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New public open space and trails under construction.

Effort to open the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument, one of Obama’s last gifts to California, is underway
Silas Valentino, SFGATE
May 20, 2022

Rounding a curve within a redwood grove along a neatly carved forest path, Katy Poniatowski points out the section ahead with a sense of earnest pride.

“I helped dig that out,” she said, noting how she was one of a crew of 10 volunteers who used shovels and hoes to clear out the zigzagging pathway in December 2021.

The trail is part of the first loop that’s in development in this northern section of the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument, one of the newer additions of public land to the region that will become available for recreation later this year.

Poniatowski is one of the hundreds of volunteers who’ve come out to build a network of trails that will serve hikers, bikers and horseback riders. The plan is to create multiple trail loops, with varying difficulties, that cover 19 miles across the national monument.

Located outside Davenport where the Santa Cruz Mountains collapse into the sea, the national monument occupies land that was once inhabited by Indigenous peoples known as the Cotoni (pronounced sho-toe-knee). The area was repurposed for agriculture during the 19th century, and relics of its cattle history remain across the bucolic landscape.

Following decades of work from conservationists to preserve the property for open space, 5,800 acres of the coast-facing property are owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The land became a national monument in January 2017 just as Barack Obama’s administration was on its way out the door.

“We tried to strike a balance between protection and public access,” said Ben Blom, spokesperson for the BLM. “We broke the property into four different zones, and two will have trail development. We wanted to create blocks set aside for wildlife and for traditional cultural practices for the Amah Mutsun tribe.”

Three cattle grazing programs remain on the property, and the active grazing program is considered an attribute for protection from wildfires. “When we had the CZU Lightning Complex fires, it showed how important the grazing program was for providing a buffer and for protecting the town of Davenport,” Blom said.

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The crews expect to have the first loop, a 9-mile section north of Davenport, available for public use by the end of summer.

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/articl...P-CP-Spotlight