MCC Meeting w Coastal Parks Agencies

I attended the MCC meeting on Tuesday the 22nd.
http://www.midcoastcommunitycouncil.org

The evening started at 7pm w MCC chair Lisa Ketchum ably calling the mtng to order.
1st introduced x Lisa was the recently appointed SMCo Sheriff John Muncie.
Among the topics Sheriff Muncie went over was the area that he and his staff cover, which was from Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County line near Waddell Creek vicinity and East to Santa Clara,WOW,that's a a lot of ground!

New SMCo Parks director Marlene Finley was next up.
Ms Finley was enthusiastic in her going over of the recently re-established stand alone SMCo Parks division.
She touched lightly on some of the new coastal  parks(Pillar Point Bluffs,Devils Slide Rec Area)
One of the points she brought up was that all these new Parks have entirely multi use trails, available for Dog Walkers,Bicyclists,Equestrians and Hikers.
This is a new trend for SMCo Parks, as all the Peninsula side trails are bound by a no dogs and no bikes policy.

I like this new multi use trails direction begun by SMCo Parks on the coastal lands.

Next up was Christine Carey from the NPS.
Ms Carey went over the progress thet NPS staff have made opening-reconstructing trails within the San Mateo Coastside.
Mori Point trails were showcased as the level of commitment the Parks staff has in improving habitat for critters and outdoor recreational experience for us bipeds.
Parks staff have spent hundreds of hours clearing brush and creating water bars on all the trails just south of us Pacificans within the Rancho Corral de Tierra.
Staff continues to work on fencing,fire brush control and studying habitat and critter habits for a full picture on the biodiversity on this 4000+acre Park.
All these activities combined have,imo, really improved the outdoor experience and connectivity of remote and NPS governed trails close to hwy 1 .

State Parks staff was up next, I neglected to write down the speakers name.(anyone please chime in here?)
She went over some of the ongoing issues that SP staff engages in on a daily basis.
She also handed out a map that showed the upcoming modifications to the parking area at Montara State Beach.
Basically the map showed the expanded footprint  of the existing parking area on the west side of hwy 1 x Martini Creek.
Many questions were fielded during each presentation.
Topics like Improving Dog  walking opportunities, Granada water-sanitary district changes, increasing multi use trails  that connect open spaces that are governed by different ,but similar,governing agencies such as the ones represented at the mtng.
The Cali Coastal trail solicited some vigorous discussion on the progress and location of this trail as it unfolds.
The mtng was adjourned at 9 pm.

Personal chime in(rant) here:
At some future mtng, I would appreciate having an SFPUC rep speak and take questions at one of these shindigs.
The SFPUC(Crystal Springs watershed) lands abut every one of the agencies represented at the mtng, yet the 40,000 acres governed by SFPUC,the largest slice of undeveloped lands in SMCo, is off limits to all.
Even the westward facing slopes(which pose 0 threat in potentially contaminating the Crystal Springs reservoir) are off limits.
These westward draining slopes have existing fireroads that lace an inland connection between every one of the Parks agencies represented at the Jan 22nd mtng.
Rant off,

Anyone else who attended, please feel free to add to my extremely condensed followup .
Thanx,
Jim