This semester, I am teaching Range Management at Santa Rosa Junior College. I have asked my students to give their impressions of what they are learning in the form of a blog. This blog was written by student Emily Kohl.
There are many wonderful activities and animals you can see and enjoy while visiting Taylor Park Regional Mountain in Santa Rosa. Taylor Mountain is a 1,100 acre fairly new public addition the city. It provides the community with bird watching, disc golf, equestrian trails, biking trails and wonderful hiking/walking trails that are shared with wildlife and livestock. Cattle have been spotted walking along the trails and grazing in the fields. This brings a whole new experience to those hikers who are used to hiking other Regional parks that do not incorporate agricultural/ranching land as part of the park. The grazing cattle help manage the land in a natural way and help the growth of the lands vegetation, which provides the hiker with a different kind of beauty while hiking these trails.
Before the land opened to the public, it was owned by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. The Board of Supervisors transferred the title from the District to the Regional Parks, but still manages the land to make sure conservation and preservation are still its number one goals. They maintain and limit the use of how the natural resources are used and making sure the land is still protected while the public uses it for outdoor recreation and leisure. They also use continue to use the land for agricultural and educational purposes. This land consists of many different habitats that allow a vast array of experiences to those who visit. The habitats the public can experience while visiting Taylor Mountain are forests, woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands that all provide a home to many wildlife and livestock.
The reason this land is so amazing and different is how the city is able to manage an area that
combines both agricultural conservation and public recreation. With this combination of activities comes even more planning and management to make sure this land continues to thrive in both areas. With the introduction of outdoor recreation and more human impact on the land, the park need to make sure that the area is monitored constantly, the public knows and is following the rules and the land and cattle are being respected. The park has done a wonderful job of making the visitors knowledgeable of its history and the goals for sustaining the land.
They provide an abundance of information on their website site.
I highly recommend people visit Taylor Mountain and take the time to read the history and goals behind this amazing park.
