More Trail Along Humboldt Bay
The Coastal Conservancy approved $76,500 to the Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) toward the construction of 2.25 miles of multi-use trail at Humboldt Bay. The new segment will extend the evolving Hammond Trail to a total of about six miles between the Mad River bridge and Clam Beach County Park by linking already-completed trail segments.
The total cost of the new trail segment is estimated at $211,875. Joining with the Conservancy and the RCAA in this project are Caltrans, Humboldt County, the McKinleyville Community Services District, and the California Conservation Corps. The RCAA will also assume responsibility for trail maintenance.
The Hammond Trail is expected to stretch to about 10 miles, eventually linking Trinidad and Eureka. It follows part of the route of the former Hammond Railroad, which extended from Fortuna to Trinidad. It is also part of the California Coastal Trail.
The newly funded trail segment will run through Clam Beach County Park west of Highway 101, separated from the road by a vegetated buffer. Hikers and joggers will use the ten-foot-wide crushed-granite pathway, while equestrians will be accommodated on a graded but unsurfaced shoulder. All trail users will be able to enjoy views to Trinidad Head and the entire Mad River estuary.

Monterey Will Get a Grand Hostel
One of Monterey's last grand Victorian houses will be renovated to become the city's first year-round hostel later this year. The Coastal Conservancy approved $120,000 for the project in March, to be combined with $136,000 from the City and $60,000 from American Youth Hostels. The Lou Ellen Parmelee House, now property of the City of Monterey, is within walking distance of the city's major visitor attractions and of public transportation, grocery stores, and restaurants.
"Monterey is a popular tourist destination, but the cost of most lodging in the area deters many visitors," said Coastal Conservancy chairman Penny Allen. "The new hostel will provide visitors from around the world with low-cost accommodations."
The Monterey Parmelee House Hostel will have the capacity for 30 overnight guests and will, in addition, provide space to nonprofit organizations for meetings and events. The house was built in 1896, subdivided into apartments in 1962, and has stood boarded up and vacant for the past five years. The project has received widespread neighborhood support.

Tijuana Estuary Connector Channel
Construction on the Tijuana Estuary Connector Channel is near completion. The channel, just south of the Tijuana Estuary Research Reserve visitor center, will improve tidal flow in some 200 acres of marsh. The Coastal Conservancy's partners in this project are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association.

"Living River" Flood Control for Napa
Since 1862, the City of Napa and its surrounding valley region have experienced 28 floods. In 1986, a flood caused $100 million in damages, destroyed 250 homes, and led to three deaths. Congress has repeatedly authorized studies and designs for flood control improvements, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed projects, but all attempts to address the problem have foundered in disputes about expense, design, and environmental impacts. In 1995 federal and state resource agencies reviewed the most recent Corps plan, which calls for deepening and channelizing the river, and gave notice of significant regulatory hurdles ahead.
In response to this impasse, the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District in 1995 organized the Napa River Community Coalition, which has devised a strategy designed to provide flood protection while maintaining a "living river." It drew up a plan with the cooperation of the Corps. A key component of the design is to let the river spread into its floodplain at selected natural sites, instead of speeding its flow by channelizing it. This plan has become a national model for restoration-based flood control project design.
At its March 27 meeting, the Coastal Conservancy moved the Coalition plan forward by approving $50,000 to Napa County to assist in the preparation of an enhancement plan for 605 acres on both sides of the river and from the Highway 12 crossing to just north of Imola Bridge. The County will use the Conservancy funds together with $10,000 of its own monies in this project.
Implementation of the Coalition's plan will require the purchase of land, easements, and rights-of-way; reconnection of the river to its historic floodplain; restoration of a geomorphically stable river channel; and environmentally sensitive stream bank treatment in the urban reaches of the City of Napa. Although no acquisition funds are now available, the governor had proposed that $2 million be allocated to the Conservancy in the state's 1997/98 budget for such purchases and related improvements along the Napa River.
Napa River supports a wide array of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, and over a dozen unique and sensitive plant species. Twenty-five species of fish are known to inhabit the Napa River, including a remnant steelhead and salmon population and two other species of special concern. Some fishery specialists are confident that the previously recommended Corps channelization project for the Napa River would have destroyed remaining habitat for these and other species. The revised plan will avoid those impacts and will be significant as an example of how to design an environmentally sensitive flood management project.

