WHAT'S IN STORE FOR POINT ARENA? RESIDENTS JOYFUL, WARY OVER CHANGES MONUMENT STATUS WILL BRING

After an exhilarating week that turned the national spotlight on their scenic, rural village -- sending five local residents to the White House and prompting a visit from a sitting Cabinet member -- the people of Point Arena have shifted their gaze to the future.

Focused for so long on protecting the chiseled bluffs at the edge of town by seeking to place the land within the boundaries of the California Coastal National Monument, they look forward with a mixture of hope, pride, jubilation and, yes, a wee bit of angst now that their goal is achieved.

As Interior Secretary Sally Jewell noted Wednesday at a celebration of the monument's newest addition, "You put this place on the map so that other people will come out here and enjoy it."

But after six years of labor to expand the offshore monument onto the land, building a full-fledged political campaign that won over leaders in Washington, D.C., much work lies ahead to ensure the outcome reflects the community's intent.

Even as they embrace the promise of increased tourist traffic and the economic boost expected to come with President Barack Obama's proclamation last week creating the Point Arena-Stornetta Unit of the California Coastal Monument, some community members are concerned about balancing tourism and business development with preservation of the neighborly charms that make the area such a special place to live.

Folks aren't sure what to expect, and no one can tell them. They wonder if they're ready for what comes next.

"Are we going to have 10,000 more visitors this summer, or 500?" shoemaker Aimee Taylor asked.

People, in general, "are wildly stoked," said Nathan Hake, who owns a countertop design and construction firm in town. "People are really proud that other people in the world are recognizing what a treasure this is."

But they're protective, as well, of the biologically rich and spectacular coastal land at issue, of the time they get to spend on it, and of their community, Hake and others said.

Upsetting discovery

One woman said finding litter during a walk on the property last week made her anxious about the degree to which outsiders would appreciate "what a sacred spirit it has."

"It was only a Coke can," Kelley Kieve recalled, "but it really upset me, because it's my most favorite place on earth."

It's perhaps understandable that a community of a few thousand in and around this city of 450 people might be wary of having the world at its door, drawn by land they use and enjoy so much themselves.

Some worry the city doesn't yet have the infrastructure -- enough lodging, restaurants, gas stations and other amenities -- to support a sudden influx of visitors.

At the other extreme, people like real estate agent Bob Jones said they "don't want to be Carmel in 20 minutes."

Locals have seen an increase in visitors already. They attribute it to an improving economy, recent publicity about the monument campaign and, notably, a January story in the New York Times that put Point Arena and the Stornetta lands third on a list of "52 Places to Go in 2014."

Nestled between Gualala and Manchester in a remote corner of Mendocino County about a two-hour drive from Santa Rosa, Point Arena is an incorporated city with a high funk factor and an impressive degree of civic involvement.

The blocklong business district features a blend of old and new -- brightly colored businesses and modest public service buildings anchored by the Arena Theater, a 1928 art deco beauty restored by the community, the well-supported library built into the shell of a historic general store, and the Arena Market & Cafe, a popular natural foods co-op. A few restaurants, some lodging and small service businesses cater to surfers and fishermen down by the wharf.

Economic hardship

But several worn, vacant buildings and a fenced-off, condemned motel speak to the city's hardships and to the challenges residents face in making ends meet.

The routes that link inland tourists to the coast steer most visitors to central Mendocino Coast towns like Mendocino and Fort Bragg. Point Arena is harder to reach.

"When the recession hit, it hit Point Arena really hard," pharmacy clerk Dawn Watson said. "It's a small town. Jobs are scarce. Quite a few businesses closed and never opened up."

But the area is rich in scenic beauty that is now gaining national recognition. A picturesque lighthouse just north of town was built on the promontory that gives the place its name and shapes the coastline that is now part of the 1,100-mile national monument, which protects more than 20,000 offshore reefs, rocks and islands, much of it wildlife habitat.

The receding continent has left a ruggedly sculpted landscape -- arches and seastacks, blocky islands and terraced cliffs that lead out into the tidal zone and the roiling surf among the seabirds and sea lions.

The bluff tops provide sweeping ocean views, blowholes and sinkholes from which deep tunnels reach the sea. Many describe a sense of being part of the land at this place.

Members of the Stornetta ranching family talk about growing up amid this splendor with an incomplete understanding of just how special it was.

