I wonder what Sada Coe might say to our Sacramento politicians
who are now intent on shutting down California’s state parks. I
imagine if the South Valley cattle rancher were still alive, Sada
would give them a good scolding.
I wonder what Sada Coe might say to our Sacramento politicians who are now intent on shutting down California’s state parks. I imagine if the South Valley cattle rancher were still alive, Sada would give them a good scolding.
To help cut costs for the state budget (a meager savings of – at most – $14 million), Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this year proposed locking up many of our public wilderness areas. In our region, Henry W. Coe State Park and Fremont Peak State Historic Park are on the cut list.
Sada Coe’s opinion of the park closure scheme is relevant. Her dream for public access to nature helped to establish Henry W. Coe State Park, the second largest wilderness area in our state’s park system. She named the park in honor of her father.
Sada was born in December 1910 in San Jose and spent much of her growing-up years at the 12,500-acre Pine Ridge Ranch her family owned in the Diablo Mountain Range east of Morgan Hill. In her book, “The Lost Trails of Santa Clara,” she recalled her childhood there: “The world I grew to know was the mountains and ranges! Wilderness and long-horned cattle! My cradle was my father’s strong arms and a blanket across the front of his saddle.”
In 1932, Sada married a young man named Charles Robinson. Together, they managed the Pine Ridge Ranch. On March 18, 1943, Sada’s father died. Despite Sada’s years of work on the property and her love of the land, in his will, Henry left the Pine Ridge Ranch to his son. Sada said later in life she did not receive the property because her father believed women did not possess the fortitude for a rancher’s grueling life.
Sada, however, eventually did get possession of Pine Ridge Ranch. In 1948, her brother sold the property to the Beach Land and Cattle Company of Orange County. Two years later, Sada purchased it from that firm. Now divorced, she lived on the ranch by herself. Many South Valley people who knew her said she rode a horse and managed the cattle herds as skillfully as any cowboy.
Five years after taking ownership of the Pine Ridge Ranch, Sada decided to give her property to Santa Clara County as a wilderness retreat open to everyone. On Aug. 15, 1953, at the special monument emblazoned with Henry W. Coe’s likeness, she formally donated the ranch as a county park with these words: “May these quiet hills bring peace to the souls of those who are seeking.”
The property was too large for the county to manage. In August 1958, the county sold the land to the State of California for $10.
Henry W. Coe State Park has expanded since then to cover more than 87,000 acres. Many of the Pine Ridge Ranch roads and trails are now enjoyed by hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians who come to the park to fulfill their basic human need for nature. Sada herself visited the state park several times before she died in San Jose on Nov. 2, 1979.
As I stood by the Coe monument and listened to the wind stream through the pines, I imagined the thoughts the ranch woman might want to share with Sacramento politicians. She’d certainly inform them that closing wilderness retreat land like Henry Coe would not significantly benefit California’s budget. In fact, the scheme would actually cause additional expense to the state.
Legitimate state park visitors such as hikers and bikers serve as a kind of free patrol. People planning criminal pursuits do not want to have encounters with law-abiding users. Keeping nature-lovers out of the parks without implementing additional ranger patrol would open the wilderness area to meth lab operators, marijuana farmers, poachers and taggers.
Trespassing people would also jeopardize thousands of acres of pristine parkland from their illegal, unsupervised campfires. A single disastrous wildfire at Henry Coe or another major California state park would cost far more than any potential budget savings from closing down these wilderness retreats.
I imagine Sada would also point out to the governor the erosion problems coming from illegally cut trails as well as the deterioration of park buildings from vandalism and non-use. Once the parks are open again, the state would also incur the substantial expenditure of bringing back overgrown trails for hiker use.
Sada would also tell Sacramento politicians that the Golden State would lose millions of dollars in visitor fee revenue. And towns across California would likewise lose income and sales tax dollars if park vacationers and day-trippers no longer traveled through their communities. Our state parks generate $4.2 billion in economic activity for local communities throughout the state.
California’s budget won’t be saved by locking the gates of state parks. The people of California deserve their wilderness land. Sada Coe would tell our Sacramento politicians so.
