Trail Fail- Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve.
The Preserve trails are a failure, and the plan that was so
well written has not been pursued.
From Pinellas County’s Website
“Located
at the north end of Upper Tampa Bay, the preserve encompasses a wide diversity
of upland and coastal plant communities. The 396-acre preserve is managed
through an interlocal agreement with the city of Oldsmar, which is responsible
for the management of two recreational areas. Land management activities at
Mobbly Bayou Preserve are guided by the Mobbly Bayou Management Plan 2004.
Upland, intertidal, and subtidal communities in the bayou have suffered
significant environmental distress due to dense urbanization. Approximately 200
acres are targeted for restoration and enhancement of coastal communities using
funds provided by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Pinellas County
and City of Oldsmar Parks and Recreation Department. Two major goals are to
restore the hydrology of the bayou's tidal creek system and to enhance the
degraded vegetation communities by removing exotic species and planting native
species.”
The plan and the websites mention a hiking trail.
The wide concrete
exercise trail in Mobbly Bayou Preserve.
Inspection revealed a 12 foot wide concrete exercise path
with one “workout station” near the picnic shelter. This large sidewalk was
built along the active wave break zone and is undermined by water action and
soil movement along its west side and at the end. It is Not a nature trail, and not even a hiking trail.
Wash out and path
damage. There is no railing despite a 5 foot drop to open water.
At two of the western side underminings, workers did not
fill it with native soil or crushed shell, but rather stacked bags of concrete
in the gap. Engineering a proper layout before construction, and moving it 6 feet east would have avoided this. The mangroves along the west side have been trimmed, ostensibly to
improve the view the water.
End of the trail-
not to a boardwalk or sunset view pavilion, but to…ooops!
The trail termini is located after a slight curve. The
pavement is cracked and dangles over a five foot drop to the water below. There
was no signage, barrier, nor cones to warn any one running on the exercise
path. It takes little imagination to envision a solid abutment, a transition to high boardwalk that goes out to the far end of the spoil island with a covered rest pavilion on pilings.
DEP funded “hiking trail”.
The Department of
Environmental Protection provided funding for an interconnection trail. What we
found was a truck path to several dump sites. The “trail” was not blazed or
marked, and several tire tracks lead off in different directions to dump sites
used by the city.
City dump site. A "mulch pile" would have chipped and shredded woody fiber, and would get turned like compost. One would have been bad enough, but there were 6 different dump sites...and this is supposed to be a recreational trail.ugh. no, ugly!
The Preserve trails are a failure, and the plan that was so
well written has not been pursued.
Mobbly Bayou Preserve has an on-line Restoration plan
available at this link-
http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/managedlands/pdf/MBP/MBP_Mgmt_Plan_2004.pdf
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