Bay Nature Magazine
March 22, 2023 Julia Busiek The steep topography and unusual concentration of perennial streams contribute to the impressive biodiversity of Cotoni-Coast Dairies. Redwood and Douglas fir forests grow on the property’s steep upper slopes, giving way to stands of coast live oak, coastal scrub, and a mix of native and introduced grassland species on the mellow, sunny terraces that step down toward the coast. Red alders and arroyo willows shade the streams, which harbor critical habitat for steelhead trout and coho salmon. Mountain lions, black-tailed mule deer, bobcats, gray foxes, and badgers are among the bigger mammals found on the land. Hermit thrushes and Wilson’s warblers hang out along the streams, and red-tailed hawks, northern harriers, and great horned owls hunt in the forests and grasslands. At least superficially, locals and the BLM are aligned on the land’s ecological significance. But when it comes to the details of balancing preservation, parking, and traffic, the agency and a host of local groups have struggled to agree. The watchdog group Friends of the North Coast was “not excited” about the prospect of Cotoni-Coast Dairies becoming a national monument in the first place, says the group’s president, Jonathan Wittwer. They believed that the protections placed on the property when TPL transferred the land to the BLM in 2014—which barred mining, logging, and motor vehicles—were plenty strong. And they were skeptical of promises of federal funding to help local first responders handle any incidents that might ensue from an estimated 300,000 annual monument visitors. Wittwer’s group pushed for conditions written into the monument designation that would guarantee such funding, “but those conditions have never been honored,” he says. Aside from headaches for residents of Davenport and Bonny Doon, Wittwer worries how the anticipated influx of people could affect wildlife, including the mountain lions that currently roam the land. His concerns on that score are shared by Chris Wilmers, the cougar expert who leads the Santa Cruz Puma Project, a partnership between UCSC and CDFW. The BLM’s plan situated the southern parking lot in an area that Wilmers has pointed out would indirectly interfere with mountain lion habitat. Ultimately the agency had to abandon its plans for the southern entrance when it lost permission to build through a private property adjacent to the lot. “We will still have trails and visitation on the southern portion of the property, but we’re still navigating this sticking point,” Murphy acknowledges. He says visitor access to the southern part of the monument might not come until 2026 or later. The fate of the northern parking lot, meanwhile, is pending a second pass at the environmental review process. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Interior Board of Land Appeals found deficiencies in the BLM’s first review, and neighbors have raised concerns over whether the proposed lot location threatens habitat for monarch butterflies and creates a traffic hazard. A decision might come this summer, but Murphy says it’s unlikely the BLM could build the lot before next winter’s rainstorms shut down construction season. It’s slim odds that any part of Cotoni-Coast Dairies will open before summer 2024. Click HERE to read the full article. |
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