Shollenberger Park Evolved as a Labor of Love

Before it was one of the most popular parks in Petaluma, Shollenberger sat behind a locked gate for decades, its only visitors high school students who would drink in the foliage and hard nosed naturalists who had to trespass in order to access the wetlands.

Today, an average of 400 people visit the East Side park each day, drawn by trails, gorgeous views and more than 200 species birds that have made the park a destination for birders around the country. But the park, located in the middle of 500 acres of wetlands, is fighting for its life, following the approval last December of a controversial asphalt plant that would be built across the river.

Check out our video from January about this project

The city of Petaluma, nearly half a dozen local groups and several residents have filed a lawsuit against the county for approving the project, arguing that the asphalt facility at Haystack Landing would do irreparable damage to air quality, bird habitat and tourism.

“It’s one of the last four intact high elevation salt marshes in the lower 48,” says Joan Cooper, a member of Friends of Shollenberger Park, a group formed to fight the asphalt plant and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “Four million dollars have been invested in the Petaluma wetlands and we shouldn’t do anything to degrade it.”

To raise money for the legal fund, Friends of Shollenberger is throwing a “shindig” at Lagunitas Brewery on Tuesday, June 14. The event will feature Argentine Tango guitarist Guillermo Garcia, Petaluma musician Gabby La La (who also happens to be Cooper’s daughter,) Three Legged Sister, Foxes In The Henhouse and others. Tickets are $20.

Shollenberger’s biggest supporters say the evolution of the park is, in many ways, a labor of love by naturalists who lead tours nearly every weekend and run a wetlands science program in which an estimated 900 third graders participate each year.

“We are trying to promote eco-tourism and for people to come and spend their money in Petaluma,” said Bob Dyer, who in 1998 became the first docent to lead tours of the wetlands. “And we certainly don’t think that when birders come all the way here, they will be turned on when they get to the park and they see these towers and the asphalt factory across the river.”

Named for the first director of Petaluma Parks and Recreation, Dick Shollenberger, the original park was located where today’s marina is, but moved in the early ‘80s to make room for a new hotel. The new location was (and still is) a dredge spoils site, meaning it’s where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stored sediment dredged up from the Petaluma River roughly every five years.

In 1975, the city reached an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game to build a park on the location in exchange for continued dredging, according to Gerald Moore, chairman of the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance, a nonprofit that works to educate residents about the ecology of the park.

“They built a levee all around the pond and kind of kept it a secret from the public,” Moore said. “One of the reasons was for safety, but another was that the guy who ran the water department was afraid to let the public know about it. He was afraid too many people would fall in love with it and he would lose his dredge spoils site.”

Eventually, the city upgraded the levee, built a parking lot and bathroom and the park opened in 1996, quickly becoming a beloved spot for residents. Docents led tours and school groups dissected owl pellets, studied birds and learned about the science of marshes.

Today, eight miles of trails run through the wetlands, starting at the edge of the Sheraton through Alman Marsh to Shollenberger Park and on to the Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility, providing opportunities for hiking, biking, running and bird watching.

It's an environmental jewel worth fighting for, say supporters, to protect not only its legacy but its future for generations to come.

Says Cooper: “People in Santa Rosa think of the park as a dump, whereas people in Petaluma think of it as our greatest asset.”

The Shollenberger Shindig will be held Tuesday, June 14 6-9pm at Lagunitas Brewery at 1280 N. McDowell Blvd. For more information, visit www.saveshollenberger.com