SOLANO LAND TRUST VOLUNTEERS BEGIN BUILDING NEW TRAIL
The trust aims to continue construction at the Patwino Worrtla Kodi Dihi Open Space Park
Nestled into the hills of Solano County and off the beaten path Saturday, a group of nearly 20 people stood in a distant circle, ready to embark on building the Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park’s newest hiking trail.
Heading in the direction of Harmonia Hill, the group found themselves ready to work, get their hands dirty and help prepare a trail that is destined to be ready for hiking enthusiasts-turned-volunteer slike Richard Cristo of Benicia.
“We like to work with our hands,” Cristo chuckled.
Formerly known as the Rockville Trail Preserve, the Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park in Fairfield is a 1,500 acre piece of land that Solano Land Trust had acquired in collaboration with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. The sole purpose of fulfilling their mission for this property and the other six properties the Solano Land Trust owns is simple: protecting it for today, saving it for tomorrow.
“What Solano Land Trust does is we preserve 22,000 acres in Solano County,” Knippenberg said. “We are really heavily involved in engaging the community and letting them know what we do and also asking for their support in doing it, and just having fun, working hard, building something and some sense of accomplishment,” Field Operations Manager of Solano Land Trust Jordan Knippenberg said.
Currently having 10 different hiking trails open to the public, getting more readied and prepared for the future is one of the many goals of the Solano Land Trust. Leading the group of volunteers known as the “Trail/ Bridge Crew” is Knippenberg, who has been in his role for over five years now. He leads the group of volunteers all across the land they own, with the purpose of making them safer.
“We have two volunteer days a month, one at Lynch that the county runs and here at Patwino, we do it monthly,” Knippenberg said. “We also have a Birds of Prey hike.”
When working on these projects, Solano Land Trust continues to speak with surrounding landowners around these open spaces to alter their trails to fit their comfortability level, while other people around the region want to play a part in the process. Having started building this hiking trail path months prior, a project like fixing up a trail like this is quite long-term, Knippenberg said, with so many different projects happening at once.
“We also have other bridges to build that will take multiple trail days as well,” Knippenberg said.
Saturday, the goal was simple — to complete the unfinished bridge roughly around a mile into the hike, and prepare a safe walkway leading towards Harmonia Hill. Cristo, alongside
his wife Cathy, have worked on projects hosted by the Solano Land Trust and enjoyed every moment of it.
“The wife and I volunteered out at Lynch Canyon before this, and we are members and donors,” Cristo said.
Once the group made it to the area where they had last left off, they were broken into two groups. The first group moved past the foundation of the bridge to begin to prepare the path after the bridge. The second group stayed with the lumber and tools.
Cristo, who is a retired engineer, bounced around the area providing help wherever he could. Although he is good with tools, Cristo believes that all you need is a desire to help.
““We can show you what to do,” he said.
Though grateful for the regular volunteers, Knippenberg always is excited at seeing new faces. He hopes that they develop excitement about the beauty of open spaces.
“A real big focus of ours is getting more people exposed to not just the Land Trust, but to open spaces,” Knippenberg said. “Especially during COVID, people are itching to get outside but also away from folks so they need a place to go, but they don’t always know where to go.”
Although a hike like this one could be strenuous, Knippenberg advised that there are other properties within the Land Trust that are easier, like another trail on this same property.
“We have an All-People’s trail, a low mobility trail that is being built for specifically those reasons to include everyone,” Knippenberg said.
Aside from volunteering, people can help with financial donations.
“We are a non-profit that depends on volunteer work but also financially. These properties, these projects are built on people’s donations and generosity,” Knippenberg said.
If you are interested in volunteering, Cristo suggests visiting Solano Land Trust online.
“The best thing to do is to get on the website and see what activities are coming up for the month,” he said. “There are a myriad of things that you can get involved with, and you can pick what’s interesting to you.
For more information, visit https://solanolandtrust. org/events or email Volunteer@solanotrust.org.