A “Signing Ceremony” on Friday, January 27, will celebrate five local organizations becoming Collaborative Partners of The California Coastal National Monument (CCNM).

These organizations will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bureau of Land Management. New collaborative partners will include The City of Fort Bragg, which will become the Fort Bragg-Mendocino Gateway for the Mendocino Coast Section of the California Coastal National Monument (from Rockport to The Navarro River).

Other collaborative partners are the Caspar Community, the Fort Bragg Mendocino Coast Historical Society, the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, and the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association.

CCNM Protects A National Treasure

In 2000, President Clinton proclaimed all of our state’s offshore rocks, pinnacles and islands (with a few exceptions) “The California Coastal National Monument”. The Bureau of Land Management was named administrator of the Monument in cooperation with the Department of Fish and Game and California State Parks.

An Important Geotourism Opportunity

Collaborative partners will have the opportunity to sign a Geotourism document adopting principles established by the National Geographic Society’s “Center for Sustainable Destinations” which promotes approaches to tourism that protect the integrity, diversity and natural resources of the Northern California Coast.

Preliminary “Rock Walks” Map Developed

Going forward, Fort Bragg-Mendocino Gateway promotional efforts will focus on activities that recognize and promote our local California Coastal National Monument.

Already a 5 1/2 foot tall preliminary “Rock Walks” map has been created, and is on display at the Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce Office and Visitor Center at 332 N. Main Street in Fort Bragg.