5.0. PRSR 07-16-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

• "discovery" by the Spanish in 1542. The Park was founded in the 1970's and is a cooperative city-county venture. About 1/5 of the park was a former gunnery range used by the US Navy, who before turning the land over to the park removed some 4000 pieces of unexploded ordinance. This history, park officials say, is quite useful in encouraging people"to stay on the trails". Key issues which were emphasized included the fact that the visitors center was essentially the 5.2 million dollar pet project of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, a citizen support arm for the park. Additional funds came in the form of lease revenue from an antenna farm located within the park. Another key point is that the park has only a full time staff of four but is supported by 250 volunteers who do everything from serving as guides, to running the gift shop, to publishing the newsletter, to staffing workshops, etc. Another point was that the park heavily emphasizes its wildlife, Native American heritage which goes back approximately 10,000 years, plus early California settlement history. Links with Elk River Park and Recreation Programs: 1. Each of the 3 parks involves multi-users/stakeholders whose interests have to be accommodated in park planning and operations. Accommodating these stakeholders involves communication, conflict resolution(at times), and the ongoing need to respond to new issues/concerns. Communication between residents in adjoining areas, commercial interests within Park boundaries, recreational users, historic preservation advocates, natural resource agencies, multi-governmental jurisdictions, etc, while at a scale which dwarfs our local situation, does • capture many of the same issues facing the Elk River Park and Recreation Commission. 2. Balboa and Mission Trails use ongoing revenues from utility and attraction leases to partially support their operations. Mission Trails also used trade-offs with other city agencies, such as charging to store dirt, using sewer projects to construct trails and roadways, etc. Are there additional ways the Commission can partner with the City of Elk River which can enhance our parks? 3. Mission Trails uses a staff of 4 to cover park and visitor center needs plus a volunteer force of 250. Is there the need to bring more volunteers into our system? If so, how is the best way to accomplish bringing more volunteers in and training them? 4. Each park stressed local heritage and culture through an interpretative center(Mission Hills) through attractions: SeaWorld(Mission Bay), the San Diego Zoo(Balboa), etc, and through wild- life protection areas(Mission Bay and Mission Hills). It will probably be not too long before interpretative programs, wildlife protection, and cultural resource protection issues will be coming before the Commission. How do we anticipate and prepare for such issues? 5. A copy of the Mission Trails Regional Park Master Development Plan, examples of maps, newsletters and brochures, plus excerpts from 3 Balboa Park Precise Plans(Inspiration Point, Central and East Mesa), are included in the attached folder which has been donated to the IDCommission for its future reference.