The City of Fort Bragg has now lined up three grants to pay for repairs and restoration needed at Otis Johnson Wilderness Park.
Caltrans has announced signing of a cooperative agreement that will help the state transportation agency fulfill environmental mitigation required for construction of the new Ten Mile River Bridge.
Caltrans will provide $226,059 in funds the City of Fort Bragg will use to help with streambed restoration and stabilization, repair of crumbling retaining walls, invasive plant removal, and replacement of a footbridge.
The Prop 50 California River Parkways Grant Program funded the Otis Johnson Wilderness Park Enhancement project in 2008 but funds were frozen due to the state budget calamity. The amount granted was $178,238, money which will be available to the city now that the budget has passed. That amount may go down because some of the elements of the project are now expected to be funded by Caltrans, city officials said.
Also, the Salmon Restoration Association has granted $5,000 for a program run by Jughandle Creek Farm”s Helene Chalfin in which Fort Bragg middle and high school students do restoration work while learning about the watershed.
Otis Johnson Park is a 7-acre wilderness with entrances located off Cedar Street and at the end of Laurel Street.
The two state grants will be used together to fund different aspects of work, such as replacing 35-year-old retaining walls that protect trails, which have begun to fail.
To make the money go as far as possible, the city is using inmates from Parlin Fork Conservation Camp to perform heavy labor. Recently, the inmates removed invasive blackberries that had populated an entire hillside, towering 20 feet high and climbing into trees. The crews also removed large amounts of English Ivy, the park”s worst invasive species. Native plants will be planted where the aliens were removed. Inmates will be paid for different tasks out of the two state grants.
The city is operating on the original mandate that the park be kept wild and in its natural state and not be developed. Neighbors too, have weighed in when the city has held meetings, to say they don”t want any development or big changes.
The grants will allow a giant redwood tree located at the bottom of wooden stairs in the park to be saved, while replacing an undersized culvert that has undermined the behemoth. Boulders and woody debris will be used to stabilize streams. Removal of invasive plants will include restoring native plants on three acres of riparian land (along the stream bank), and providing supplemental summer watering, if necessary, during the three-year establishment period.
The restoration work will continue through 2011.
The park was purchased in 1970 after the widow of Otis Johnson (from the founding Johnson lumber family) gave $44,850 in Boise Cascade Company stock. The gift came with the caveat that the park was to be enjoyed in its natural state.
(Frank Hartzell is also a caretaker of Otis Johnson Wilderness Park for the city.)
