When the Hollywood hit movie, “The Russians are Coming” was filmed along the intact Haul Road in the 1960s, there were no tall dunes, said California State Parks Senior Environmental Scientist Renee Pasquinelli.
Pasquinelli tried to convince a skeptical Fort Bragg Grange packed house Monday night that removal of the Haul Road and invasive European beach grass would protect endangered species while shrinking dune sizes and slowing sand movement.
A key point of Pasquinelli”s presentation was that European beach grass has created much taller dunes and injured the environment over the past 30 years. The grass thrives when it is buried and then grows more and is buried again and the sand stacks up and up. She showed how this accounts for the vertical walls along the beach commonly seen in all of MacKerricher. These taller dunes get hit by wind and move more. And she said these unnatural walls serve as a barrier to western snowy plover, a protected bird that nests in the sand.
Locals provided memories of how the dunes moved and blew even more in the mid-20th century.
Pasquinelli provided a second key point to explain; claiming that sand at the ocean now has no connection to the sand sea on the other side of the logging road.
“Delusional!” a man shouted.
“Where does the sand in the big dunes come from then?” a woman said.
“Some of us would like to hear Renee,” another woman said.
“I concur,” said a third woman.
Despite doubts and shouts from the crowd, she cited scientific studies that found the sand no longer makes it off the beach into the dunes area.
Back in the early days, the area was more open. Now it is segmented into three separate areas. Sand does not now freely exchange between those areas, she explained.
Pasquinelli also claimed that spraying pesticides on European beach grass had slowed dune movement where the dune complex meets Highway 1.
Several members of the crowd strongly demurred.
“How many endangered species and native species did you kill while spraying to kill the beach grass?” said a woman.
The special meeting was called by State Parks to deal with a local uprising against removing 2.7 miles of remnants of the Haul Road between Ten Mile Bridge and Ward Avenue, plus two culverts. Portions of the Haul Road south of Ward Avenue are not part of the plans.
Although the project represents a significant change in direction for management of the dunes area, State Parks found no need for an environmental process with its required public meetings.
That made Monday”s meeting voluntary. That means comments from the Grange meeting won”t be part of the public record. For that, there is a comment process open through Aug. 31.
The $725,000 project includes removing invasive European beach grass, planting of native species and taking special steps to preserve three endangered/threatened species.
She said it was the most natural dune complex left in California. Southern California dunes have become contaminated and transformed by development and invasive species. There are no comparable dune complexes of any kind north of San Francisco, until Oregon.
“What”s so incredible is it is still relatively pristine,” she said.
State Parks claims that removing the road and beach grass would open up 250 acres of nesting habitat for the federally-listed western snowy plover and 60 acres of native dune vegetation, including portions that can support habitat for the federally listed Howell”s spineflower and Menzies” wallflower.
Pasquinelli said that spineflower is found nowhere else but the Inglenook dunes. She quoted scientific studies, aerial photos and even the use ground penetrating radar to back up her points.
Local residents came armed with longer memories, anecdotal observation and the State Parks General Plan document for the dunes area.
“The [European] beach grass dates back to 1916, a man said during the public comment portion.
“Incorrect,” said Pasquinelli. “Aerial photos do not show that.”
She said the European beach grass dates from the 1970s, when the park was acquired from the timber company.
The Haul Road at that time extended from Ten Mile Bridge to the trestle at Pudding Creek. Although Pasquinelli said State Parks stopped driving on the Haul Road when it took over, State Parks in fact allowed driving on the road into the early 1990s.
Pasquinelli offered scientific studies and aerial photos to show that sand had not advanced in recent years. But a neighbor got up and pointed to a road he said has been buried by sand movement in the past two years, with Pasquinelli seeming unfamiliar with that particular area on the ground.
State Parks” self-proclaimed negative declaration means the project has been found not to have significant impact on the environment. That may be enhanced by Parks backing off the use of pesticides due to local opposition, although she said the non-use of pesticides applied only to this location.
State Parks also determined its project would have no significant impact on public services or recreation, a finding which many audience members strongly disagreed with.
When Dave Paoli quoted from the general plan created by State Parks to manage the area that shows the Haul Road as vital to the operation and use of the park, Pasquinelli said the plan was outdated and thus did not apply to the current circumstances.
Although there was ample evidence that State Parks originally stated and planned the area and the road for recreation, as well as preservation, Pasquinelli was clear that the sole purpose of the area now is preservation.
“The area is classified as a natural preserve, management of that property is intended for endangered species [ahead of other uses],” she said.
Pasquinelli said there are studies that show the European Beach Grass can be defeated, not just beaten back with need for more spending in the future.
The Haul Road was originally a railroad to deliver logs from 10 Mile River to the mill at Fort Bragg. Later, it became a road for logging trucks direct into the Mill, avoiding town.
State Parks Negative Declaration states that the asphalt removal goes from Ward Avenue to Ten Mile Bridge. Pasquinelli said it actually starts a mile past Ward and does not extend to the bridge where the road is on private property.
Pasquinelli never lost her broad smile, even while shaking her head after catcalls and demanding that good manners be followed. Local superintendent Liz Burko and four other State Parks employees were on hand during the evening, along with about 100 people in the crowd. There seemed to be little or no support for State Parks plan in the crowd.
Public comments for the Dune Rehabilitation Project IS/MND, Inglenook Fen – Ten Mile Dunes Natural Preserve, MacKerricher State Park are due by Aug. 31.
Address to: Renee Pasquinelli, Senior Environmental Scientist , California State Parks Mendocino District, 12301 N. Highway 1 (Box 1) Mendocino, CA 95460; fax 937-2953 or email rpasquinelli@parks.ca.gov.
