Mad River Bluffs Background Description and Management Plan Prepared for the McKinleyville Land Trust by Sabra Steinberg with funding provided by the California Coastal Conservancy November 2003 Mad River Bluffs Management Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements……………………………………………… iv List of Figures…………………………………………………… vi Introduction……………………………………………………… 1 PART 1: BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION Location & Climate……………………………………………… 3 Geology………………………………………………………….. 5 Geology and Soils……………………………………….. 5 Groundwater and Drainage……………………………… 5 Erosion and Geological Stability………………………… 6 Seismic Issues…………………………………………… 8 Historical Conditions……………………………………………. 8 Habitats and Vegetation…………………………………………. 12 Beach Pine/Spruce Forest……………………………….. 12 Coastal Grassland/Shrub………………………………… 19 Coastal Bluffs……………………………………………. 20 Riverbank………………………………………………... 20 Beach and Dunes………………………………………… 20 Mad River Estuary………………………………………. 21 Wetlands………………………………………………… 24 Fish and Wildlife………………………………………………… 26 Aquatic Life……………………………………………… 26 Terrestrial Wildlife………………………………………. 29 Historical Use……………………………………………………. 32 Wiyots…………………………………………………… 32 Ownership and Land Use since 1850……………………. 34 Current Use Patterns…………………………………………….. 42 PART 2: MANAGEMENT PLAN Management Goals and Objectives……………………………… 45 Executive Summary ……………………………………………... 45 Regulatory Environment…………………………………………. 52 Public Input………………………………………………………. 56 Public Access…………………………………………………….. 59 Open Hours………………………………………………. 59 Vehicular Access and Parking…………………………… 59 Pedestrian Access………………………………………... 60 Bicycle Access…………………………………………… 60 Handicap Accessibility…………………………………... 61 Dogs……………………………………………………… 62 Equestrian Use…………………………………………… 66 Organization/Agency Use……………………………….. 68 ii Mad River Bluffs Management Plan Facilities………………………………………………………… 69 Trail System…………………………………………….. 69 Overview of Planned Trail System……………... 69 Blufftop Trails………………………………….. 72 Vertical Access Routes…………………………. 73 Recommendations………………………………. 76 Scenic Overlooks & Benches…………………………… 80 Picnic Area ……………………………………………... 83 Dogi-pot Stations……………………………………….. 84 Other Facilities………………………………………….. 85 Facility Monitoring and Maintenance…………………... 85 Public Education & Outreach…………………………………… 87 Signage………………………………………………….. 87 Types and Locations for Signs………………….. 88 Design/Format…………………………………... 89 Sign Content…………………………………….. 90 Educational & Interpretive Displays……………………. 91 Educational/Community Events………………………… 93 Volunteer Activities to Support MRB…………………... 95 Cooperative Research Opportunities……………………. 96 Resource Restoration & Protection……………………………... 98 Invasive Weeds………………………………………….. 98 Control/Removal of Invasive Weeds……………. 99 Targeting Invasive Plant Hot Spots at MRB…….. 101 Invasive Weeds: Descriptions & Specific Controls 104 Additional Concerns—The Watch List………….. 110 Calendar of Weed Control Activities……………. 112 Managing Beach Pine/Spruce Forest…………………….. 113 Prairie Restoration……………………………………….. 114 Erosion Control & Water Quality Protection……………. 115 Limitations to Access……………………………………. 115 Cooperative Management with MCSD………………….. 116 Safety…………………………………………………………….. 117 Patrols & Enforcement…………………………………... 117 Tree Safety Program……………………………………... 118 References………………………………………………………... 121 Appendices……………………………………………………….. 131 A. Flora of Mad River Bluffs…………………………….. 131 B. Preliminary Mushroom List for Mad River Bluffs……. 137 C. Wildlife and Fish of Mad River Bluffs………………... 138 D. Bird List for Mad River Bluffs………………………... 140 E. Cost Estimates for Northern Bluff Trail Work………… 143 F. Correspondence………………………………………... 145 G. Application for Coastal Development Permit iii Mad River Bluffs Management Plan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The list of individuals and agencies I need to thank is long. There really is a community of helpful people interested in this stunning slice of the California coastline. First, I must thank Sheila Seamans and The Coastal Conservancy, without whom this property would not now be protected and available to the public for recreational opportunities. I thank them also for providing the grant that funded development of this management plan. And next, I thank McKinleyville Land Trust (MLT) for giving me this opportunity to work again on this property. Almost ten years ago, as then-President of the land trust, I began work on a project to acquire this property, then known as Hiller West. Though others continued and then finished that project when my time on the board was over, I now get a unique sense of closure, making recommendations for the management of Mad River Bluffs. I would also like to thank the MLT board members for their support throughout this process and their help at the public meeting (plus a personal thank