email meetings@rbda.us for zoom credentials
Panel Discussion on Trail Building in Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Santa Cruz Mountain Trail Stewardship (SCMTS, formerly Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz) have begun developing the initial 19 miles of recreational trails in the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument. Trail-building is underway on both the south and north side of Bonny Doon Road. The 5,800 acre public land was secured as a project of the BLM in 2017, and the BLM has partnered with the local SCMTS group to build a total of 30 miles of multi-use trails. Please join the RBDA for a public meeting on Wednesday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. to learn more about the trail building in Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument and engage with a panel of experts on the unique challenges of managing public activities on this land.
Matt De Young is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship (SCMTS). SCMTS works to improve and maintain trail access in the Santa Cruz Mountains region. They have designed, funded, built, and maintained trails at Wilder Ranch, Pogonip, Delaveaga, Soquel Demonstration State Forest, The Glenwood Preserve, Fall Creek, Calero County Park, The Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve, and many other parks in the region. Their current focus is on trail construction at Cotoni-Coast Dairies where in partnership with the BLM they are funding and building out the trail network to open the property to public access.
Benjamin Blom is the Field Manager for the Bureau of Land Management Central Coast Office. A native of Massachusetts, Blom began his BLM career in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he served as the planning lead for the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area. Since 2013, Blom has served as manager of the Headwaters Forest Reserve in BLM California’s Arcata Field Office, completed legislative specialist details with the BLM in Washington D.C., and was an assistant field manager and an associate district manager for the BLM in northern California. Blom holds a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Dr. Grey Hayes is an ecologist and group facilitator working to create a community for Nature in Santa Cruz County. Dr. Hayes has published extensively including peer-reviewed science, in natural history books and magazines, and in online periodicals and blogs. Since 1989, Grey’s group facilitation and organizing work has focused on helping people to better work together to restore natural vitality to California’s landscape for many generations of humans and non-humans, alike. Locally, he strives to increase his and others’ understanding of the ecology of Santa Cruz County’s North Coast and, through that understanding, increase community investment in the restoration of biodiversity.
Lee Thompson is a non-law enforcement Park Ranger for BLM Central Coast Field Office with focus on the Cotoni-Coast Dairies portion of the California Coastal National Monument.
Adam Wilde is the Outdoor Recreation Planner for the BLM Central Coast Field Office.
Virtual Meeting Participation
Zoom (zoom.us) is a video conferencing platform that is free to use through either a web browser or application, and audio participation is possible through a dial-up connection on your phone. We selected this platform based on its widespread use and ease of accessibility. For this meeting, we will be utilizing all the available security features, including password-protection and waiting rooms managed by the host.
Access and participation in this meeting:
• Send your e-mail address to meetings@rbda.us to receive the meeting credentials and password. Your email will not be used for any other communication and will not be shared.
• Call into the meeting between 7:10 and 7:20, so that we can begin at 7:30.
