The city of Berkeley has announced a series of public workshops over the next few months for those interested in helping to bring back Berkeley Tuolumne Camp, which was destroyed by the Rim Fire in 2013.
According to the city, much of the camp is set to be rebuilt “essentially in place,” though several significant changes will be necessary: overnight camping will not be allowed in the 100-year flood plain; use of the northern area of camp — called Sun City — will be prohibited, according to the forest service; and two new parking areas are set to be created off Hardin Flat Road, as parking will no longer be allowed on the road itself.
The city will need to create a master plan if it hopes to get approval to rebuild the popular family camp, which opened in Groveland in 1922. The city hopes to reopen camp by 2018 under the current timeline.
According to a letter to the city from the U.S. Forest Service, several items still need to be worked out regarding the current proposed camp layout. The city will need to survey some parts of the camp — never studied before — for archaeological significance, which could impact a proposed trail leading to Teepee Village in the southwestern area of camp. The city will also need to come up with a plan for barriers around a proposed swimming area that the forest service said gets in the way of “fish passage.”
The forest service said new soil studies and other analyses must also be done, in the wake of the Rim Fire, and that the city may need to agree to new flood control mitigations prior to any final plans: “From a soils perspective, areas of instability and high hazard/erosion areas post Rim Fire need to be identified. These factors may affect the actual location of facilities or infrastructure within the project area.”
