County of San Mateo Environmental Services Agency Parks and Recreation Department Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management, San Mateo County Parks June 30, 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 0. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _______________________ 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION _____________________________ 3 1.1 PURPOSE AND NEED ___________________________________________________ 3 1.2 PROJECT GOALS _______________________________________________________ 3 1.3 VEGETATION MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES _____________________________ 4 1.4 DOCUMENTS AND STUDIES REVIEWED FOR THIS DOCUMENT__________ 7 1.5 PARTICIPANTS AND STAKEHOLDERS ___________________________________ 7 CHAPTER 2. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT CONTEXT _____ 10 2.1 PARK USAGE__________________________________________________________ 10 2.2 CURRENT MAINTENANCE ISSUES AND CONCERNS ____________________ 10 2.3 RELEVANT PLANS AND POLICIES _____________________________________ 15 CHAPTER 3. EXISTING CONDITIONS _____________________ 24 3.1 OVERVIEW OF THE SAN MATEO COUNTY PARKS SYSTEM ______________ 24 3.2 CRYSTAL SPRINGS REGIONAL TRAIL __________________________________ 24 3.3 COYOTE POINT RECREATION AREA___________________________________ 28 3.4 EDGEWOOD PARK AND PRESERVE ____________________________________ 31 3.5 FITZGERALD MARINE RESERVE_______________________________________ 35 3.6 FLOOD PARK__________________________________________________________ 39 3.7 HUDDART PARK ______________________________________________________ 42 3.8 JUNIPERO SERRA PARK _______________________________________________ 46 3.9 MEMORIAL ___________________________________________________________ 50 3.10 MIRADA SURF EAST AND WEST _______________________________________ 53 3.11 PESCADERO PARK ____________________________________________________ 56 3.12 SAM MCDONALD _____________________________________________________ 59 3.13 SAN BRUNO MOUNTAIN _____________________________________________ 63 3.14 SAN PEDRO VALLEY__________________________________________________ 72 3.15 SANCHEZ ADOBE ____________________________________________________ 76 3.16 WOODSIDE STORE ___________________________________________________ 78 3.17 WUNDERLICH _______________________________________________________ 78 Page i Final Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management June 2006 San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Dept. CHAPTER 4. PROJECT PRIORITIZATION __________________ 83 4.1 LIST OF PLANNED AND ACTIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROJECTS AND ACTIONS ___________________________________________________________ 83 4.2 SUGGESTED METHODS FOR PRIORITIZING AND RANKING VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROJECTS________________________________________________ 91 4.3 SELECTING PRIORITY PROJECTS ______________________________________ 94 CHAPTER 5. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES ______________________________________ 97 5.1 ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT_____________________________________________ 99 5.2 WATERSHED PROTECTION MAINTENANCE STANDARDS / NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION CONTROL_________________________________________ 100 5.3 EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL_________________________________ 101 5.4 PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY________________________________________ 103 5.5 FOREST HEALTH ____________________________________________________ 104 5.6 FUEL LOAD AND FIRE MANAGEMENT________________________________ 107 5.7 MOWING ____________________________________________________________ 112 5.8 SENSITIVE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT _______________________________ 118 5.9 RECYCLING GREEN WASTE AND VEGETATION BIOMASS______________ 126 5.10 UNAUTHORIZED TRAILS ____________________________________________ 128 5.11 HABITAT RESTORATION ____________________________________________ 129 5.12 INVASIVE PLANT CONTROL _________________________________________ 131 5.13 PLANT PEST AND DISEASE DETECTION AND CONTROL______________ 141 5.14 SHORELINE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT __________________________ 144 5.15 VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT______________ 145 5.16 GRAZING PROGRAMS FOR WILDLAND SETTINGS_____________________ 147 5.17 PROJECT MONITORING _____________________________________________ 149 CHAPTER 6. SUMMARY OF LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE NEEDS _________________________________________________ 150 6.1 STEWARDSHIP OF HABITAT RESTORATION AREAS____________________ 150 6.2 TRAIL MAINTENANCE, UNAUTHORIZED TRAIL REMOVAL, AND HUMAN USE ____________________________________________________________________ 150 6.3 FOREST HEALTH MAINTENANCE AND FIRE CONTROL MANAGEMENT 151 6.4 INVASIVE PLANT MAINTENANCE ____________________________________ 152 6.5 GRAZING PROGRAM MANAGEMENT__________________________________ 152 Page ii Final Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management June 2006 San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Dept. CHAPER 7 REFERENCES ________________________________ 153 7.1 PRINTED REFERENCES ______________________________________________ 153 7.2 PERSONAL COMMUNICATION _______________________________________ 155 APPENDICES APPENDIX A. