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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. — Plans for a park whose genesis has been several years in the making took a step forward during the first community meeting on the project in Clearlake Oaks on Tuesday.
The John T. Klaus Park will be located on 584 acres of donated land along Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks.
The Board of Supervisors accepted the property donation in November of 2022.
The new land will be added to the county’s park system, which currently includes roughly 2,000 acres, most of it part of Mount Konocti County Park, Public Services Director Lars Ewing told Lake County News.
The Lake County Public Services Department, which will manage the park, hosted the community meeting at East Lake School Tuesday evening.
Ewing and Public Services Deputy Director Kati Galvani were on hand along with Scott Redding, principal landscape architect, and Lesley Owning, principal environmental planner, of Helix Environmental Planning of Folsom, the company hired to do the initial analysis and conceptual planning.
About 34 people — including District 4 Supervisor-elect Brad Rasmussen and his wife, Karyn — came to listen to the presentation, review a series of picture boards showing the project area, ask questions and share ideas with the consultants.
“This is more of a listening session than anything,” said Ewing.
Ewing said the county has been working with the Elem Colony, meeting with its tribal historic preservation officer regarding the project and also doing additional tribal outreach.
The John T. Klaus 1994 Trust provided not just the property but between $3 million and $4 million in funds for the sole purpose of supporting the park, Ewing reported.
The trust spells out specific requirements, including that the land must be used for a park, that the park must be named for John T. Klaus, that the rear one-third of the property must be used for a wildlife preserve or refuge, and that areas in the front of the park shall be used for youth sporting activities.
Helix is doing the biological and cultural constraints analysis, which Ewing said will determine what additional biological and cultural studies are needed.
From there, the process is expected to move into conceptual design and then schematic design, he said.
However, that part of the process is much farther down the road. Tuesday night’s meeting was to get the process off the ground by hearing from community members about what they envision for the park. More meetings, one virtual and another in-person, are coming up.
Owning explained outreach with tribes and the California Native American Heritage Commission to find out if cultural resource studies have been done on the site. They are waiting for responses to those informational requests.
No study of the site has been done to date. Owning said they believe the more recent uses of the property have been for a homestead, grazing and an orchard.
From the audience came a long list of possible amenities for the park, with trails — walking, biking and equestrian — chief among them.
There also were suggestions for a visitor center to promote the county, RV and camping sites, bathrooms, concessions, a fitness circuit, a dog park and dog waste stations, a stage for weddings and events, a community garden, interpretive signage and a native plant garden. Businessman Don Van Pelt said the trails should be wide to help with visibility as there are a lot of rattlesnakes in the area.
Considerations for park design include access points into the park, either off of Highway 20 or Almond Lane.
Van Pelt pointed out that they should feature a knoll — located behind the nearby quarry that he owns — in the new park, as the spot has one of the prettiest views of Clear Lake in Lake County.
Explaining that the project is now in the very early planning stage, Ewing said the next step is defining the project and advancing it by coming up with a master plan.
After the concept design is created — which will take a few months to complete — Ewing said there will still be much to do, including preliminary plans, and there will be more public input opportunities.
For more information, to offer ideas and input, or to be added to the notification list, email Public Services’ Parks Division at
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The enhanced enforcement will run from Friday, Aug. 30, through Monday, Sept. 2, as part of our ongoing commitment to keeping our roads safe.
Labor Day weekend is a time for celebration and relaxation, but it is also one of the deadliest times of the year on our nation's roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 32% of all traffic fatalities involved drivers who were impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Driving under the influence puts everyone at risk, including drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
The Lakeport Police Department wants everyone to enjoy their Labor Day weekend, but we also want them to do so responsibly. Remember to designate a sober driver, use public transportation, or call a rideshare service.
The Lakeport Police Department encourages all residents and visitors to follow these simple tips to ensure a safe holiday weekend:
• Plan ahead: Before you start drinking, designate a sober driver or plan to use alternative transportation.
• If you’re hosting a gathering, make sure all your guests have a safe way to get home.
• If you see a drunk driver on the road, call 911 immediately.
• If you have friends or family who are about to drive impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get home safely.
This Labor Day weekend, remember that driving under the influence is not worth the risk. Not only can it lead to serious injury or death, but it can also result in significant legal and financial consequences, including DUI charges, fines and increased insurance rates.
The Lakeport Police Department said it is committed to keeping the community safe. “By working together, we can make sure everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend.”
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- Written by: Caltrans
“The Biden-Harris Administration is helping California build our clean transportation infrastructure, faster. This latest federal funding is another opportunity for America’s exports to look west for moving freight while fighting our climate crisis,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The West Coast Truck Charging and Fueling Corridor Project is an innovative and collaborative multi-state effort to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, in the trucking and logistics industries.
The funding comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021.
“Focusing on economic prosperity and climate action allows us to combine our sustainability and equity efforts while improving our nation’s transportation network,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “This latest federal funding is another opportunity for America’s exports to look west for moving freight while combating climate change.”
