Parks and Recreation
Issues
Communities need places for people to gather, have fun, and socialize. Our children need outdoor places to play, exercise and learn about nature instead of spending all of their time on video games and computers. Sports fields, tennis courts, parks, community gardens, trails, and other facilities add to our local quality of life. We have excellent examples of community efforts to create and manage public places, including work done by the Sandy Gulch Park and Recreation Council, Blue Mountain Community Renewal Council Revive and Re-Leaf project, Friends of Mokelumne Hill, Mokelumne Hill Veterans Memorial District and the Mountain Ranch Community Club and Mountain Ranch Resource Center. We need to ensure that mechanisms exist to sustain, preserve and develop existing and new parks and recreation facilities for people of all ages and abilities.
Goals
- Calaveras County should establish and fund a government entity that is responsible for creating developing, maintaining, and operating park and recreation facilities throughout the county.
- Local recreation areas should be sustainable, whether they are run by national, state or local programs.
- Local recreation programs should provide financial support for new public park, recreational facility and recreation programs that match local population increases, distribution and demographics.
- Local rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs should remain recreation resources.
- The county and recreation advocates should work to establish a countywide trail network.
- The county should ensure that facilities exist for both motorized and human-powered recreation.
- The county should take full advantage of all available funding mechanisms, including the Quimby Act, to provide local parks and recreation facilities.
Actions:
- Support the Calaveras Parks and Recreation Commission in its effort to create a comprehensive Park and Recreation Plan.
- Support public and private entities as they work to create, maintain and improve local recreation facilities.
- Encourage and support veterans districts and nonprofit groups in their effort to develop and operate local and regional park and recreation facilities, especially within and near county's population centers
- Review new parcel subdivisions and other development projects to ensure they provide adequate park land and recreation facilities.
- Provide recreation programs that maximize the use of county and school facilities and promote the physical and mental fitness of all citizens regardless of age or physical ability.
- Balance water resource development with the preservation of streams and rivers in their natural state.
- Protect public access to streams, rivers and public lands.
- Partner with the Stanislaus National Forest, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, Calaveras Big Trees State Park and the East Bay Municipal Utility District to maintain current public trail networks.
- Support efforts to secure a route for the Coast-to-Crest Trail through District 2.