Plan shows limited trails for 5,000 acres

Public has until June 5 to comment

For 10 years many equestrians and hikers have been waiting to find out what kind of public access they will have to the sprawling Monte Vista Ranch, purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 2005, but the recently released draft management plan only proposes the possibility of limited trails.

The draft management plan and draft initial study/mitigated negative declaration are available for public review until June 5 at www.wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Planning/Canada-de-San-Vicente.

In 2008 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) acquired the 4,056-acre Monte Vista Ranch from the conservancy. Located in the southern portion of Ramona, the ranch is bordered by the Barona Indian Reservation to the south and east, and the county-owned Barnett Ranch Open Space to the north.

With the addition of 392 acres, known as Rancho Cañada, and 211 acres dubbed Emerald Oaks, CDFW combined the properties for a total of 5,014 acres and named it Cañada de San Vicente Reserve. The name derives from Rancho Cañada de San Vicente y Mesa del Padre Barona, a tract that once included the Monte Vista Ranch and was granted by Mexican Governor Pio Pico to Juan Bautista Lopez in 1846, according to the document.

CDFW states that the reserve’s primary use will be as “protected open space and wildlife habitat, with possible public uses to include hunting, education and scientific research.”

The agency said it is exploring the potential for a public trail from county-owned Holly Oaks park and the Luelf Pond trail through the northwestern corner of the reserve at Southern Oak Road.

Impeding on trail access in other areas of the reserve are several different issues that CDFW lists:

•Because the reserve is land-locked on the west, east and south by tribal reservation lands or private property, trails would have no “through-route” capability and an “out-and-back” trail would cause over-use of the area.

•Although there is limited trail access into the reserve from Chuckwagon Road, public access would take trail users through a designated mitigation section and close to San Vicente Creek, known to have federally-listed species.

•Trails within the main portion of the reserve “would likely interfere with current and future research.”

•Limited staffing to monitor and patrol the reserve.

According to CDFW, it has looked into creating a trail from the Holly Oaks and Luelf Pond trail to Barnett Ranch but cannot find a location due to topography and the need for extensive vegetation removal for a new trail. However, the agency said it will continue to review.

As for other public uses, regulated access for hunting, such as upland game hunting, is being proposed, as well as educational and interpretive programs.

Among requests for the reserve that CDFW received at an October 2013 public scoping meeting in the Charles E. Nunn Performing Arts Center were: hiking and equestrian trails, dog training areas, open hunting, improved public access and entry road, protection of cultural, archaeological and natural resources, and protection of the wildlife and preserve areas.

The management plan divides the reserve into five zones: limited hunting, backcountry—a buffer area surrounding the core of the land with generally steep terrain, San Vicente arroyo toad habitat zone, an educational/interpretive zone, and an operational zone.

The plan also details historical and biological features of the property.

Existing structures from previous owners are being used by CDFW for operations/maintenance and as staff residences, including nine buildings from the former Rancho Cañada Bed and Breakfast.