The award will result in new, publicly accessible charging stations and hydrogen fueling stations. These stations will support the emissions-free movement of goods locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Construction of the new charging stations is expected to begin in 2026.
“With this level of federal funding, truckers can travel from San Diego to Seattle in zero-emission trucks,” said Patty Monahan, California Energy Commission commissioner. “By zeroing out harmful pollution in this critical sector with zero-emission trucks, we can bring cleaner air to the communities that need it the most.”
“Our success with this grant is due to the strong partnership among the west coast states and our national leadership in reducing emissions from transportation,” said Kris Strickler, Oregon Department of Transportation director. “Heavy trucks are a vital part of our economies, and this federal funding will give us the opportunity to meet the trucking industry’s need for more modern infrastructure.”
“We are pleased to have partnered with Caltrans, the California Energy Commission and ODOT to receive this award. This coordinated effort amongst the three states will further enhance all our efforts to strengthen the overall charging infrastructure along the West Coast,” said Washington State Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar. “The award supports Washington’s climate work by allowing further investment in building a robust and sustainable EV charging infrastructure throughout Washington.”
The project builds on years of partnership and planning to support infrastructure for zero-emission trucks on the West Coast. This includes public-private collaboration and coordination among electric utilities in the three states.
The new charging and fueling stations will support California’s implementation of the Advanced Clean Trucks, or ACT, standard, a world-leading policy first adopted in 2020 that requires an increasing percentage of truck sales to be ZEVs.
In 2021, Oregon and Washington became the second and third states after California to adopt this policy. In 2023, one out of six new medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold in California were zero-emission vehicles, exceeding the ACT’s ZEV sales goals two years ahead of schedule.
This funding will also support implementation of the Advanced Clean Fleets, or ACF, standard adopted by California in 2023. Under the ACF, fleets across the state will start a phased transition to ZEVs and all new medium- and heavy-duty truck sales will be ZEVs by 2036.
Development of infrastructure on the project will build on the significant progress for light-duty ZEV infrastructure. With over 14,000 direct current (DC) fast chargers, the three states account for one-third of the nation’s publicly accessible fast chargers for light-duty vehicles.
Why it matters:
• Trucks total 6% of vehicles on California’s roads, but they account for over 35% of its transportation-generated emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides and a quarter of the state’s on-road greenhouse gas emissions.
• Communities along trucking corridors and near warehouses with heavy truck traffic face disproportionate health burdens. This grant funding supports corridors that have some of the worst air pollution in the nation.
• Interstate 5 connects metropolitan areas, regional highways, and globally important ports, such as the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the Northwest Seaport Alliance (Ports of Seattle and Tacoma). In 2023, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled 29% of all containerized waterborne imports and exports in the U.S. and over $73 billion in international trade flowed through the Northwest Seaport Alliance. Interstate 5 and nearby border highways are also critical to the movement of freight at the borders with Mexico and Canada.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) introduced the measure, AB 1284, which is going to Gov. Gavin Newsom following a final Assembly concurrence vote of 61-0.
Ramos said that, under current law, the California’s Natural Resources Agency, or CNRA, “is not required to work with tribal communities even though the state’s First People have managed the land and its resources for centuries.”
In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Executive Order B-10-11 that reaffirmed California’s recognition of tribal communities as sovereigns of their own territory and people and as citizens of the state.
That order also committed the state to foster and sustain government-to-government relationships with tribal communities to address areas of mutual concern and to have meaningful consultations, Ramos said.
Ramos said his bill “continues to make that commitment a reality and help ensure that together we act to protect endangered natural resources and meet critical climate goals.”
AB 1284 would further California's 30x30 Initiative that puts California on the path to conserving 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030, Ramos said.
The bill would authorize the secretary or a delegate to begin government-to-government negotiations on cogovernance and comanagement agreements with the tribe within 90 days of a request by a federally recognized tribe.
“AB 1284 will create a clear path for true co-governance and co-management,” said Fawn C. Murphy, chairperson of the Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People and a bill co-sponsor. “California’s federally recognized tribes have the knowledge and expertise to co-manage lands and waters in their ancestral territories. Now more than ever we need tribal co-management if we are going to help the state reach its 30x30 goals and combat a changing climate. We urge Gov. Newsom to sign this bill.”
“The success of AB 1284 in the legislature is a victory for all tribal nations in California,” said Jeri Lynn Thompson, chairperson of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, another AB 1284 co-sponsor. “It paves the way for more equitable partnerships with the state in managing our natural resources. We call on Gov. Newsom to sign this bill and help usher in a new era of collaboration that respects tribal sovereignty and our deep connection to the land and waters."
A partial list of AB 1284 supporters includes Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe Of California, California State Parks Foundation, California Tribal Chairpersons' Association, Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community Of The Trinidad Rancheria, Jamul Indian Village of California, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Elk Valley Rancheria, California; Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, Defenders Of Wildlife, Friends Of The River, Ocean Conservancy and Pew Charitable Trusts.
The governor has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature.