Led first by our founding Chair, the late Julie Fisher, and then by her husband Ken Wells, CORP has developed into a strong coalition, a force to be reckoned with in the Sonoma County political landscape. Thanks in large part to their leadership, we have become the pre-eminent voice for trails, natural parklands, and public access to open space in our county. Upon assuming the chair, I would like to share my perspective and thoughts on CORP's role, and on the challenges and opportunities we face going forward. My motivations in choosing this particular civic activity are straightforward. I grew up in neighboring Marin County where the natural outdoors were always close by and accessible. Nearby nature was a tremendously valuable formative influence for me and my contemporaries. Simply put, I want current and future generations in Sonoma County, and young people in particular, to have the same opportunites to learn to know, love, and protect nature that I enjoyed in my youth. In my mind, such intimacy between people and nature is more than just a "quality-of-life" amenity. It is essential for the health of both our environment and our people, individually and as a society. For the health of individuals Trail-oriented recreational activities are uniquely valuable in terms of public health. On the one hand, studies consistently show walking and hiking, in particular, as our most popular form of exercise. (See, for example, the excellent nationwide survey documented at http://www.fs.fed.us/research/rvur/recreation/publications/outdoor_recreation/title.htm ) This popularity spans all ages, income levels, and ethnicities, with only minor variations. At the same time, medical science points to these same activities as the most beneficial forms of exercise for most people. At a more subjective level, everyone who has experienced nature first hand, at a slower speed than that of motorized travel, knows the feeling of decompression, realignment, and tranquility that can result. I'm not aware of any empirical studies, but most of us feel intuitively that nature itself (even aside from the exercise component) reduces the stress of modern life, and contributes to emotional health and well-being. For the health of society As with individuals, so with societies. There is ample evidence that communities benefit directly from nearby, accessible nature. For the economic angle, see the excellent report by the Trust for Public Land called "The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space" ( http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content_item_id=1145&folder_id=727 ) Less tangibly, in town after town we see something exciting happen as people come together to defend and extend their public spaces, their commons. We don't have to live in a society where everything is privatized, surrounded by locked gates and ostentatious displays. We can preserve the places we treasure most as shared, public lands. And in working together to enjoy and care for our natural surroundings and public spaces, we also learn to enjoy and care for one another. For the health of the environment The goals of trail-oriented outdoor recreation and those of environmental preservation coincide mightily. True, there are times when trails through areas of non-natural land use make sense -- through agricultural lands, given willing landowners, for example. Conversely, there are times when extreme habitat sensitivity justifies a very limited human presence. But for the most part, people want and need to walk and ride in nature, and nature can benefit from being dedicated to that use, both directly and indirectly. Nature benefits directly in the sense that low-impact, trail-oriented recreation is far preferable to alternative land uses, especially in populous areas. Public wildland parks, together with private lands protected by public "forever wild" and trail easements, preserve watershed, habitat, and wildlife corridors, particularly when such lands are extensive and contiguous and when they are planned and managed with such natural resource values in mind. In Sonoma County lately, we have been hearing that we shouldn't oppose rampant vineyard expansion because the only alternative is subdivisions. This is not true. For many of the wildland ridges and hillsides in question, the third and vastly preferable option is preservation as natural parkland, on a grand scale. Several other area counties are finding a way to achieve this, and we can too. Nature also benefits indirectly by nurturing a constituency of stewards. Both locally and globally, the natural world is far too imperiled to survive by merely walling off its remaining vestiges. Nature's only chance, and ours, lies in motivating and inspiring environmental stewards and activists in massive numbers. We can, and must, do our part locally by enabling people of all ages and backgrounds to access and care for our natural commons. Challenges and opportunties In CORP's recent comments to the Board of Supervisors on the draft Outdoor Recreation Plan (http://www.sonomatrails.org/docs/wpdorp.htm), we wrote, "Sonoma County in 1999 enjoys a booming economy, abundant open space suitable for parklands, a fully-funded Open Space District empowered to purchase land for passive recreation, and a strong public consensus in favor of natural parkland and trail acquisition. Prime land for outdoor recreation will only become scarcer and more expensive in the future. Sonoma County will never have a better opportunity to leave a dramatic, lasting legacy to benefit the public, economic, and environmental health of all future generations." CORP will continue its efforts to influence the two major planning documents now in process, the ORP and the SCAPOSD Acquisition Plan, in an expansive direction as described above. But there is also a great deal that can and should be achieved within the scope of existing planning documents, such as the 1989 General Plan. That document includes dozens of excellent parks and trails which have never moved beyond the proposal stage. We have our work cut out for us. The long view CORP's vision of a county-wide trail network linking extensive natural public lands will not be achieved overnight. We will see heartbreaking losses along with exhilarating victories spread over many years. Marin conservationist Peter Behr said that "Conservation victories are temporary, while the losses are permanent." One nice thing about working for public trails and parklands is that, while losses are still permanent, victories can be permanent as well. We can be (relatively) confident that our hard-won gains will accrue to future generations. A few weeks ago, I hiked the newly opened Palisades-Oat Hill Mine trail above Calistoga with Napa County trail activists. They told me it had taken thirty years to acquire parcels and rights-of-way for that magnificent trail. Some of the long-time activists, they said, were quite old now, and physically unable to enjoy the rigorous hike they had worked to make possible. I was reminded of a folktale about a very old woman planting a fruit tree. When someone points out that she will not live to see the tree bear fruit, she patiently explains that she has eaten fruit all her life from trees planted by others who lived before her. We should remember that every clear stream and healthy forest we enjoy today is the result of a great deal of hard work and dedication by many people in years past. Let us resolve to honor them as they would wish, by enjoying and protecting their legacy and, as in the folktale, by adding a legacy of our own for future generations.
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Along with our new Vice Chair
Carol Vellutini, I am very honored and enthusiastic at
being asked to take on a leadership role with the
Coalition for the Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP).