But when third-generation family members decided it was time to sell part of the land, they sought a conservation buyer that would protect it from development while still permitting grazing that continues today.

A $7.8 million deal struck in 2004, funded by state and federal dollars, put the initial 1,132 acres in the hands of the Bureau of Land Management, whose mandate to manage lands for multiple uses made the transfer and the entire negotiation possible. Subsequent acquisitions by conservation partners and land trusts created a 1,665-acre expanse that takes in two miles of the Garcia River estuary and a stretch of coast estimated at four or five miles connecting Manchester Beach State Park with the city of Point Arena. The addition results in 12 miles of uninterrupted, publicly owned coastline.

The coastal monument plan envisioned 12 mainland "gateway communities" that would help link visitors to the marine monument. Point Arena was the first of five so far to commit, coming on board in 2006, BLM District Field Manager Rich Burns said.

The idea of actually joining the monument was born two years later among members of the Gateway Committee formed to develop the partnership and promotion of the gateway concept to tourists.

Legislators were brought on board -- Reps. Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer -- to champion the idea in Washington. Tourism agencies actively lobbied the effort for the purposes of economic development.

Habitat key concern

The existence of endangered species, critical coho and chinook salmon habitat, and Indian cultural and historic resources were among the values that bolstered the concept.

But a key component was building community support that would help overcome opposition in Congress to public land acquisition projects, Burns said. The allowance for continued grazing on the land was a help.

That virtually unanimous support was critical, Jewell said, in the president's decision to use his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act to proclaim the land part of the national monument in an Oval Office ceremony Tuesday.

The designation extends important protection to the entire property, prohibiting any land-use decision that could jeopardize the cultural, biological and geological values outlined in the president's proclamation. It specifically bans mineral extraction and geothermal drilling.

The BLM has set a three-year timeline to develop a mandatory management plan for the monument addition in partnership with the community, and driven by protection of the values articulated in the proclamation, said Jeff Fontana, a California BLM spokesman.

He and other BLM officials offered many reassurances that community interests would play an important role in the plan's development, with multiple opportunities for public input under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Chris Mehl, policy director at Bozeman, Mont.-based Headwaters Economics, which has studied national monuments around the West, said there also is a high degree of self-determination in how communities promote and adapt to new monuments.

Point Arena now will stand out in all the guidebooks and maps people consult when considering vacation and weekend getaway destinations, Mehl said.

And it's a given that more people will come.

BLM personnel and tourism officials at three recently named monuments -- the San Juan Islands in Washington's Puget Sound, Fort Ord in Monterey County and Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico -- all reported significant increases in visitors over the first year following designation. They were reluctant to draw direct comparisons, given the monuments' vastly different sizes, features and proximity to urban areas.

But the minimum was a 20 percent increase in the San Juan Islands, whose supporters actually sought monument status to protect the area from already significant tourist traffic, monument manager Marcia deChadenedes said.

A Headwaters study of 17 newly created monuments around the West found that, without exception, they were accompanied by expanding economies, Mehl said.

But "you have a chance to promote yourself in a way that syncs up with what your community identifies itself as," Mehl said. "We have not seen a situation where communities were overwhelmed, where you just have a flood of tourists coming in."

'Measured' growth

Designation "is not going to suddenly entice 10,000 people to descend on your town next Saturday," said Mary Ann Leffel, who advocated for the Fort Ord monument as president of the Monterey County Business Council. "I think it will be slow, steady, measured growth, and a lot of it will depend on if the people are advertising it."

Development of the Point Arena management plan already has begun within the Gateway Committee and will include public comment sessions to outline infrastructure needs, concerns and values that should be addressed, BLM representatives said.

Parking, restrooms

Subjects that can be expected to come up early in the process include parking, restrooms and trash collection, as well as trail mapping and designation of permissible recreational uses,

BLM Ukiah Field Officer Rich Burns said.

Will biking be permitted? How will cultural and historical artifacts dating back over 4,500 years of human occupation be protected? What kind of hiking access will exist along the Garcia River, a critical habitat for chinook and coho salmon, as well as other species?

But priorities driving the entire effort are the wildlife, geologic, historical and cultural values identified in the president's proclamation as those needing protection sufficient to merit inclusion in the monument, Fontana said.

"Really, the intent is protected open space," he said.

"We're kind of ahead of the game on this one," by virtue of close cooperation built since the city signed on as a gateway community, Fontana added. "There's a working relationship and a partnership already functioning, well-functioning there."

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.