MENDOCINO CO., 10/29/24 — Northeast of Ukiah lies a nearly 2,000-acre reservoir, formed in 1958 by the construction of Coyote Dam. Managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Mendocino offers swimming, day-use and overnight camping, fishing, boating, hiking and other activities. The lake has many advocates and some detractors, who complain about drug use and vandalism.
Recently, a consortium formed to increase tourism and recreational activities at the lake.
The Army Corps and the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance launched a partnership in August. Friday the group put on a special event at the Chekaka Campground to celebrate the partnership with the public. This area, which will soon be renamed “Destination Park,” will feature rock climbing, a community event space and day-use rentals for picnics and barbecues.
The alliance includes the Greater Ukiah Chamber of Commerce, which supports business development in Ukiah and the immediate surrounding area, the Ukiah Main Street Program, which supports downtown Ukiah business development, and Visit Ukiah, the tourism arm of the alliance.
The partnership between the Army Corps and the alliance is meant to rebrand Lake Mendocino as a recreation destination for tourists as well as to increase economic growth in the area.
Nicholas Malasavage, the Army Corps’ chief of operations for the lake, said the new partnership will allow for more community outreach. “The partnership is about helping us in our decision-making,” said Malasavage in an interview. “What we do with this land can be defined by what the community thinks is best. This place was made to serve the public.”
He emphasized that the partnership allows the group to receive crucial feedback from the community. “We need public feedback,” he said. “How we get that input through the partnership is how it keeps going around in a circle.”
Army Corps officers, Mendocino County supervisors and area residents attended Friday’s event to celebrate the partnership launch. The alliance’s executive director, Katrina Kessen, worked with Poppy Burkhead, the Army Corps operations project manager for Lake Mendocino, to finalize the marketing agreement that paved the way for Friday’s event. Both Kessen and Burkhead delivered speeches outlining the importance of partnership.
“We are always hearing stories of people growing up here, it’s important that the public sees visible change,” Burkhead said. “This partnership will help us share our stories better.”
The partnership will run for five years and can be renewed. Burkhead believes the partnership will bring visible changes to Lake Mendocino and excitement in the greater inland community.
The event also showcased new promotional materials, including signage, promoting Lake Mendocino.
Destination Park, which is planned to be finished next year, is a comprehensive project designed by the partnership team to bring attractions to the lake. The park’s planned features will include a meditation and yoga deck, a native landscape zone and an education pavilion. There’s even a strategy to bring food trucks to the area for special events and on weekends.
“We are hoping to phase in aspects of the project, and we are looking for infrastructure that is portable,” Burkhead added, meaning that specific aspects of the park will be moveable in case weather or other conditions demand it, and so that the new additions impact the natural environment as little as possible.
Burkhead said that changes on the lake have been slow but that a gradual pace will make the projects more sustainable in the long run.
“We still have limited resources. We are going to go after one piece at a time,” she said.
I hope there is a possibility that the park can get dog owners to pick up their dogs’ feces. The roads and trails are full of dog poop.
The trails around the south and east side have fox and other small mammal scat. I haven’t seen any canine scat.
Plan a dog park with a lakefront for the pooches, with plenty of poop bag dispondrá & waste baskets & SIGNS.
The park was originally named in consultation with the Pomo people who were forcibly removed from the area in order to build the dam and the reservoir (Lake Mendocino). Now you want to erase even their names from the land that was stolen and flooded. Some of the folks forcibly removed are still alive, the government doesn’t wait long before going back on agreements I guess. Will there be anything explaining this history of land theft for water/grapes at Discovery Park? Sounds like they only want fun things and will forget the way it was gained.
I feel the name should remain. I was a child when the valley was flooded, and remember the native peoples were dislocated and lost their homes and land. Please be respectful of them, and leave the native name. Save yourselves legal fees and shame down the road. – Elizabeth (Vest) McFadden
This new park separates people from the trails, deer, and Lake. Info signs and fake rock walls can’t take the place of the natural world.