Coastsiders show up to discuss uses of Rancho Corral de Tierra

About 150 Coastsiders showed up for a meeting to discuss recreation in Rancho Corral de Tierra after it becomes part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, reports the County Times.

Nearly 200 locals have signed Bechtell’s petition to set aside some land for dogs to roam free once it comes under public management, but Bechtell says he isn’t optimistic given the federal agency’s history of enforcing leash laws in areas where there previously were none.

Parks officials wouldn’t comment on specifics, since they are just beginning to draft a management plan and environmental impact statement, which won’t be ready for implementation until 2011.

A tentative outline of the plan, presented last week at the meeting, would divide the property into two zones. There would be a rural uplands zone with trails for horses, hikers and mountain bikers, along with the possibility of a new hiking trail connecting Rancho Corral de Tierra with Montara Mountain through property owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. ...

Nothing may get done for several years, considering the Peninsula Open Space Trust has attached a $15 million sale price to Rancho Corral de Tierra, and federal legislators have appropriated only $1.96 million toward that goal so far.

The dog-walking issue will likely not be resolved until 2012 or later because it is being dealt with as part of a separate dog-management plan that will establish a bureaucratic process for analyzing which dog areas can remain off-leash, according to GGNRA spokeswoman Chris Powell.

Two small park zones in San Francisco allow off-leash dog use under a 2006 court order; the GGNRA was sued in 2000 by dog owners after enforcing a ban on off-leash dog walking that had long been on the books.