BILL ANALYSIS �
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( Without Reference to File )
SENATE THIRD READING
SCR 140 (Evans)
As Introduced August 5, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :30-1
SUMMARY : Designates the Pudding Creek Trestle in MacKerricher
State Park in Mendocino County as the Wesley Chesbro Pudding
Creek Trestle. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes the following legislative findings and declarations
regarding the Pudding Creek Trestle:
a) The Pudding Creek Trestle is a
pedestrian-equestrian-bicycle timber stringer bridge over
Pudding Creek in MacKerriker State Park, adjacent to the
City of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County.
b) The trestle is 48 feet above sea level, with a total
length of 515 feet and a deck width of 12 feet and was
built by the Union Lumber Company in 1915 as a logging
railroad trestle.
c) During the early years of the 20th Century, the Union
Lumber Company harvested timber from forests along Ten Mile
River, and the Ten Mile Railroad was constructed to
transport logs from those forests, and over Pudding Creek,
to the Fort Bragg mill.
d) For 32 years the Ten Mile Railroad existed as a working
railroad, hauling logs and transporting workers and after
World War II, logging trucks replaced the railroad, and the
right-of-way, including the trestle, were converted for
truck use in 1949.
e) All use of the trestle ended in 1983, and the Department
of Parks and Recreation acquired the unused logging road
and nearby headlands in 1995.
f) In 2001, Senator Chesbro requested a report on the
structural condition of the trestle, and state engineers
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concluded that with some structural modifications it could
be safely used by non-motorized traffic, including
pedestrians, bicyclists, and equestrians, to provide easy
access from Fort Bragg to the beaches at MacKerricher State
Park and to create the key link in one of the longest
public trails along the California coast.
g) Senator Chesbro thereupon committed to securing funding
through the State Coastal Conservancy or from unallocated
park bond funds and gathered department heads from affected
state and federal agencies to form a working group to
pursue the project.
h) Thanks to Senator Chesbro's leadership, the Budget Act
of 2003 provided $235,000 in Proposition 40 (2002) funds
for preliminary plans and working drawings to rehabilitate
the trestle, in 2004, the trestle project was awarded
$1,939,000 in Proposition 40 funds for construction, and in
2006, the project was awarded an additional $1,666,000 to
complete the project.
2)Designates the Pudding Creek Trestle in MacKerricher State
Park as the Wesley Chesbro Pudding Creek Trestle, and directs
that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Director
of Parks and Recreation and the author for appropriate
distribution.
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This resolution is keyed non-fiscal by
the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : This resolution recognizes and honors former Senator
and now Assembly Member Chesbro, who is retiring from the
Legislature this year after 16 years of state service, for his
specific leadership role in securing the engineering studies and
funding for rehabilitation of the historic Pudding Creek
Trestle. As indicated in the language of this resolution, the
Pudding Creek Trestle was first constructed in 1915 as a logging
railroad trestle, was used for many years for transport of logs
by rail and later by truck, and became part of MacKerricher
State Park in 1995. In 2001, then Senator Chesbro was
instrumental in requesting a report on the structural condition
of the trestle, convening a multi-agency working group to pursue
the project, and requesting the necessary funding to
rehabilitate the trestle, so that it is now actively used by
pedestrians, bicyclists and equestrians, provides trail access
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from Fort Bragg to the beaches of MacKerricher State Park, and
serves as a key link in the California Coastal trail. This
resolution would declare that the trestle shall be known as the
Wesley Chesbro Pudding Creek Trestle.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0005586