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March 27, 2008
Life On The Ranch
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| Image: The history of Bidwell Ranch from River Partners
site inventory.
I'm trying to catch up on the River Partners documentation regarding Bidwell Ranch. For some reason the whole Bidwell Ranch epic fascinates me. Here's a piece of property that the city was offered something like $30-$40 million (a couple of years ago) by local developers and they turned it down. The new construction was going to preserve the wetland portion of the site, but would have put homes nearer to Bidwell Park. I'm not sure a firm offer was ever made but the gist of what I remember was that the wetlands would be preserved and tens of millions of dollars would have been the net profit to the city. Now the purchase of Bidwell Ranch will probably be a net loss of several million dollars. Worse yet, an asset owned by the people of Chico may be shifted to another entity with no reasonable compensation. Access to Bidwell Ranch has been curtailed for years now (unless you're a cow), and River Partners has been working on a proposal to turn the area into a conservation/mitigation bank. I believe extra fencing and no-trespassing signs were put up to stop off-roading some years back. Here's what a River Partners FAQ says about access (see FAQ here)... In keeping with the direction of the Chico City council, we intend to develop a management plan that maximizes public access to the property while protecting environmental resources. We will thoroughly examine appropriate public uses of the property consistent with primary use of the site as mitigation and conservation bank. The regulatory agencies may wish to impose limits on activities and timing. Not all recreational activities that people enjoy in upper Bidwell Park are likely to be compatible with the use of the property as a conservation and mitigation bank. Ultimately, it will be up to the Chico City Council to determine if the benefits of converting the property to a conservation and mitigation bank outweigh other uses of the property. I had read some time in the past that the Army Corps of Engineers would be the regulatory agency of a mitigation bank. Access would then be controlled by that body, and not local officials. For instance, schools wanting to take regular trips to the vernal pools might have to submit a detailed access plan to the Army Corps. Keep in mind that only about 200 of Bidwell Ranch's 759 acres has wetlands and would be "bankable". Oddly enough, in the site inventory(see document here) River Partners provides , they consider guided tours to vernal pools to be "recreation". That activity and unauthorized hiking and biking are listed in the document as historic recreational use of the site. There is a section of the notes from the 1/31/08 meeting (here) that refers to possible recreation improvements at Bidwell Ranch as a preserve... Walking trails for low impact recreational uses on site. A trail along the border of the property that has a hard pan and would cause little erosion would be open for year-round use and a trail through the middle of the site would be open seasonally at times that would not disturb the wetlands onsite. Cows would be required to stay on trails as well (on a voluntary basis like they do today). I still have a lot of information to wade through. But here is one thing I found regarding the economics. The landowner (Chico) can recover the endowment cost (I assume this is between $500K and $1 million from other reading) once mitigation credits can be sold. I don't believe the landowner can recover the cost of the land ($7.5 million). I'm running out of steam as I write this so I'll have to tackle more later. |
| Move Along Little Doggies: From the
River Partners site inventory is this insight into the cows on Bidwell
Ranch. Currently, the City leases out the site for cattle grazing. The lease is for five grazing seasons (beginning in 2005 and ending in 2010). Either party of the agreement may suspend the agreement for a full season or remaining term of the agreement by giving written notice 45 days in advance of termination. The right to use may be terminated or modified at any time by the City. The grazing season commences on December 1 of each year, subject to verification from the Preserve Manager that adequate feed is available on the site, and ends in March 31 of the following calendar. The cattle stocking rate for the Property cannot exceed 40 Animal Equivalent Units (AEU). The lessee pays the City a sum of $605 per month for each month, or portion of the month, the Property is used for grazing during the term of the agreement (City of Chico 2005a). The Property has also been used for educational fieldtrips by Butte Environmental Council, Sierra Club, and the Bidwell Ranch Conservancy. I think in that last part they mean recreational field trips. |
 |
 CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: The Hoss of Chico's art scene, Gregg Payne. See comments below for the answer. |
Posted by Lon at March 27, 2008 07:19 AM
Comments
That thar's the Ponderosa pard.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at March 27, 2008 08:02 AM
Too bad consertives aren't into civil disobedience. I would like to see the citizenry take back their land. Maybe you could find out what the penalty is for trespassing on our land from your police pals.
Posted by: Sean at March 27, 2008 09:45 AM
Sean,
What do you mean the conservatives aren't into civil disobediance. They're having a walk out in local politics.
The penal code violations on the sign are misdemeanors...
602(i) Willfully opening, tearing down, or otherwise destroying any fence on the enclosed land of another, or opening any gate, bar, or fence of another and willfully leaving it open without the written permission of the owner, or maliciously tearing down, mutilating, or destroying any sign, signboard, or other notice forbidding shooting on private property.
602(m) Entering and occupying real property or structures of any kind without the consent of the owner, the owner’s agent, or the person in lawful possession.
Here is a lawyer's web site describing misdemeanor penalties in California...
http://www.misdemeanorattorney.com/
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 27, 2008 12:34 PM
On a couple of other notes I received an anonymous invite to a Bidwell Ranch vernal pool exploration tour on Saturday April 5th at 1PM being held by the Butte Environmental Council, Sierra Club, and Bidwell Ranch Conservancy.
It was tucked into our mail box by a dark haired woman. At least that was the word passed on to me from someone at my office. Chico's many mysteries continue to enthrall me.
I also received a lengthy email from someone working at the city on the Mitigation Bank plan. They gave me some corrections/clarifications, which I'll pass on tomorrow.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 27, 2008 12:46 PM
Lon, regarding the tour and your covert invitation, you might mention to the folks there on the tour that my Bidwell Ranch Cam www.bidwellranchcam.com can also record video, has a 12x optical zoom, plus a 3x digital zoom.
So it's easy to get nice close-ups.
It is not made by Diebold though.
So I'll be watching the tour via the web since I'm not invited. ;-)
Posted by: Anthony at March 27, 2008 01:12 PM
Anthony,
It was just a copy of a public flyer that was shoved through the mail slot. Perhaps whoever left it wanted me to pass it on to you?
I'll see you there, April 5th 1PM meet at the east end of Wildwood Park. Bring your golf discs... no better not do that.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 27, 2008 03:41 PM
The CIC was of course the Ponderosa. The ultimate ranch.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 27, 2008 11:35 PM