Welcome to Lafferty Park, Part II

#62, February 21, 2001

 

(In our last episode, I somehow found myself exploring a trail in a newly developed Lafferty Park. I  was walking the last of the gentle grade to what the park brochure called "Lower Valley Overlook.")

 

The view before me stole my breath away. This is truly a dream… or a dream come true. The land drops off gradually at first, then with a swoop, down into a trough followed by round emerald wave crowned with evergreen oaks. Beyond that ridge is the Petaluma River valley and my home town, cupped among its namesake "little hills". Behind the City I see ranges of haze-shrouded peaks fanning out north and south westward. The Petaluma River snakes through it's bayside marsh, silvered by the low winter sun.

 

And this is the lower viewpoint. I turn half circle and face the mass of upper Sonoma Mountain, cleft by Adobe Creek Canyon. Partway up, north of the creek, I see some people working on the Sky Meadow Trail.  High above it all, an eagle "writes songs across the sky."

 

I shiver with awe, and excitement-- Lafferty Park is a reality!

 

I walk back down the handicapped-accessible trail toward the pond. A carload of six graders has arrived to check on the progress of the native grasses they planted around the lot last autumn, part of the fire safety program. I turn right onto the spur which runs past the Lafferty Homestead ruins toward the Adobe Canyon Trail. I stop where the meadow meets the towering oak trees rising up from the canyon, and listen to the winter song of the unseen creek. An elderly couple greet me; they are setting up easels, intent on capturing the grace of lichen draped from bare branches. Then I hike up the new trail to meet the crew.

 

I greet Kendra Whitacre, a state employee and old friend. She is leading volunteers on one of the switchback sections above Middle Meadows. It's all hand work here, widening and adding erosion checks to the historic horse path.

 

"Kendra, last I recall, Lafferty seemed mired in red tape and threats of lawsuits. What happened?"

 

"I never followed it that closely," she said. "The main thing is, it seems that after the 2000 election, Lafferty stopped being a political football. More and more people began to see it, see the gem it really is, how we needed it and five more like it here in the south county. So there was this overwhelming pressure against those few neighbors, whose lawyers were still trying to tell people that hikers would create an ecological disaster. Unbelievable! Anyway, by last summer, the ruckus was over, and the City moved ahead with its plan. Thanks to our volunteer and fundraising work, the City has yet to spend a nickel on it." She smiled. "So, that's why I'm here today."

 

"Me too," I said.

 

And that's why I'm here, writing this story. Today it's fiction. But it could be a true story, our story, the happy ending to the Tale of Lafferty Ranch. Just as the budding Kenilworth Hub project will connect people within the Petaluma community, Lafferty Park will let us to connect with the community of life on earth. Like the Hub, Lafferty Park can be a place to make good dreams come true.

 

But dreaming alone is not enough. The unpublicized goal of the hard-core park opponents is a gated community for Sonoma Mountain Road. Visits to Lafferty would be limited to supervised tours only at few certain times of the year, virtually locking it up. These neighbors and their agents have in the past exploited divisions in our community in their pursuit of a locked-up Lafferty. If we want to fully realize Lafferty Park's potential, the people of the South County and their leaders must now unite. We will find a way to make it work.

 

Friends of Lafferty Park is pursuing this vision for Lafferty Park as a community treasure. To learn more about how you can help, check our website at www.laffertypark.org, call 793-2244, or write us at 100 Union Street, Petaluma CA 94952.

 

I'll see you on the mountain!