Hollister
– The National Park Services is inviting Hollister residents to
share their ideas for the future of the Pinnacles National
Monument.
Hollister – The National Park Services is inviting Hollister residents to share their ideas for the future of the Pinnacles National Monument.
“We have ideas for what we’d like to do, but we can’t work in a vacuum,” said Carl Brenner, supervisor of interpretation and education for the park. “It’s everyone’s national park and we have to know what they want. We want to know what the populous would like to see.”
A planning team for Pinnacles National Monument is holding meetings in Hollister and other nearby communities throughout the month of March to gather public ideas and input for the future of the park.
This information will be used to create a new general management plan, which will serve as a guide for the park for the next 20 years.
“Our goal is to get a general direction,” park superintendent Eric Brunnemann said. “We look at our legislation, the mission statement, and that tells us what we can do. Then we say, given the law, what would people like to see?”
Park officials say the creation of the general management plan should take about two years to complete. They are still in the first stages of the plan’s development, during which they invite input from residents of nearby communities and other park-goers on what they would like the visitor experience to be for the next 20 years.
So far, public opinions and responses have been varied.
“There’s a whole myriad of thoughts of what people would like,” Brenner said. “It’s been all across the board: We have people who want it to stay exactly the same as when they were growing up, and people who would like to see additional programs or facilities moved to the park.”
Brunnemann said there have been some recurring ideas for how to improve the park. People have mentioned easier accessibility to areas of the park, increasing the number of trails and changing the status from a national monument to a national park as areas of focus for the general plan.
San Benito County Supervisor Reb Monaco said he hopes that a main focus of the plan will be on making sure everyone can enjoy the park.
“I think that it belongs to the people, so access has always been my issue – anything they can do to increase access for everyone from rock climbers to bird watchers,” Monaco said.
Many ideas that are presented are dependent on wilderness protection law as well as other regulations.
“It’s a delicate balancing act we have, of protecting this wilderness and having it available for the enjoyment of this and future generations,” Brenner said.
The process of developing the general management plan was initially started in 1998, but was put on hold while the purchase of Pinnacles Ranch and campground was finalized.
The purchase of the ranch and campground brought 1,967 additional acres to the park as well as the addition of a campground, something the monument had not had for many years. Park officials recognized that this could greatly affect the management plan, so they postponed further discussion until after the sale was finalized, which happened in March of 2006.
Park officials are hoping for a large turnout at the meeting in Hollister.
“It’s everybody’s park, so we want them to take part,” Brenner said. “It’s the only national park site in many miles and it’s a large part of the community.”
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at (831)637-5566 ext. 336 or at aj**@fr***********.com.
