What’s going on in Bidwell Park these days?

Park Watch

by Tom Barrett

This article was first printed in 2001. It is included here for archival purposes.

The Annie Bidwell Trail planning is plodding along. Thanks to everyone who has provided valuable input on the trail proposal and have commented during discussions of the ABT at Park Commission meetings. More work is needed to plan this trail as an environmentally-sound, multi-use amenity to Bidwell Park. Please continue to review the trail proposal and provide us with your input as the plan starts to crystallize.

Other trail work continues: Again thanks to all who come out to work on the trails. With over 30 miles of trails in the Park, improving and maintaining trails is an ongoing volunteer effort. Bootleg trails need to be rehabbed and established trails need improvement.

Vegetation Management: Control of exotic (weed) species in Bidwell Park continues and, happily, with fewer and fewer chemicals. Herbicide use is way down over a couple of years ago and the Park Department staff need to be commended for making this happen. Now we need to get all city and county Public Works Departments and the school districts to follow the Park Department’s lead. This year was the second year of the Park’s Goat Program, and they have significantly reduced the overgrowth of Himalayan Blackberry vines and other weeds (star thistle, English ivy, etc.) in the Lower Park. Unfortunately they consume everything up to six feet high and give the Park a definite grazed look that many find objectionable.

Arundo (giant cane or reed) will be a major target next year in the Park. A major effort will also be needed in Little Chico Creek, if it is ever to be controlled there. Due to the nature of the weed, it is necessary to use small amounts of herbicides (Rodeo) to kill it. Arundo can be removed by hand, but if parts of the root system are left in the ground, the whole thing will sprout up again. The Park Department is conducting a test to eradicate the noxious weed by applying the herbicide "directly" on cut canes. The herbicide is "wicked" into the plant where it kills it. No herbicides are "sprayed".

John Copeland and volunteers from the Native Plant Society are removing Broom (Scotch and French) from Upper Bidwell Park. Anyone interested in helping to remove privots and English Ivy from the Park please contact me (345-7265). This work has to be done by hand on an annual basis. If you have a favorite weed you want eliminated in the Park, or if you need some weedy ideas, please contact the Park Department and volunteer to remove it. The more we do, the less we need to use herbicides.

Vehicle Control: Controlling vehicle use in Upper Park is being discussed again. Every two years or so, the Park Commission entertains ideas on how to control vehicle use in Upper Park? If any of you have ever tried to drive, walk, or bike the Upper Park Road on a Saturday in the summer will understand what a problem it has become. I personally will not go into the Upper Park when vehicles have access due to the out-of-control drivers and the dust thrown up by their wheels and radiator fans. As Chico grows, more and more people use the Upper Park to refresh themselves. A Master’s Thesis study a couple years ago identified numerous problems with vehicle use in Upper Park. For example,the study found that a good number of the vehicle trips in Upper Park were just yahoos cruising up and down the road.

The current proposal being placed for public discussion involves eliminating all public vehicles from Upper Park and substituting a shuttle bus or tram to move people to the various swimming holes and other locations throughout the Upper Park all the way up to the end of Upper Park Road. This proposal will actually open up more of the Park to more people, but I’m sure that the usual objections will be placed before us (handicapped people and families won’t have adequate access, etc.). The reality is that all Park Users will be better served, not just the ones with 4-wheel drives and air conditioners.

In order to get people out of their cars, a bus service is needed in and through the Park. One would think that with the Park being one of the greatest attractors in the City of Chico that public transportation planners would have targeted the Park with its own bus service. To make better access more practical I’ve been trying to get the city buses to serve the Lower Park up to Horseshoe Lake.

My proposal is simple. Have a bus route run from downtown, along the south side of the Park to 5-Mile, then to Hooker Oak and on up to the golf course and Horseshoe Lake. The return route would then run back on the north side through the Park to downtown. The student trolley bus would be an ideal touristy vehicle to use and it is available on weekends and in the summer when this bus route could be effectively utilized many in Chico. The route could even start from Chico’s tourist center - the Chamber of Commerce. While receiving a positive endorsement by the whole Park Commission to have this happen, the Park Department was unable to secure funding to attempt this on a trial basis.

It’s likely that the current proposal to keep cars out of Upper Park will not go far. No one has ever wanted to take the flack for doing this and it is unlikely that the new Council would consider doing it. The Mayor has made numerous statements about making the Upper Park more accessible - a shuttle would definitely do this better than allowing more vehicle days. The Park Commission has had a poor record to date with trying to eliminate vehicle use in the Park. It was a major fight to get South Park Drive partially closed off - but everyone enjoys it being vehicle free now. This proposal will need a lot of support, so come and support a car-free Upper Park.

If you thought Otterson Drive was a fight, how are you going to feel when the City clears all of the trees in front of Hooker Oak Park and widen the bridge across Big Chico Creek to accommodate four lanes of traffic? The EIR should be out soon so make sure you let your feelings known. Look for a big fight. Why wasn’t this a campaign issue? In addition, Public Works has big plans for "improving" Vallombrosa from the rural scenic drive that it is today to a major arterial feeder from the east side of town to the downtown. The Park Commission hasn’t been involved because Public Works claims it isn’t a Park issue. For more information on the City’s road plan in Bidwell Park, contact the Public Works Department.

From the Winter 2001 issue of the Environmental News.