The beautiful, threatened mysteries of the SDC wildlife corridor

When we hear the word corridor, we naturally think of a hall or other narrow passageway. A wildlife corridor may or may not be narrow.  When we look at deer trails we see a narrow trail used over and over by deer. But, we also see deer roaming in open fields and wooded areas.  We are used to seeing deer in the light of day. But, other animals usually move by night and are much more mysterious to us. 

Do we really know the exact path of mountain lions, bob cats, coyotes, and foxes as they move back and forth from Sonoma Mountain to the Mayacamas?  There are select critter cams, but we will never know exactly the paths they will take. 

My friend has a farm that borders on the southeast edge of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC).  Here with few fences, no bright lights she sees them as they move between SDC and the open land such as Oak Hill Farm, which is east of her property and across Highway 12.  

When one looks at the maps for the three SDC alternatives created by a consultant for the county, one cannot help but notice that the only wildlife corridor is the narrow area on the north end of SDC.  In the maps this corridor boarders on planned tracts of single family homes, arranged suburban style. There are narrow routes along the creek that animals may use to go south to a very small open area on the south east side, also bordering on more of the same type of housing tracts. But, is this where wild life travels now?  And will wildlife follow a “plan”, or will they be so impacted by these changes that they will decrease in numbers and finally no longer exist in our valley?

Today when I park my car in the deserted SDC campus and walk toward my favorite trail to Fern Lake, I cannot help but observe that the whole thing is most likely a wildlife corridor by night.  

Here is data from 50 years ago: 3,000 people lived at SDC, 1,000 people worked there in 3 shifts.  Most employees were local residents, who walked, carpooled or biked to work.  There was no public commercial use.

I am going to make some educated guesses based on that data.  During the day there was a moderate level of human activity on the campus area and even the outlying camps.  Staff and residents were outdoors, maintenance personal moved from building to building.  But, by night, while the residents slept, with a smaller staff of caregivers on site, the SDC was a very quiet place.  The animals moved about as if the humans were not even there. 

If you look at the foot prints of the existing buildings, you will see very few fences and lots of open space in the campus area between the buildings.  Though I may dream that this will stay frozen in time and never change, I know it cannot.  But, we can tread much more lightly on this place than these plans we have been presented with.  We can learn from past use to protect the wild creatures that move though SDC, while reintroducing human use once again.

A private study was recently conducted on what valley residents want in development at SDC.  88% wanted 450 units of housing or less.  76% wanted more than 25% of that housing to be affordable.  Large percentages were in favor of co-housing, duplexes, and 4 plexes.  So far so good, but then there is a disconnect.  32% wanted single family homes.  Only13% wanted 3 story apartment like buildings.  Today there are several larger administrative buildings and an assortment of smaller buildings that are about the size that would be ideal as duplexes, 4 plexs or co-housing buildings.

Many of us desire to live in single family homes, with the promise of privacy and a bit of detachment from our neighbors.  For much of my life I lived in apartments or condos.  Today in the Springs is the first time in many years, I live in a single family home. So you may say, she has hers, why can’t I have mine?  Yes we have many single family homes in our towns and in the Springs, but SDC should be something new. SDC can support housing, jobs, recreation and open space. 

Think about repurposing many of the existing buildings and opening our minds to compact multi-family housing concentrated where the larger buildings are now.  Those that live and work there can have shared open space for recreation, community gardens and share it all with the creatures by night.  Let us look to the Sonoma Land Trust and Sonoma Ecology Center for guidance as we create a 4th plan, one that will provide affordable housing, well-paying jobs and be an ecologically sound example of development for others to see and follow.