CANCELLED

Geoffrey — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:02:34 +0000

John Ryan, Volunteer Coordinator for Sonoma County Regional Parks, has called off the workday scheduled for today due to predicted cold, wet weather. The next workday is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8^th. He hopes for better weather.

Hood Mountain Workday, Thursday, Feb. 24

Geoffrey — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:07:02 +0000

Another upcoming trail stewardship opportunity from Regional Parks:

Hood Mountain Regional Park, 1450 Pythian Road, Santa Rosa, CA

Thursday, February 24^th from 9am – 1pm

Join us as we return to Hood Mountain for some winter clean up. The trails, especially the summit trail, could use some help. We’ll be pruning back brush, cleaning out water bars and dips and dealing with other winter erosion concerns. Meet in the parking lot off of Highway 12 on Pythian Road. Call or e-mail for more information or directions.

Thanks so much for all of your support with our Sonoma County Regional Parks,

Sincerely,

John Ryan

Volunteer Coordinator

Sonoma County Regional Parks

707-565-3356

sonomacountyparks.org

Regional Parks Workdays this Weekend, Saturday, Feb. 19

Geoffrey — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:27:05 +0000

The two Sonoma County Regional Parks volunteer workdays will take place this Saturday, rain or shine. John Ryan, Volunteer Coordinator, reports:

In fact a bit of rain isn’t a bad thing. The ground will be soft and the plants we are removing, primarily French Broom, should come out easily. While the chance of rain on Saturday is slight it will be cold. Please dress warmly and in clothes you don’t mind getting muddy.

Spring Lake Park

(meet in the lower parking lot at the Violetti entrance)
9am – 1pm
Removing French Broom from several different areas in the park.

Foothill Regional Park

(meet in the parking lot off of Arata Lane)
10am – 1pm
Removing French Broom in an area about 100 yards north of the Westside Trail. The work won’t be difficult but there is quite a bit of poison oak in the area. Regional Parks will provide hazmat suits, pre-contact solution and Tecnu for cleaning up after the project. If you are extremely allergic I do not recommend attending this workday.

Please let me know if you have any questions. If the weather takes a turn for the worst you can call my phone line at 707-565-3356 the morning of the project and I will have an updated message concerning the status of the project.

Thanks for all of your support,

John Ryan
Volunteer Coordinator
Sonoma County Regional Parks
707-565-3356
sonomacountyparks.org

Hood Mountain Workdays, Spring 2011

Geoffrey — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:50:07 +0000

John Ryan, Volunteer Coordinator for Sonoma County Regional Parks, has announced the spring workdays for Hood Mountain Regional Park:

Thursday, February 24^th
Tuesday, March 8^th
Thursday, March 24^th
Saturday, April 9^th
Thursday, April 28^th
Wednesday, May 25^th
Saturday, June 4^th National Trail Days

All work will run from 9:00AM – 1:00PM. Parking passes, tools, instruction, supervision, snacks, encouragement, and major appreciation will be provided by Regional Parks. Please meet at the Pythian Rd parking lot, 1.5 miles north of Hwy 12, at 8:50AM. Transportation to the work site will be provided, weather permitting.

Trail Crew Cleans Up Creekside

Geoffrey — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:26:46 +0000

The SCTC’s trail stewards, ably led by Tim Mayer, descended on Shiloh Ranch Regional Park’s Creekside Trail for two days of great work. On May 1, we tackled a pair of eroded sections that we discussed during last year’s trail stewardship training, as well as some smaller sections with ruts and berms. For the largest section, the crew removed a stump at the top of a short, steep grade and dropped the overall grade of the trail down over a 20 foot stretch to reduce erosion.

The problem -- a mudhole where the trail approaches the bridge. Our plan -- put in a French drain and build the trail up with crushed rock.

The crew returned on May 8 to address a boggy stretch just east of the bridge. Though the soil was now fairly dry, water seeping from the hillside where the trail passes across the nose of a small ridge had made the area difficult to traverse much of the winter. We installed a French drain above the trail to capture seepage and installed a turnpike with gravel on the trail itself. Regional Parks staff delivered a motorized compactor to make sure the new material would stand up to horse traffic — the old boot tool (or hand compactor) don’t cut it when there will be immediate heavy use.

At the end of the day, we had a great looking stretch of hardened trail and it should keep the trail more passable next winter and beyond. Thanks, trail crew!

The finished product

See additional photos from Tim Mayer