Fitzgerald Reserve to Get Help
The Coastal Conservancy has agreed to grant $20,000 to San Mateo County toward preparing a plan for environmental and visitor-serving improvements at the James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. The plan will be designed to ensure that people can continue to visit and learn about the rich habitats here, without damaging what they come to see.
Each year some 135,000 people, including crowds of schoolchildren, come to observe life in the tidepools, along the rocky shores, and in the wetlands of this 440-acre marine reserve, located just north of Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County. The wetlands are a critical stopover for migratory ducks, geese, shorebirds, and songbirds, although they have been degraded by adjacent development and by a road cut.
The County's enhancement plan will allow for continued public use and interpretation while protecting and restoring sensitive resources. After the plan is completed, its partners will work together to secure funds to implement it. This project is a priority for the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture.

Safer RR Crossing at Surf Beach
With the help of $80,000 from the Conservancy, the County of Santa Barbara will improve a popular but dangerous route to Surf Beach, near Lompoc.
People have been using the unpaved parking area at the end of Ocean Avenue and crossing four sets of railroad tracks to get to this beach. There have been several accidents, and a young child was killed. When the railroad company tried to close the area by fencing off the tracks, the Coastal Commission issued a cease and desist order, arguing that "the site . . . is one of only two points of readily available public access within the entire 35-mile stretch of coastline owned by Vandenberg Air Force Base." There is no access through the privately owned Hollister Ranch, Bixby Ranch, or at Cojo to the south or Point Sal to the north; some 60 miles of coastline lack formal public access.
The County, in conjunction with Amtrak, is building an unstaffed passenger rail station at this location, so the number of people crossing the tracks is expected to rise. The parking lot will be paved, and lighting will be installed. The County will install a restroom facility within the parking lot, and pay for a ramped pedestrian crossing and a warning signal. This will result in much safer access to Surf Beach. The project is expected to be finished within a year.

Mugu Lagoon Watershed Plan
Mugu Lagoon is one of the highest-quality wetlands remaining in southern California, and supports the greatest concentration of water-associated birds between Morro Bay and Anaheim-Bolsa Bay. It is, however, slowly disappearing. Unless the flow of sediment into this 1,474-acre lagoon is diminished, it is expected to fill in within 50 years. It has already shrunk to half its former size as a result of conversion to farmland and the construction of the Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station.
The Conservancy approved the Calleguas Creek/Mugu Lagoon Watershed Enhancement Plan and authorized $305,600 for erosion control and environmental improvements on the creek near Camarillo. The funding goes to the Ventura County Resource Conservation District (RCD), which will stabilize stream banks along a tributary that flows into Calleguas Creek through Grimes Canyon. The RCD will revegetate the banks and use innovative biological techniques, expecting to create a model for further erosion control efforts in the 325-square-mile creek watershed. The Conservancy's funds will be used together with $182,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and landowner contributions. All the farmers along the Grimes Canyon tributary have agreed to join in contributing labor and materials to match the Coastal Conservancy and EPA grants.
The Coastal Conservancy earlier funded the preparation of this watershed plan, in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which provided most of the technical expertise. The plan concentrates on erosion and sedimentation issues and the problems caused to farms and habitat in the rural subwatersheds. The worst sediment production areas are identified and prioritized. The plan identifies a series of public works projects and private initiatives which, if fully implemented, would reduce sedimentation by 62 percent.

Penny Allen's New Challenges
Penny Allen, who served as chairwoman of the Coastal Conservancy, has resigned to assume new responsibilities on the California Coastal Commission. She was appointed to the Commission on March 24 by Governor Pete Wilson and replaces William Rick, an engineer from San Diego.
Allen, 49, of Chula Vista, San Diego County, enjoys high regard for her understanding of coastal issues. "She is a bridge builder and consensus maker who has worked on hundreds of public access and environmental restoration projects along the California coast," noted Warner Chabot, Pacific Region director for the Center for Marine Conservation. She is the owner of Allen & Company, which assists both public- and private-sector clients to develop and implement long-range strategic and community relations plans. Her community service experience is extensive. She will be the president of the Downtown San Diego Rotary Club in 1998/99, serves as past chair on the South Bay Family YMCA board of directors, served as chairwoman of the Chula Vista Economic Development Commission, the YMCA of San Diego County Board of Governors, and the the Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Trustees.

Coastal Zone 97
Coastal Zone 97, the 10th biennial conference on coastal and ocean management, will be held July 20-26, in Boston, MA. CZ97 provides a forum to examine complex, multidisciplinary problems facing the world's coastal zones. In keeping with the permanent conference theme, "Spotlights on Solutions," the conference will seek to identify and resolve such problems. For information, contact Martin C. Miller, USAE Waterways Experiment Station, Attn: CEWES-CR-O, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180.