The City of Goleta, through its community block grant program, has provided the Trails Council with an additional $500 in funding to support its trail restoration efforts at Ellwood Mesa.

Background
In 2004, the City of Goleta, County of Santa Barbara and UCSB developed an Open Space and Habitat Management Plan for Ellwood Mesa. To date, the plan has not been updated, nor have any of the recommendations contained in the recreation element of the plan been adopted.

Proposal
SBTC proposes to work with the City of Goleta to update the recreation element of the plan, including development of a management plan for maintenance of the existing trails, and rehabilitation of portions of the Mesa that have undergone serious erosion (we already have an application in for such work) and to work with city park officials to develop educational and interpretive materials designed to mitigate issues relating to use of the area by dog owners and other users.

SBTC proposes to use field survey gear to collect data relating to the various trails, trail sign and education materials that are currently in place in order to develop detailed maps and a more comprehensive trail assessment and management plan that can be used by the City to update its older management plan and maintain the trails. SBTC will provide the city with a draft management plan for the Ellwood Mesa recreation element similar to what we provided in 2009 for Lake Los Carneros.

Using the field tools, SBTC will survey each trail, current locations of trail signs, potential locations for additional signage and include recommendations, including:

• Trail width, condition, specific locations that need trail or tread maintenance or repair, areas where there are safety concerns.
• Partner with site specialist John Storrer to develop a management plan that is sensitive to environmental needs.
• Overlays of biological and botanical information to ensure that trail use or maintenance does not pose a threat.
• Identify creek crossings, beach access points and other locations in need of repair.
• Suggest locations for additional trail signage.