More
A Little Local History
Native Americans lived successfully on the North Coast for thousands of years and made their living off the products of the sea and the woodlands. In the early 19th Century, Russians established Fort Ross as an otter hunting post and for agriculture to support their Alaskan colony and probably were the first Europeans to explore the coastal lands here. Following the discovery of gold in 1849, the interest in northern California and its treasure of natural resources boomed.
Whalers and otter and seal hunters came from the East coast and from Europe. But with the rapid population growth it was the redwood and Douglas fir forests that drew thousands of people to the north coast since timber was desperately needed to house them. Every coastal inlet, large or small, had a population of timber harvesters and many had lumber mills as well. It was thought that the old growth forests would support centuries of harvesting!
The devastating 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco was a huge boon to the timber industry – the Mendocino County redwoods rebuilt San Francisco! However, the logging practices of the time were far more devastating and in a long-term way - the ecology of the north coast creeks, stream beds and rivers was radically changed. The forests were often clear-cut (all big trees taken out and smaller ones cut and left to rot). The trees were dragged down hillsides and dumped into larger streams so the winter rains would float the timber out to the waiting lumber mills in the river mouths. The result was massive erosion of hillsides into the streams filling them with silt thus burying the deep gravel beds. Additionally, the streambeds were scoured flat with no deep or shaded pools. Salmon habitat was decimated, salmon populations rapidly declined so another important economic base of the region, fishing, was seriously damaged.
As the timber resources ran low, the industry declined, leaving abandoned camps, mills and towns throughout the county. The fishing industry continued successfully for many years, but it has been seriously impacted by overfishing, poaching and environmental changes in recent years.
The Mendocino Coast Now
Our remote coast seems nearly untouched by the busy modern world, but we are quickly becoming aware that it is seriously at risk on many fronts, ranging from picnic debris left on beaches and cigarette butts dropped in gutters, to the enormous and unknown results of global temperature changes. Our coastal environment is extremely fragile and vulnerable. And our local economic health is dependent on that fragile environment in two vital ways: as sustainable natural resources, and as a tourist destination for people who want to experience life in the slow and beautiful lane.
SRA - Sustainable Natural Resources
In the relatively short time since the region was discovered by entrepreneurs who made a living by harvesting from the land and waters, such radical changes have occurred that those livelihoods have been nearly destroyed. Once the cores of the local economy, both timbering and fishing have now been severely impacted by harvesting methods used in the past that have gravely damaged the ecosystem. The stream beds which had been full of riffles and pools that make ideal habitat for young salmon were scoured flat by logs pulled downstream to the timber mills on the coast, and then ultimately filled with sediment from the eroded hillsides.
The current SRA restoration project is to restore the creeks and streams that feed Big River to a condition close to that which existed before the coastal redwood forests were nearly clear-cut over 100 years ago. When the streams are restored, the salmon which make the journey upstream from the sea will have good habitats to spawn, protect their eggs from predation and the hatchlings will have a healthy environment in which to thrive before their journey to the sea. With this effort, the Coho salmon should be able to re-populate our coastal waters.
MAPA - The State Parks, Tourism and Threatened Park Closures
The Mendocino district has fourteen state parks and reserves which are destinations for thousands of visitors every year. Student groups, scientists, campers, and tourists enjoy a respite from city life and learn about nature while experiencing our parks. These visitors contribute dramatically to the local economy far beyond the small entry fees charged at a few of the parks. The restaurants, lodgings and retail shops and services which employ the majority of our citizens depend on these visitors for much of their annual income, and the state gains the tax revenues charged by the local businesses.
The California State Parks system began in 1928 when the voters in the state overwhelmingly approved a bond to fund its start-up. The system currently administers 278 parks, 1.4 million acres, over 280 miles of coastline, 15,000 campsites and thousands of miles of trails to explore. All of these resources must be maintained and protected continually, and many of the parks also provide some educational opportunities for individuals and groups. In the past, most of this work was done by California State Parks Rangers and Officers, but state financial support for their work is dwindling.
Seven Mendocino area parks, out of seventy statewide, are now threatened with closure to help solve the state’s budget problems. The amount of money this move would save is tiny compared to the total needed for the budget gap. This proposal is also very short-sighted in dozens of respects, not the least of which are public safety, protection of the land, animals, plants and park structures, and the devastating effect on the local economy. The state has provided a “grace period” of a year before the closures take place during which the threatened parks can campaign to create private/public partnerships to keep their facilities open and staffed.
The Mendocino Area Parks Association (MAPA) is a non-profit organization formed to benefit the local state parks. MAPA provides high quality educational activities, interpretive programs and informative exhibits for our local state parks and promotes the restoration and conservation of park structures. In addition they maintain year-round museum/visitors centers at six of the parks. The well-trained volunteers who meet the public are supported by a small staff of naturalists and historians, some full-time but most seasonal.
MAPA’s original mission was purely educational, but they have broadened their scope to include conservation and restoration of park facilities and historical structures. And now, they are also working hard to raise public awareness of the great risk we take in letting the local parks be closed.
Each of the parks has its own individual gift to offer visitors, and each park has its own needs for maintenance, conservation and protection, as well as educational interpretation. Each beach is different, each redwood grove is different, each historic structure is different. They are all state treasures too valuable to be discarded.
These parks belong to all the residents of California, but many were once private property. One of the treasures, Jughandle Creek Farm, was the residence of John Olmstead, son of Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. whose survey of potential parklands identified Yosemite as a national park and led to the formation of the California State Parks system. Jughandle, now part of a vital education center, is on the list of potential closures. Other state parks on the “at risk” list are Point Cabrillo Light Station, Russian Gulch, Westport, Hendy Wood, Greenwood and Manchester.
