Several recommendations are presented below to reduce traffic and invasive weed impacts to the redwood forest understory. These recommended measures involve a combination of protection and restoration of the native vegetation, and weed abatement. Adoption of these recommendations can be done over a short or long time period, as logistics allow (such as funds and labor). The most important step is to initiate these recommendations at some level, because every effort can have cumulative effects and substantial results. An example is the volunteer restoration program across the San Francisco Bay at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area that has made a tremendous difference over time in several degraded open areas. The initiation of these recommendations should first involve the identification and prioritization of the problem areas and then set the objectives and goals for these areas. The recommendations are:
- Install additional barriers to divert
off-trail traffic, and limit traffic impacts to the established
trails.
- Initiate an invasive weed control program.
Efforts in this direction will benefit not just the native plants,
but birds, insects, fish, and other wildlife, as well as increase
the aesthetic qualities of the park.
- Initiate revegetation and/or native
plant enhancement projects for poorly vegetated areas, weed eradicated
areas, and any recently disturbed areas. This effort could be
coupled with the invasive weed control program.
- Daylight and restore the subsurface
portion of Palo Seco Creek in the Lower Meadow area. This headwater
area of the creek within the park is one of the few semi-intact
natural functioning watersheds in the East Bay and is a valuable
environmental resource for both flora and fauna (See Riley, 1998).
