News

 It’s time to get out and get some trails built and we need your help. This is your opportunity to take part in bringing our trails back to Boggs. Please register using the link below. We need to limit the number of volunteers so sign up now! https://friendsofboggsmountain.formstack.com/forms/boggs_trail_work_6_15

Grab your gloves, sturdy boots and let’s get digging in Boggs Mountain State Demonstration Forest.  Friends of Boggs Mountain has been working behind the scenes with CAL FIRE since The Valley Fire to implement the restoration of BMDSF trails. We’re thrilled to announce our first community volunteer dig day.  Join us April 20^th to help restore our beloved trails.  Due to limited tools and space we’re limiting the volunteer opportunities to 50 people. 

Below is our sign-up link.  In order to ensure we have enough food for our volunteers we need to have each person registered.  If you register and can’t make it, please let us know ASAP so we can get someone else in that spot.  If you have questions, please email us at fobmtn [AT]gmail [DOT]com or private message us on Facebook.

Can’t make it that day?  No worries.  We have more dig days scheduled and will be posting those dates soon. 

All the slots have been filled. Thank you all for your enthusiastic support! If you didn’t make this day, don’t despair, we will announce additional work days again soon.

https://friendsofboggsmountain.formstack.com/forms/boggs_trail_work

Friends of Boggs Mountain (FOBM) was awarded a large donation from Calpine Corporation to purchase a mini excavator to build trails in Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest (BMDSF).  Calpine presented the FOBM board of directors with a $20,000 check at Mountain High Coffee on Cobb January 16, 2019.   FOBM will use the trail building excavator to rebuild trails destroyed in BMDSF during the Valley Fire in 2015.  FOBM and CAL FIRE signed a memorandum of understanding as a guide for trail work. 

Trail work is scheduled to begin early 2019.  Please visit the Friends of Boggs Mountain Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FOBMCA/   for information on future volunteer trail work days.  You can also email Friends of Boggs Mountain at [email protected] with specific questions.

Thank you, Calpine, for supporting our community and efforts to bring outdoor recreation back.  We look forward to using the machine to get trails up and running as quickly as possible.   We’re grateful for all the support necessary to get the trail building project up and running.

We look forward to working with community volunteers to rebuild our trails over the next few years.  We’ve all missed our trails and look forward to getting outdoors and on our trails again.

 From left to right: Peg Landini, FOBM Treasurer, Deb Bloomquist, FOBM President, Chris Bloomquist, FOBM Secretary, Margaret Lewis, Business Operations Analyst Calpine, Danielle Matthews Seperas, Manager, Government & Community Affairs and Darlene Hecomovich, FOBM Volunteer.

Dear Friends,

We are excited to announce Boggs’ limited opening via CDF’s press release below. Please note that we added bold font to their statements that emphasize: only the existing road system and day use are allowed.

Click here for the official news release (PDF).

In the meantime, a temporary revised map is available here – URL:  http://boggsmountain.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2018_Boggs_Reopen_Map_DB3_flatten.pdf

Map Brochure Text:
URL:  http://boggsmountain.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20180703_Reopen_Brochure_DB2.pdf 

For more information, please contact the Boggs Forest Staff directly at: 707-928-4378.

As we get more information from CDF, we’ll make sure to let the public know. Please follow us on Facebook and/or visit this Website.

Thank you all so much for your support of Boggs and FOBM’s work in the forest!

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In 2015 the 76,067 acre Valley Fire burned from Cobb down through Middletown in one day driven by extreme winds and dry fuels. It is estimated that 98% of the 3,493 acre Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest (Forest) was impacted by the fire. Due to fire damage and the vast amount of work needed to make it safe for public use, the Forest has been closed since the fire.

Immediately following the fire CAL FIRE initiated a plan for clean-up logging and reforestation of the property. Foresters from all over the state were brought in to assess the damage to the timber and mark trees for retention based upon the fire intensity and fire damage to the tree.

In just over one calendar year over 50 million board feet of timber was harvested from the Forest. This is enough to build approximately 5,000 mid-sized homes. In addition, 21 miles of forest roads were repaired as well. Logging slash and charred vegetation were piled and burned over the last two winters.

In the spring of 2017 and 2018 there were 702,695 trees planted on 3100 acres using seeds that were collected from the Forest.

With the vast majority of the timberland on the Forest planted, and the bulk of the dead trees removed, CALFIRE will be opening Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest to the public for day use only starting July 16, 2018. No camping will be permitted on the Forest as the majority of the restrooms in the campgrounds were destroyed and numerous other hazards are present that would make nighttime occupancy unsafe. Over the course of the year the Forest Staff will focus on the rebuilding of recreation infrastructure, including restrooms and trail building.

As many hazards still exist on the Forest and the trail system is severely damaged by logging, public use will be limited to the existing road system. Portions of the property that still pose a hazard to the public will be off limits. The designated shooting area will be accessible to the public on August 1, 2018 but will be subject to temporary closures for Forest Staff safety while working in the vicinity. It is strongly encouraged that the public call ahead before traveling to the shooting area to verify that it is open.

“I would like to thank all the CAL FIRE personnel and private vendors who worked hard to mitigate the fire damage to this point. Although more work is needed, we are committed and pleased to open Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest back to the public” says CAL FIRE Unit Chief Shana Jones.

Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest is working with Konocti Regional Trails (KRT) to develop a connector trail from Boggs to the village of Cobb. KRT is currently preparing a CEQA (CA Environmental Quality Act) initial study draft, to solicit comments from agencies such as CAL FIRE, Caltrans, Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, Cobb Area Water District, PG&E, County of Lake staff, as well as local schools, the surrounding community and general public. Gerri Finn, Boggs Forest Manager, has given her enthusiastic support for this project, and will be providing input in the environmental review.

The connector trail is less than a mile, begins at the base of the Interpretive Trail, and will follow the state property line on the southern border of the forest toward Hwy 175. It will then turn south toward the Emerson property, requiring an approximately 700-ft trail easement, and an encroachment permit from Caltrans until it ends at the intersection of Estates Drive and Hwy 175. Caltrans has proposed installing flashing beacons to the north and south of the intersection to warn motorists of pedestrians.

Professional trail builders are being considered to help flag and construct a 4-ft wide multiuse path with trail dozers on some steep areas as shown in the photo. A puncheon (a low bridge with no rails) may also need to be built for a seasonal creek crossing. Fundraising, donations and grants are being considered to help pay for the trail construction. Volunteer trail crews will also be deployed to do finishing work.

The connector trail is the brainchild of Adian Minty, a Cobb community volunteer, father of Cobb Elementary School children, and avid mountain biker. It is his aspiration for this trail to provide safe access to Boggs for school children who need to ride a bus just to get to the forest less than a mile away. It will also provide access to the village of Cobb’s shops and restaurants for Boggs visitors, and for community residents who wish to walk or ride their bikes to the forest from their homes.

For more information, please contact KRT Trails Coordinator and Friends of Boggs Volunteer, Gigi Stahl, at fobmtn [at) gmail {dot} com.