About > Leadership > Rose Canyon Open Space Park Recreation Council
“T he essence of volunteering is to understand that positive changes don't happen without someone doing them. Waiting for someone else to repaint graffiti or to remove weeds or plant natives is fundamentally unsatisfying – doing these things is exactly the opposite. I am often reminded of the quote ‘Bloom where you are planted.’ While a University City resident it seemed to me that if I could devote time and effort to making THAT spot in the world a little better – I would true to my conscience. Then I got hooked – and while I'm no longer a resident of the watershed, a decade later I’m still enjoying the experience of helping Rose Canyon bloom.”
Ben Stevenson
Chairman and co-founding member (with Joe Steinbach, in July of 1992), Rose Canyon Open Space Park Recreation Council
A volunteer Board of the San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation, the Rose Canyon Open Space Park Recreation Council was formed in 1992. The advisory group of community volunteers is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the city-owned 400-acre Rose Canyon Open Space Park. The priorities of the recreation council include:
- Preservation of natural resources;
- Interpretation of the history and native botany;
- Removing exotic plants and replacing them with native plants;
- Graffiti removal;
- Trash cleanup;
- Organizing experts for tours.
Like the Marian Bear Natural Park Recreation Council, the accomplishments of the Rose Canyon Recreation Council are many.
Ben Stevenson at a 1880s-era Railroad trestle in Rose Canyon
|
In 2002 the Rose Canyon Recreation Council began a project to open a view to a hidden railroad trestle in Rose Canyon Open Space Park. The trestle was built with the original San Diego railroad in 1881. It was used for many years then abandoned when the track was realigned. The realignment began in 1943 and was complete by 1945. From the late 19th through the middle of the 20th Centuries, railroad spikes were stamped with the year of their insertion. On the realignment, spikes can be seen with '43, '44, and '45 stamped on their heads. The trestle was soon covered (or recovered) by vegetation and lost to view. The weathered and dilapidated structure remains today, hidden in deep vegetation.
Unfortunately, engineering tests revealed extensive damage to the structure making it unusable as a walkway, as the council had envisioned. Despite this setback, the council began an effort to interpret the site with the historically interesting trestle as the centerpiece. This effort includes plans to create a wooden walkway leading to a viewing platform, identification signs for the botanically significant habitat, split rail fencing, and informative panels detailing the interpretive site. Undaunted by the complexity of the project, the council has focused its efforts on restoring some of surrounding habitat to provide a picture of what that section of the creek would have looked like in 1881. As funds are available, the council intends to complete the project as envisioned. The public is invited to attend and participate in the monthly meetings and activities of the Rose Canyon Recreation Council. Contact the Tri-canyon Ranger office at (858) 581-9961 for more information.
|
