Trail Maintenance

Over time, growth of naturally occurring native vegetation (oak tree, bay trees, manzanita, coyote bush, etc.) can effectively block use of easements. Responsible property owners, whenever possible, cut back such growth. For many years, the Trailblazers had sponsored fund raising activities which paid for professional landscaping maintenance workers who could clear areas that could not be maintained by property owners.
 
Easement maintenance is a community effort and we are asking for your help. Cut the grasses in the easements that part of virtually every property in Diamond A. Your adjacent neighbor is subject to a similar easement, resulting in a trail system that is available to the Diamond A community for equestrian and recreational hiking purposes.

Benefits of maintaining your easement:
  1. Hiking, horseback riding, and nature appreciation. While horse ownership and riding in Diamond A may have diminished in recent years, availability of the trails is a historic and important feature of our community. The easement trails offer wonderful opportunities (away from speeding cars) for walks, hikes, and nature study, but only if they are clear and passable.
  2. Firefighter Access. Unimpeded access to areas between homes, or to portions of properties not on the main roads, can be critical to fire suppression efforts. Fires in light and flashy fuels such as dry grass can spread quickly; cleared trails may provide firefighters the quick access they need to prevent a small fire from growing.
  3. Fire Breaks. At approximately 20 feet of total width, cleared trails offer an area of reduced fuels that may slow the spread of a fire. Shorter grasses may also be less likely to produce embers that cause spot fires under windy conditions, and may reduce the vertical spread of fire into trees and nearby structures.
  4. Having well maintained recreational easements confers a certain cachet for our community that can only enhance property values.
  5. Our network of easements provides protection for wildlife mobility and, as other communities have found, reduces collisions between wildlife (particularly deer) and automobiles on our roads. The connections between the easements in Diamond A (both Diamond ‘A’ Ranch Estates and Diamond ‘A’ Ranches), the easements of the George Ranch and larger open spaces north and west of Diamond A make significant contributions to movement and protection of wildlife across a large portion of Sonoma County.

What You Can Do:
  1. Cut the weeds and grasses in your easement to a height of 4 inches or less.
  2. Ask your landscaping service to cut the weeds and grasses in your easement to a height of 4 inches or less.

If we all maintain the easements along our property lines, we not only achieve the benefits described above, but we also show our neighbors, friends, and visitors the community spirit that makes Diamond A such a unique place.