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Redwood Times
Residents and business owners in northern Mendocino met at Leggett Valley School last Monday night, Jan. 16, to find ways to keep Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area open under community oversight.
A core group calling itself “Team Standish” began getting together in December to research and plan for local management of the park, which is slated to close June 30 of this year as part of one billion dollars in cuts to the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
”Today is Martin Luther King Day, and Martin Luther King pointed out the importance of dreams. Standish-Hickey has a place in our personal dreams,” Piercy Fire Protection District commissioner Jeff Hedin told the 30 people assembled in the Leggett Valley School library. “We need to find a way for our dreams to unite us to save this park from closure.”
Of 278 state parks and recreation areas in California, 70 were originally slated for closure as part of the state's deficit-reduction plan, Leggett businessperson Jill Palmer explained, but the numbers kept getting smaller as the legislature struggled with this unpopular move.
Currently, 14 parks are on the closure list. Eight of them, including Standish-Hickey SRA, are in Mendocino County.
Last year, Standish-Hickey made $157,000 in revenues but the cost of running the park came to $204,000, Palmer said. Palmer estimated that overall the state would save only $20,000 to $40,000 a year if the loss of tax revenue caused by the impact to local businesses and property values is included in the equation
Last year the state legislature passed AB42, which allows local governments and 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations to take on management of parks slated to be closed.
AB42 also created an opportunity for for-profit corporations such as Disney and KOA (Kampgrounds of America) to bid on providing concessions in parks that would otherwise be closed. The corporation awarded the bid would be able to run campgrounds and recreational facilities in a “bundle” of parks, which would undermine the ability of community groups or non-profits to manage the parks locally.
Bess Bair, who was named after her “guiding spirit” grandmother Bess Hartsook, announced that four non-profits have offered to look into partnering with the local community: RFFI (the Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc.), the Institute for Sustainable Forestry, the Wailaki Tribe, and MAPA (Mendocino Area Parks Association).
”We're honored to have four non-profits willing to help,” said Bair. She then read the letter Team Standish had written to MAPA asking for its help, which described efforts made by the local team so far, including a walk-through of the park to review the facilities with state park employees.
MAPA provides interpretive programs in several Mendocino parks and is working on preventing the closure of Russian Gulch State Park on the Mendocino Coast.
”MAPA is honored to be considered. [Standish-Hickey] is a perfect fit for our mission,” Carolyne Cathey, the executive director of MAPA, wrote to Bair.
The other three non-profits will all have roles to play even if MAPA is chosen as the primary partner, Bair assured the group.
”I'm pretty sure you can count on unanimous support from the board of supervisors,” said Kendall Smith, supervisor for Mendocino County's 4th district, which includes the coastal area of Northern Mendocino from the Humboldt County line to a point just north Mendocino.
Smith said she had discussed park closures with state Assemblyman Jared Huffman, who authored AB42, as well as the area's local representatives, state Senator Noreen Evans and state Assemblyman Wes Chesbro.
The problem is not with local officials, Smith said, but with other members of the legislature, the budget crisis, and the political climate in general. Senator Evans told Smith that the legislature is dominated by Southern California, communities whose economies are very different than the rural North Coast.
Smith urged community members “individually and collectively” to contact legislators explaining the importance of keeping the park open to the local economy.
Hedin described the walk-through of the park. State park rangers and maintenance staff were friendly and cooperative, he said. “State Parks doesn't want Standish-Hickey to close,” he said.
”They showed everything -- including all the problems,” he added.
Among the assets are a number of buildings that can be used as an office, a museum and/or community center, storage, and maintenance buildings. The park includes two campgrounds, one close to the highway and a more desirable campground with 60 sites across the river.
The campground across the river was closed this season to save maintenance costs, but it could be re-opened as a walk-in campground if the footbridge is rehabilitated. Water and electric lines from the main area of the park could then be hung under the bridge.
Existing trails may need clearing and will have to be kept open and safe by Team Standish crews, but an extensive trail structure is already in place, including some ADA-compliant trails. The water and electric systems throughout the park need major improvement as well.
An old residence, probably dating from the time of the original Standish family before the land was donated for the park, could be rehabilitated to be used as a lodge for various groups; for example, for a yoga retreat or a multi-day geology field trip.
Hedin is organizing a second walk-through of the park within the next few weeks, which will include a closer look at the infrastructure problems so that a plan for improvement can be developed.
Following these updates, the organizers asked participants to brainstorm possible uses and activities in the park. The public responded with at least two dozen suggestions, including a museum showcasing local history and culture, nature walks and talks, reviving the Red Cross swimming program, a ropes course, classes in survival skills and Native crafts, concerts, and wine-tasting.
Bair, a former professional tap-dancer, said her special request was a dance studio at the park.
Team Standish will need to present their plan to state officials by the end of February in order to be considered as viable alternate managers of the park. To get all the work done, the organizers called for volunteers for several committees, including research and archives, hospitality for meetings, maintenance, outreach and promotion, finance and fundraising, and coordination and training of park volunteers and docents.
These committees will meet every week for the next month to prepare for the presentation to state officials.
The next meeting of the entire team is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m. at Leggett Valley School.
More photos of the park, whether current or historical, are also needed for promotion and to include on the website, www.standishhickey.com.
To volunteer for a committee, or for more information, contact Friends of Standish Hickey at info@standishhickey.com or call (707) 983-6115.
”Plan on making the park part of your life for the next 10 or 20 years,” Bair told the participants. “That's what our ancestors did. They made a life of commitment.”
photo caption:
REDWOOD TIMES PHOTO BY VIRGINIA GRAZIANI
Participants at the Standish-Hickey park meeting focused on making a plan to keep Standish-Hickey under local management.
