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State wildlife officials want to give the Saxton Public Boat Ramp in Smith River a much-needed facelift, including new restrooms, wheelchair accessible trails, kayak put-in areas, interpretive signs and bird observation shelters.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife hopes to use Wildlife Conservation Board Public Access Program dollars to pay for the program, according to senior environmental scientist Phillip Bairrington.

“It was in 1985 when the Wildlife Conservation Board applied some funding to restore (the boat ramp),” Bairrington told supervisors. “That’s the last time the site has benefitted from significant upgrades of any kind.”

Del Norte County supervisors voted 4-0-1 on Tuesday in favor of a letter of support for the project and for a cooperative maintenance agreement between CDFW and the county.

District 5 Supervisor Bob Berkowitz was absent.

According to Board Chairman Gerry Hemmingsen, the county has “always had an agreement” with Fish and Wildlife that they would fix up the facility and the county would maintain it.

According to Bairrington’s staff report, the cooperative maintenance agreement between the county and CDFW expired in 2010.
The project’s total cost is $884,000, including CDFW staff time, which is about $78,000, Bairrington said. He expects the Wildlife Conservation Board to consider offering funding at its meeting in August.

“The WCB will support this project when it knows that the restoration will be managed and maintained for about 25 years into the future,” Bairrington told supervisors.

To agree to the land conversion, the Wildlife Conservation Board and CDFW want assurance that the county will maintain and manage the property for about 25 years into the future, he said.
Construction will take place in 2023 and 2024 and the project is expected to be completed at the beginning of 2025, according to Bairrington.

“We think this project is a dandy project,” he said. “To upgrade a dilapidated facility and expand the utility of the facility to a wider range of recreation use.”

The boat ramp, located on Fred Haight Drive about a mile north of U.S. 101, was built in 1963. The parking lot encompasses a private parcel that’s not CDFW property, Bairrington said.

Since its last upgrade 37 years ago, the parking lot has degraded, becoming pockmarked with potholes, Bairrrington said. It will be redesigned to improve traffic flow with new asphalt, striping, parking bumpers and bike racks, according to Bairrington’s staff report.

The current restrooms were permanently closed about two years ago when a tree fell on the roof. The new facilities will be made of precast concrete, consist of two stalls that will be ADA compliant.

The current signs are “OK, but they’re getting harder to read,” Bairrington said. The project includes a large “high-quality monument sign” that will face the street at the facility’s entrance.

“This is significant because the Saxton Public Boat Ramp facility has never had a proper street-visible sign and having one would greatly help users find the facility,” Bairrington’s report states. “Interpretive signs will also be designed and installed. These will include information on Smith River fish and associated fishing regulations, a map of the river and estuary and the various public boat launches along the river and some of the birds found on teh lower river.”

There will also be traffic signs, parking signs, ADA signs, a stop sign and a funder recognition sign, according to the report.

Other visitor amenities include a covered picnic area, a covered bird-viewing blind, new benches and bear-proof trash and recycling containers, according to the staff report.

Hemmingsen said he also supported the project, but asked Bairrington if CDFW could put port o’ potties at the boat ramp since the restrooms were closed.

Bairrington said he spoke with his manager who said “we will not be putting any port o’ potties out there.”

The Saxton Public Boat Ramp restoration drew support from both county supervisors and Patty McCleary, deputy director for the Smith River Alliance.

“I’m delighted that we have an opportunity to work in partnership with CDFW to make improvements to this boat ramp on the absolute best river that the State of California has,” she told supervisors.

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