Sand Hills Watershed to Allow Hikers and Horses But No Bikes

Fences will begin popping up around the Sand Hill Watershed in Felton as soon as this month to protect certain endangered species and water sources for nearby residents, according to Fred McPherson, director of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District Board.

The area has been closed to public use for many years; however, hikers, bikers and horseback riders frequently use the area.

At a meeting on June 30, the water district's directors decided to allow access to horses, dogs and hikers but will install gates at the entrances of the area to keep out dirt and mountain bikes.

Although nearby residents say they want to protect the environment around their homes, nearly all who attended the meeting admitted they have used the closed area for recreation. 

After about an hour of public comments, the directors voted to also ban camping and restricted use to sunlight hours.

The fragile habitat is the only known home of the Mt. Hermon June beetle, among other species.

Chad Mitcham of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the new policy is a move in the right direction. He has been pushing the district to enforce the ban on entry for years. He said that tearing up the loose sand that covers most of the area could wipe out several species of insects vital to the ecosystem.

“These sand hills are possibly as unique as the Galapagos Islands,” McPherson said.

Hiring a part-time security officer to patrol restricted areas and take pictures of trespassers to help evaluate the policy is part of the plan. Recipients of district water supplies are being asked to pick up the tab for all of the measures, causing a few to ask whether these will be one-time or ongoing costs. Estimates of the price tag varied widely but didn't stop action from being taken.

Some meeting-goers, including mountain biker Tim Tourkakis, who maintains the Randall Morgan Preserve in the sand hill habitat, questioned the logic of keeping bikers out while allowing dogs, horses and people on foot.

"If this [proposal] goes along with providing quality water to the recipients of the watershed, that is great," Tourkakis said. "But if you can allow people on horseback, I am curious why you would ban responsible mountain biking on service roads?”

Mitcham said that bikes tear up the top layers of sand too deeply to be allowed but insisted that the compaction caused by horses carrying passengers would not harm the insects.

Resident TJ Fay said she is open to knowing more about the harm people using the area may be causing but wants to be educated on the issue, rather than being treated like a criminal against nature.

“I have been walking my dog out there for four or five years,” Fay said. “Someone at the last meeting said it was bad to be on the open land, because there are some grasshoppers out there, so to have signs out there telling people why we want them to stay out is really important.”

The new plan, which opens the land for the first time in decades to some recreational use, will include installing signs spelling out specific rules in the sand hills. However, many people said they would like the signs to have interpretive language so trespassers could possibly be held liable for implied rules.

Matt Freeman of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County—an organization that works to protect critical land and water resources in the county—said the organization would like to see a full ban on use of the area. However, he said the Land Trust understands district residents' desires to enjoy the forest in their own backyard. He added that educating the public about which trails are still closed must be a part of any action.

The room burst into laughter when he confessed that he has been staying out of the area while the full ban on entry was in place.

“I feel like I might be the only one who hasn't been on the property, because I understood it was closed to the public.”