Fortuna staff seeks council backing to pursue Great Redwood Trail grants; residents raise maintenance and private‑property concerns

Fortuna city staff asked the City Council on Monday to allow them to pursue State Coastal Conservancy grant funding to advance design and environmental work for segments of the Great Redwood Trail and the city’s John Campbell Memorial Greenway (also called the Strongs Creek Trail).

The request, presented by Bridal Bird, Fortuna public works director and city engineer, and supplemented by Elaine Hogan, executive director of the Great Redwood Trail Agency, and Hannah Bartee, Great Redwood Trail project manager with the State Coastal Conservancy, asked the council whether staff should lead engineering and environmental work for trail segments that could extend from Fernbridge to Alton and include portions outside Fortuna city limits. Bird told the council such work would make Fortuna more competitive for implementation grants and would bring trail planning to the same level of readiness as ongoing interchange and active‑transportation projects.

Officials said the roughly defined package under consideration could cover about six miles of corridor work, roughly 60 percent of which lies outside Fortuna city limits, and about 2.5 miles inside the city. Hogan said the agency’s Bay‑to‑Bay vision — a continuous trail along the former railroad corridor from San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay — is intended to create recreational and active‑transportation opportunities, restore habitat and bring economic activity to trail towns. She noted an earlier economic analysis that estimated the fully developed corridor could generate about $48 million a year for Humboldt County and that the plan identifies Fortuna as a high‑priority, high‑feasibility segment.

Bird explained that Fortuna has longstanding local planning for trails — including a 2014 master plan for the Strongs Creek Trail and a 2016 complete‑streets connectivity study — and that coordinating trail design with the city’s interchange projects could improve safety and grant competitiveness. He said the staff request is limited to pursuing engineering and environmental grants and does not commit the city to construction, long‑term operation or maintenance of trail segments outside city limits.

Public commenters broadly supported the project but pressed staff for detail on long‑term oversight, maintenance and private‑property impacts. A resident who identified themselves during public comment said, “I would be however remiss if I did not mention … a lot of questions from private land owners where it runs beside or through their properties,” and urged the city and trail agency to resolve landowner concerns before moving forward. Orville Garrison, a resident of Fortuna, said the city should be explicit about who would maintain new trail segments and cited the WENT Trail as an example of a local path that has fallen into disrepair. Another resident said the biggest worry is that “they’re filled with homeless camps” on some trails and urged attention to long‑term maintenance and use.

Council members and staff acknowledged those concerns and said the request at Monday’s meeting was an early step. Bird and agency staff said future grant proposals and project development would include public outreach, coordination with private landowners and work on governance and maintenance strategies with partner agencies such as Caltrans, Humboldt County and the Great Redwood Trail Agency.

The council did not take a formal vote on a grant application at the meeting; staff said they would return with more detailed findings and a proposed grant package if directed. Bird said staff would continue coordinating with the trail agency, the Coastal Conservancy and county stakeholders before any construction or maintenance commitments were sought.

Ending: Staff will bring a refined grant approach and scope back to the council for further public hearings and a decision on whether to apply for State Coastal Conservancy funding.