you to Gina Rimson, MLT treasurer and check writer). Special thanks go to Johnny Caulkins and Steve Fisher (and their respective agencies, the California Conservation Corps and the California Dept. of Parks and Recreation) for their willingness to help and their expert guidance on trail issues. They visited the bluff trail sites and provided information and estimates for materials and costs for various trail options under consideration in this plan. I also want to thank Mike Sparkman at California Dept. of Fish and Game (CDFG) for providing information and insight on the lower Mad River and estuary. I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to Traci Ferdolage, Director of Recreation at McKinleyville Community Services District (MCSD), and to Tom Marking, Manager of MCSD for their willingness to coordinate and cooperate on recreation issues involving MLT’s and MCSD’s adjoining properties. I also appreciate their helpfulness in sharing documents and information on grants, volunteer groups, and various sign and park-related possibilities. Tom also attended and participated in our public meeting, which was very helpful. I would like to thank the folks at Humboldt County Historical Society, especially Matina Kilkenny and Katherine Mace. When I was doing historical research, they were so friendly and helpful in assisting me find historical “bits and pieces” that might be useful. The Historical Society office is a truly wonderful repository of community history, and I appreciate being given access to its resources. I also want to thank Joan Berman, head of special collections at HSU Library, for her help searching out references there--this isn’t the first project she has helped me with, and probably won’t be the last! A special thanks goes to Alan Compher for providing a wealth of additional information about the property and its history. And I want to thank Steve Moser for letting me use his copy of the Sand Pointe EIR, which saved me from another excruciating visit to the County Offices in Eureka. I also want to thank someone I have never met, Stephen Outlaw, who is an Information Specialist with Land Trust Alliance. My request to Land Trust Alliance (LTA) for information on public access liability issues was routed to him, and he sent me a series of articles from LTA publications and email strings from the Land Trust Listserve. iv Mad River Bluffs Management Plan I want to thank Dennis Halligan and Natural Resources Management Corporation (NRM) for providing recent air photos, for help with the neighborhood address list, and use of GPS units for trail mapping. I would also like to thank Mike O’Hern for his assistance on boundary questions. I thank John Moseman, working for MLT under Americorps, for his assistance at the public meeting, for help collecting visitor-use data, and his work with Cedar Academy students. Thanks go to the Cedar Academy students for producing a large-scale aerial photo for use at the public meeting. A most grateful thank-you goes to HSU students Theresa Wong and Jeremy Hunter for ground work and initial GIS mapping of most of the trails, and for reconciling the air photo map with the GIS trail map, respectively. A big heartfelt thanks also goes to Jeff Dunk, HSU faculty (and my husband), for his work with these students, adding the final trail segments to the maps, producing the final maps, wrestling graphics into the document, and companionship on many site visits. (He also deserves thanks for making dinner for our family every night for several months while I was being consumed by this project). I am grateful to Jen Kalt of California Native Plant Society (CNPS) for her help with the plant list, and to Andrea Pickart, also of CNPS, for review comments on the plan. I want to thank Shayne Greene who made time for a site visit, shared his expertise on beach pines, and provided insight into current and potential future conditions of the forest at Mad River Bluffs. I also thank Dr. William Wood for his contribution of a list of the mushrooms he has found in the Mad River Bluffs area, to Linda Doerflinger and Ron LeValley for the bird list for the vicinity of MRB, and to Greg Goldsmith and Bradford Norman for information on aquatic life in the estuary. I also thank Darci Short for providing information on several park-related issues. I am grateful to the following reviewers for their helpful comments: Dennis Halligan, Kristin Schmidt, Andrea Pickart, Sheila Seamens, and Jeff Dunk. I would also like to thank all the citizens who took time from their busy lives to participate in a public meeting to discuss options and concerns about Mad River Bluffs. And finally, I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to Dorothy Blade, to Alan Compher and his neighbors, and to the many others in the community who worked for so long to keep this