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES APPENDIX B. FORMS APPENDIX C. EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS AND BROCHURES APPENDIX D. HELPFUL RESOURCES APPENDIX E. EXTENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX F. MAP Page iii Final Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management June 2006 San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Dept. This report was funded through a generous grant from the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation. This report was prepared by: May & Associates, Inc. 730 Clementina Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 391-1000 www.mayandassociatesinc.com Page iv Final Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management June 2006 San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Dept. Chapter 0 Executive Summary CHAPTER 0. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Division of the Environmental Services Agency (County) is seeking to improve its efforts to organize, prioritize, schedule, and efficiently implement vegetation management projects throughout the County Parks System. This document is intended to help San Mateo County Park staff in making informed decisions about future vegetation management priorities and actions. This report is not a plan of action, but simply a series of guidelines to help guide future decisions about vegetation management. In addition, this document is intended to provide user-friendly “how to” advice to park rangers, volunteers, and others to help select vegetation management actions that are more efficient and effective. The County Park staff will need to conduct the following actions in order to prioritize future projects and move forward to implementation: 1) Finalize the list of projects presented in Section 4.1 (update regularly as more projects are added). 2) Prioritize the list of Projects by numerically scoring, then comparing the projects using the methods and selection scoring criteria presented in Section 4.2 and 4.3. 3) Once the top priority projects are selected, seek funding, staff time, and volunteer support necessary to implement the projects. 4) Use the procedures presented in this report to guide implementation in order to ensure effectiveness and standardization of results. 5) Repeat project prioritization regularly, typically every year or 5 years and update the list of priority projects as needed. This report is organized as follows: • Chapter 1 Presents the Purpose and Need for the Document, and establishes overall goals and objectives for vegetation management in the San Mateo Parks system. It also details the participants and stakeholders who participated in the development of this document. • Chapter 2 Presents the Vegetation Management Context, including a description of parks users and user priorities; a review of what the current park vegetation management practices are; a description from park staff of what they believe are the issues and concerns; and a regulatory framework for park projects. • Chapter 3 Describes the Existing Conditions at each Park, including a general park overview of park resources (Rana 2002); a list of park-specific goals, policies, and management objectives (derived from a variety of existing planning documents); and a summary of current and ongoing activities (provided by oral interviews with park staff). • Chapter 4 Lists All Park Projects, including those that are planned, or underway, and provides a method for assessing, prioritizing, and ranking park projects. Page 1 Final Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management June 2006 San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Dept. Chapter 0 Executive Summary • Chapter 5 Provides Details on Vegetation Management Techniques, organized by subject matter, and ties the vegetation management actions back to the goals and objectives presented in Chapter 1. • Chapter 6 Describes Long-Term Maintenance Needs for the entire park system. • Chapter 7 Provides References, both written and personal communications, used in development of this document. These chapters are supported by information presented in the Appendices, including: • Appendix A. Technical “How To” Information on Vegetation Management Techniques; • Appendix B. Forms (provides reproducible standard forms for office and field use); • Appendix C. Informational Brochures and Handouts; • Appendix D. List of Helpful Resources to contact for more information; • Appendix E. Expanded Bibliography intended to expedite finding information in original source documents; and • Appendix F. Relevant Project Maps. Page 2 Final Decision-Making Guidelines for Vegetation Management June 2006 San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Dept. Chapter 1 Introduction CHAPTER