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Sugarloaf re-opens today

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park re-opened for public access this morning after State Parks officials decided to rescind a closure in effect since December.

Vehicle traffic will be able to enter the park again from Adobe Canyon Road, and regular day use hours will be in effect, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the paid day-use area and 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the lower parking lots.

The Goodspeed trailhead parking lot will also re-open for day-use parking. The fee for the paid day-use area is $8 and can be paid by check or cash at the self-registration kiosk. The campground will remain closed.

The re-opening was inspired, according to some park sources, by the discovery that it would be easier and cheaper to police parking inside the park than to continue monitoring and regulating parking near the front gate and along the shoulders of Adobe Canyon Road.

Pedestrian use had been allowed almost as soon as the park was officially closed before Christmas, since regulating foot traffic was virtually impossible and a steady stream of citizens was considered a better safeguard against illegal uses of the property, including marijuana growing.

Park officials were careful to point out, however, that the open status could be subject to change and that visitors are advised to check the park website (parks.ca.gov/?page_id=481) to be certain there has not been a change of status.

And while the park is now open for day use, it remains on the state's closure list pending agreement on a management plan submitted by Team Sugarloaf, a consortium of private, nonprofit park organizations hoping to collaborate on managing the 4,000-acre facility.

Team Sugarloaf includes the Valley of the Moon Observatory Association, the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association, United Camps Conferences and Retreats, and Sonoma County Trails Council, under the leadership and fiscal sponsorship of the Sonoma Ecology Center.

Meanwhile, 6th District Assemblymember Jared Huffman has introduced legislation to create a variety of alternative funding mechanisms, along with some creative management strategies, to help keep state parks open that have been targeted for closure.

Among Huffman's proposals, outlined in Assembly Bill 1589, are:

• Formation of a state compact guaranteeing an ongoing level of state funding for park operations and maintenance.

• Creation of a State Park Enterprise Fund for construction and installation of modern revenue and fee collection equipment, and technologies to increase park visitation and revenues.

• Production of a State Parks environmental license plate with the fees going to support state parks.

Ñ An option for taxpayers to voluntarily buy an annual state park access pass when they file their state tax returns.

• A requirement for the Department of Parks and Recreation to be more transparent in its evaluation and selection process for park closure, with a cap of just 25 state park units to be closed from 2012 to 2016.

"We have an opportunity with this legislation to not only prevent park closures, but to begin to reinvigorate our neglected California State Parks system," said Huffman. "This bill is about charting a more sustainable approach to managing and financing our treasured state parks so that they will continue to be there for our economy and quality of life, and so that we can protect the valuable natural and cultural resources our parks contain."

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is located at 2605 Adobe Canyon Road,in Kenwood.

 

 

 

Meeting Feb. 24 on running state parks

 

In an effort to keep open as many of the California state parks slated for closure as possible, the California Department of Parks and Recreation is hosting two meetings for nonprofit groups or municipal agencies interested in taking over all or part of the operations at a park.

The closest meeting to Sonoma Valley is set from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in Santa Rosa at Julliard Park in the Church of One Tree Community Center, 492 Sonoma Ave.

Another meeting is set from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in Fort Bragg at the CV Starr Community Center in conference room 3, at 300 S. Lincoln St. There is no charge to attend either meeting.

During the meeting, a representative from the Department of Parks and Recreation will discuss different pathways an organization can take to form an operations partnership with the state park, looking at both practical and legal concerns that need to be addressed. Attendees will also receive the handbook ╥Partnership Workbook for Operating Agreements,╙ which covers material that will be presented during the workshop for later reference. For those unable to attend a workshop, the handbook is also available online at the parks╒ website at www.parks.ca.gov.

Three separate organizations have already expressed interest in running the three Sonoma Valley state parks that appeared on the closure list, although all three have promised to support each other as proposals move forward.

Sonoma County Regional Parks is busy negotiating the details to take over Annadel State Park. The Valley of the Moon Natural History Association is poised to manage Jack London State Historic Park.

And, as the story on A1 explains further, the Sonoma Ecology Center is deep in the process of taking over management at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.