® General Plan Revision Preliminary General Plan April 2015 ® General Plan Revision Preliminary General Plan Prepared for: California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division Edmund G. Brown, Jr. Governor John Laird Secretary, The Natural Resources Agency Lisa Mangat Acting Director, California State Parks P.O. Box 942896 Sacramento, CA 94296-0001 April 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page ACRONYMS AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ iv CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.1 Local and Regional Context ............................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Purpose of Acquisition ..................................................................................................... 1-1 1.3 Sense of Place .................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.4 Site Characteristics ........................................................................................................... 1-3 1.5 Purpose of the General Plan ............................................................................................. 1-3 1.6 Organization of the General Plan ..................................................................................... 1-4 1.7 Subsequent Planning ........................................................................................................ 1-4 1.8 The Planning Process ....................................................................................................... 1-8 1.8.1 Overview of the Planning Process ....................................................................... 1-8 1.8.2 Planning Framework ............................................................................................ 1-8 1.8.3 Interagency and Stakeholder Involvement ......................................................... 1-11 CHAPTER 2 – EXISTING CONDITIONS ..................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Regional Land Use and Facilities ......................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Regional and Surrounding Land Use ....................................................................... 2-1 2.1.2 Regional Recreation Facilities .................................................................................. 2-2 2.2 Existing Carnegie SVRA Land Use and Facilities .......................................................... 2-7 2.2.1 Land Use ................................................................................................................... 2-7 2.2.2 Circulation and Access ............................................................................................. 2-7 2.2.3 Facilities ............................................................................................................... 2-8 2.3 Significant Resource Values .......................................................................................... 2-14 2.3.1 Physical Resources .................................................................................................. 2-14 2.3.2 Biotic Resources ..................................................................................................... 2-63 2.3.3 Cultural Resources .................................................................................................. 2-96 2.3.4 Aesthetic Resources .............................................................................................. 2-104 2.3.5 Sound ..................................................................................................................... 2-110 2.4 Operations and Maintenance ............................................................................................. 2-112 2.4.1 Facility Management ............................................................................................ 2-112 2.4.2 Public Safety ......................................................................................................... 2-115 2.5 Interpretation and Education ............................................................................................. 2-117 2.5.1 Existing Interpretation and Education .................................................................. 2-117 2.5.2 Local, Regional, and Statewide Context .............................................................. 2-119 2.5.3 Support for Interpretation and Education ............................................................. 2-120 2.5.4 Interpretation Issues, Opportunities, and Constraints .......................................... 2-120 Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area General Plan Revision Table of Contents i 2.6 Park Support ...................................................................................................................... 2-120 2.6.1 Volunteers ............................................................................................................. 2-120 2.6.2 Cooperating Associations and Supporting Groups .............................................. 2-121 2.7 Planning Influences ........................................................................................................... 2-121 2.7.1 Systemwide Planning ............................................................................................ 2-121 2.7.2 Regional Planning ................................................................................................. 2-128 2.7.3 Regulatory Influences ........................................................................................... 2-130 2.7.4 Trends and Projections .......................................................................................... 2-174 2.7.5 Future Opportunities ............................................................................................. 2-178 CHAPTER 3 – ISSUES AND ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3-1 3.2 Planning Assumptions ........................................................................................................... 3-1 3.3 Issues and Analysis ................................................................................................................ 3-2 3.3.1 Regional Planning Context ....................................................................................... 3-2 3.3.2 SVRA-wide Issues .................................................................................................... 3-2 CHAPTER 4 – THE PLAN ................................................................................................................................ 4-1 4.1 Purpose and Vision ................................................................................................................ 4-1 4.1.1 Declaration of Purpose .............................................................................................. 4-1 4.1.2 SVRA Vision ............................................................................................................ 4-1 4.2 Unit Classification ................................................................................................................. 4-2 4.3 Land Use Management .......................................................................................................... 4-2 4.3.1 Proposed Land Use and Facilities ............................................................................ 4-2 4.3.2 Visitor Experience Areas .......................................................................................... 4-6 4.4 Goals and Guidelines ............................................................................................................. 4-9 4.4.1 Parkwide Goals and Guidelines ................................................................................ 4-9 4.4.2 Use Area Goals and Guidelines .............................................................................. 4-37 4.4.3 Continued Planning and Issue Resolution .............................................................. 4-37 4.5 Managing Visitor Capacity ................................................................................................. 4-38 4.5.1 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 4-38 4.5.2 Visitor Management (VM) Goal and Guidelines ................................................... 4-39 CHAPTER 5 – REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Chapter 1, “Introduction” ...................................................................................................... 5-1 5.2 Chapter 2, “Existing Conditions” .......................................................................................... 5-1 5.3 Chapter 3, “Issues and Analysis” ........................................................................................ 5-14 5.4 Chapter 4, “The Plan” ......................................................................................................... 5-14 Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area General Plan Revision