Monterey County Parks & Recreation Digest

Sand City is seeking to acquire property adjacent to Art Park as part of that space's visioning plan.

The $15M Big Sur Land Trust project to build a six-acre park at Carr Lake in the center of Salinas has begun.

The Highway 68 Coalition suit against the County of Monterey over operation of the Laguna Seca Raceway has been settled.

In “a really big win for Seaside,” the city was awarded a $1.6 million recreational trails grant from the Federal Highway Administration's Recreation Trails grant program through California State Parks.

The Pacific Grove City Council will hear the costs of building a temporary skatepark at the City Hall parking lot during the next council meeting.

California State Parks has recommended $6.7 million for seven local nonmotorized trail projects in various cities, including Galt and Gilroy.

Disneyland’s plan to reimagine the theme park into a more “immersive” experience may require up to $2.5 billion and a plan to privatize some Anaheim streets.

Richmond Ranch in south San Jose may be preserved as open space if multiple government entities succeed in a quest to buy its thousands of acres, public documents show.

California’s projected budget deficit of close to $38 billion likely means some cuts are coming. Among them, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed ending the California State Park Adventure Pass, which offers free access to some state parks for fourth graders.

An estimated 100,000 pizza boxes have been removed from Yosemite’s waste stream. This is because the famed park now serves pizza on trays and puts to-go portions in compostable bags, part of a move to reduce food-related waste.

Utility giant PG&E is set to raise its rates an average of 13% on Jan. 1. That equals an extra $32.50 a month, or $390 for the year.

After its acquisition of the 5,105-acre Basin Ranch, the Big Sur Land Trust is in pre-planning stages for its first co-management agreement with the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County.
The acquisition creates a new nature preserve that will protect a critical wildlife corridor for a variety of vulnerable species.

State and local leaders gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate a new plan that will increase access to the outdoors for all Californians, regardless of who they are or where they live.

A pilot program that allows Californians to visit many state parks for free—after checking out a pass from their local library—is helping increase access for more people of color and lower-income residents, according to research from the California State Parks Foundation.

A beachside trail connecting the communities of Morro Bay and Cayucos could finally be built after 20 years. This happened after Chevron decided to sell land needed for the trail to be built.

Two theme park giants, Six Flags and Cedar Fair, announced they are merging. It could have potential impacts on California theme parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

Camille Dixon, the announcer for Disney California Adventure, and her husband, Bill Rogers, the voice of Disneyland, are moving on from this work. They have been at the parks for more than 40 years combined.

Through this new program, artists, culture bearers, and California Native American tribes will be eligible to receive funding to create artwork throughout state and local parks.

The Biden administration is one step away from designating the first national marine sanctuary nominated by a tribe. Tribal members of the Chumash, who have lobbied for the creation of this Central Coast preserve for more than a decade, would be involved in managing it.

Some 7,000 square miles of ocean on California’s Central Coast could soon become the largest national marine sanctuary in the continental U.S. It could also make history as one of the first federal sanctuaries to be spearheaded by a Native American tribe.

A corridor was created to help prevent the advancement of a blaze in the event of a wildfire into the neighboring property or across the trail.

Access to the coast for underserved communities has become a greater focus for the state's Coastal Commission, which has used its regulatory and funding options to help support efforts.

California lawmakers passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, permanently protecting the iconic and imperiled species.

The Seaside City Council at its meeting last week approved the Laguna Grande Regional Park Trail and Vegetation Strategy Project.

Mike Markkula, who bought Rana Creek Ranch 40 years ago, is selling the property to the Wildlands Conservancy. The 14,100-acre ranch will become a new public preserve and cultural site.

A stunning property once owned by rock singer Chris Isaak moved a big step closer to becoming a new public park—the first of its kind in more than 50 years—when the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve an $11.6 million construction contract to build amenities at Tunitas Creek Beach.

Access to popular spots on the southern Big Sur coast will be restored next week when Caltrans reopens a key stretch of Highway 1, just in time for Memorial Day holiday weekend travel.

“This is one of the biggest processed-based restoration projects in the state of California and will be the most significant restoration effort in the Park District's history,” said Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District Planning and Conservation Division Manager Jake Smith.

“That was so impressive tonight and to stifle that energy would be a real bummer, so I realize there's a process and I see the other side of it,” said Councilman Steve McShane. “I’ve been talked to by city staff on this subject, but we can't squash that energy, we really can’t. It would be a huge mistake.”

The first phase portion of the FORTAG trail that passes through Del Rey Oaks will be a new 1.5-mile segment.

In the largest land conservation act of his presidency so far, President Biden has established a new national monument in the Mojave Desert, protecting an area sacred to Native American tribes.

JLL will prepare a dozen regional strategic plans to help the state marketing organization promote smart, sustainable tourism over the next decade.