California Trails and Greenways Shines a Spotlight on Southeast Greenway Milestone
The Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway won an Acquisition Merit Award from the 2025 California Trails & Greenways Award Program, a 40-year-old program sponsored by California State Parks. Volunteer Sue Field and I had the honor of attending the conference in Pomona to accept the award on behalf of the 15+ year effort by the Southeast Greenway Campaign to acquire the property for the City of Santa Rosa. Our partners, the Sonoma Land Trust and the City of Santa Rosa, were also noted during the award presentation.
The ceremony was held during a 3-day conference with many opportunities to learn about strategies for stewarding projects like ours. “Presentations highlighted the many ways communities have used to make walking and other non-motorized transportation safe and attractive,” noted Sue after the event. In one of the sessions, we learned about the greater network and planned interconnectivity of paths and trails in exemplary projects including the Santa Cruz Coastal Trail; the Tracks at Brea Western Expansion; and planned improvements in Laguna Canyon. Some of the solutions they employed may be applicable to our Greenway.
“Presenters also shared how they patched together funding sources required to complete these projects,” Sue added. It was a great opportunity for us both to learn and make connections. It’s inspiring to see how many communities are creating greenways and connected, safe pathway systems!