County to provide $90,000 for upgrades to Juan Bautista de Anza Historical Trail
EL CENTRO — Work is proceeding on updating the portion of the Juan Bautista de Anza Historical Trail that meanders through Imperial County.
The $230,000 project — led by United Desert Gateway at the behest of the Bureau of Land Management — will include the creation of an interpretive plan, development of an audio mobile phone app that will guide visitors along the trail and formation of an Environmental Education Exchange to provide outreach to area schools.
“The United Desert Gateway has been tasked by the BLM and the National Park Service to accomplish various projects along the trail in order to enhance the interpretation, visitor experience and preservation of the trail,” said Charla Teeters, a consultant with UDG.
The California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division has provided a $120,000 grant for the project. During the regular meeting Tuesday, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to provide an additional $90,000 to the project sourced from California OHV Green Sticker funds.
“I think it is an excellent project, preserving the trail,” Board Chairman Raymond R. Castillo said during the meeting.
California OHV Green Sticker funds are given to Imperial County to help offset the cost of various wilderness area endeavors including law enforcement patrols in the Imperial Sand Dunes and emergency medical services.
“We have shared the account before, and I spoke to my finance person, and it appears that it is something that we would not be opposed to,” Imperial County Sheriff Raymond Loera told the board of supervisors during the meeting. “I think it would be beneficial to the county.”
Additional funding will be sought from other organizations, businesses, grants and user groups to fill the remaining gap, Teeters said during the meeting.
Local treasure
The Juan Bautista de Anza Historical Trail is “one of our great treasures here in the Valley,” Teeter said.
“Juan Batista came between 1775 and 1776 with men, women and children on a journey to establish the first non-native settlement in the San Francisco Bay,” she said. “The trail is 1,200 miles long, and 47 of those miles are located in Imperial County. We are one of the only areas in the state where you can come and see the trail in its most natural state as [compared] to when the explorers came through at that time.”
In 1775, Juan Bautista de Anza and his followers set off from Mexico and headed west through the Sonora Desert in Arizona and California.
Anza began recruiting settlers and soldiers in the spring of 1775 in San Miguel de Horcasitas, departing on Sept. 29, 1775. The final assembly was at Tubac Presidio, where they left Spanish civilization behind and traveled 890 miles to Monterey, according to the National Park Service.
On Nov. 30, 1775, the expedition arrived at the present day Yuma Crossing and made its way safely across the Colorado River. In early December, the members were received as guests by the Yuma Native American Tribe, which was led by Chief Salvador Palma.
After leaving camp with the Yumas, Anza followed the Colorado River south into present day Mexico, remaining south of the present border for several days to rest before crossing the desert in four groups, which looped back into what would become Imperial County 132 years later. The travelers then continued north to the San Sebastian Marsh, turned west and followed San Felipe Creek.
Continuing on, the group of 240 friars, soldiers and colonists — along with about 695 horses and mules, and about 385 head of cattle — arrived at their destination near San Francisco Bay on March 28, 1776.
Today, visitors can trace the route through Imperial County in their cars, with the Yuha Desert providing some of the best opportunities to experience the historical path as it would have been more than two centuries ago, Teeter said.
Updating trail features
To date, UDG has already designed and printed informational kiosks that have been erected at strategic points along the trail at a cost of $25,000. An interpretive photographic project, “Lives and Stories from the Anza Trail Corridor,” has been completed at a cost of $30,000. Presently, additional signage along highway corridors and along the trail itself is being installed at a cost of $15,000. Another $20,000 has been spent over the last five years to prepare and publish an annual UDG recreation guide.
Future projects will include development of a mobile phone app and printing of audio tour CDs at a cost of $10,000; design and publication of a brochure to accompany the audio tour at a cost of $20,000; development and installation of a museum exhibit at a cost of $45,000; design and printing of promotional banners at a cost of $5,000; education outreach to schools at a cost of $10,000; completion of an interpretive plan at a cost of $30,000, and administration activities associated with the completion of the projects at a cost of $20,000.
United Desert Gateway is a non-profit public benefit corporation comprised of the Brawley, El Centro and Yuma chambers of commerce that works in tandem with the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management and other partners to enhance the recreational experience at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area and other BLM managed lands in the area.
For more information about UDG, visit http://www.uniteddesertgateway.org/
For more information about the Juan Bautista de Anza Historical Trail, visit http://www.anzahistorictrail.org/visit/ counties/imperial