LAKEPORT – The Bureau of Land Management will be at the Board of Supervisors' meeting today to discuss a proposed property acquisition that would provide year-round access to Cow Mountain Recreation Area.

Rich Burns, field office manager of the Ukiah BLM office, said the agency is considering the purchase of a portion of the Blue Oak Ranch, located five miles west of the intersection of Highways 29 and 175 in Lakeport. BLM originally was looking at 1,400 acres, but that has been scaled back to 600, he said.

The reason for the purchase would be to offer year-round access to Cow Mountain Recreation Area, said Burns. Cow Mountain only has two main access roads – one of them, in Lake County, off of Scotts Creek Road – and both are difficult for trailers and RVs, he said.

BLM has been looking for an opportunity to access Cow Mountain off a paved highway, he said. The Blue Oak property, he said, would allow access off of Highway 175 which, while narrow, is passable for those driving RVs or pulling trailers.

Burns said Monday that before BLM moves forward with the acquisition, it wants to know if the county is in favor of it or not. “If the county wasn't in favor of it, we wouldn't go forward, he said.

The land would be purchased and held by the Trust for Public Lands, said Burns, which would be repaid either through private donations or congressional funding.

That process of actually paying the land off, he added, could take several years. “The Trust for Public Lands feels confident that they can arrange for funding within a short period of time,” said Burns, although what a “short period of time” equals is anybody's guess, he added.

Ultimately, he said, the land would be held and managed by BLM, which manages approximately 100,000 acres of wilderness and recreation areas, he said.

They don't yet know what the asking price for the property is, said Burns. First, they want to see if there is community support, then they would go through the appraisal and purchase process.

Burns is scheduled to go before the board at 10:15 a.m.

Also on the board's agenda today:

– 10 a.m.: County Parks Division staffer Francisco Javier Batres will receive a proclamation commending him for his heroism in saving a woman's life. On March 8, while putting up signs at the Rodman Slough, Batres witnessed an accident in which a woman passed out and her minivan went into the lake. Batres dove in, broke out the back window and pulled the woman from the van before she drowned.

– 10:45 a.m.: Consideration of appointments to the Spring Valley Community Service Area No. 2 Advisory Board.

Untimed items:

– Proclamations will be awarded to Department of Fish & Game Warden Lynette Shimek, Joe and Joanne Ramhorst, George Bates and Sandie Elliott of SpiritWild for their immediate response and ongoing assistance in containing January's avian cholera outbreak on Clear Lake, which killed an estimated 8,000 ruddy ducks and other water birds.

– Consideration of the first amendment to agreement between the County of Lake and Brelje and Race for professional services (Mt. Hannah water storage tank replacement), for an additional cost of $59,600.

– Proposed ordinance amending Chapter 15 of the Lake County Code governing alcohol use in county parks (to prohibit alcohol in Lakeside County Park unless approved under a facility use agreement).

– Consideration of proposed option agreement for purchase real property located at 2595 Garden Drive, Nice (Grant Murray, property owner, APN 30-094-03), in the amount of $5,750, to be used as a green waste site.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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