While smaller budgets and spending constraints batter public services across the country, the popularity of public/private partnerships (PPPs), combining public projects and private equity, continues to increase. Now the Ukiah Valley has its own example: the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance (GUBTA) announced last week the formation of a public/private partnership to increase awareness of Lake Mendocino as a recreation destination and resource.
The cooperative agreement provides for development of recreation assets, interpretive and educational services, and the implementation of a comprehensive marketing and branding strategy.
Katrina Kessen, the Executive Director of GUBTA, worked with Poppy Burkhead, the Operations Project Manager for Lake Mendocino, to hammer out the cooperative agreement. Kessen hopes the “agreement will be another step toward the revitalization of Lake Mendocino, the jewel of inland Mendocino County.” A collaborative committee, with diverse professional backgrounds and interests in the local community, has been developing both near and long-term projects for the Lake, ranging from innovative branding and signage to re-imagined community spaces.
Lake manager Burkhead noted that public/private partnerships like this are relatively new for USACE. “Our job is to build and maintain projects, so we’re pleased to be able to partner with GUBTA to handle the marketing and promotion for all the recreation activities available at Lake Mendocino.” Burkhead considers this collaboration to be part of a shared vision, not just a short-term marketing program.
Lake Mendocino has over 3,000 acres of outdoor opportunities, including sustainable recreation activities and access to unique ecosystems. The property is even home to an endangered plant, Burke’s goldfields (lasthenia burkei), a small annual herb that grows in vernal pools and swales. Hiking trails ring the Lake, and other outdoor activities include biking, fishing, boating, and camping. Many areas at the Lake are wheelchair accessible, in accordance with the ADA. The Coyote Valley Dam itself is a popular destination for hiking and dog walking.
In the long term, Burkhead and Kessen agree increased visitor numbers to the Lake will help benefit economic development through tourism, business opportunities for food service, and concessions and rentals. “That’s where the private sector can really help,” said Kessen, “if we generate tourist awareness, those visitors support the local economy with jobs and revenue (like TOT funds). Lake Mendocino is the attraction, but local hotels, restaurants, and services all benefit from hosting Lake visitors…it’s like a multiplier effect to stimulate the local economy.” Burkhead agreed, but added that “building community is just as important as building visitor awareness.”
Initial partnership projects are in various stages of completion, including the development of a distinct and authentic brand and logo for Lake Mendocino. A new marketing/promotional campaign will be developed to help attract visitors, and a destination park, encompassing approximately nine acres, will add natural play elements and space for gatherings and events.
Essentially, Lake Mendocino, the USACE, and GUBTA have become a single, jointly administered, destination management and marketing partnership. The agreement between GUBTA and USACE will be in place for five years, after which the contract allows for renewal or cancellation. Both Burkhead and Kessen think this organization can be an example for other potential community partnerships in Mendocino County.
The first step in the GUBTA/USACE PPP is the “branding” of the Lake. The brand name is the verbal cue to drive the marketing campaign; it becomes the reference point in consumers’ minds. Branding is not only a marketing tool to help differentiate a tourism product or destination from another but should also be viewed as a management tool to help create a genuine competitive advantage for attracting visitors.
And aside from attracting guests, Burkhead also believes putting a face on Lake Mendocino will help highlight the presence of the personnel at the Lake. “We’re all members of the community,” she says, “we participate in local festivals, run interpretive programs, and our families have fond memories of growing up spending summers at the Lake.”
Those nostalgic stories of family boating trips to the Lake resonate with Kessen as well, who says that every member of the ad-hoc marketing committee remembers cooling off at the Lake during a sweltering Ukiah summer, having picnics, and walking the dam. “Ultimately, the local community benefits from, and builds memories about, great times spent at the Lake,” said Kessen, “bringing together businesses, visitors, and local communities creates the kind of energy that helps these kinds of partnership marketing programs succeed.”
The official agreement between the USACE and GUBTA was signed at the beginning of August. A marketing plan has been developed, and roll-out of new signage at Lake Mendocino will happen this fall. The new Destination Park should break ground in 2025.
Burkhead recently toured the Lake Mendocino area by air and came away with a fresh perspective. “We tend to take things for granted,” she said. “But seeing our little world from 4,000 feet really convinced me that affecting change in one tiny place requires cooperation with the bigger community; involvement and inclusion are critical.”
Lake Mendocino is currently open for all recreational activities, and both boat launches are fully operational. Specific information is available at https://www.recreation.gov/camping/gateways/483. The Visit Ukiah website is here: https://visitukiah.com/gubta-and-us-army-corp-of-engineers-launch-partnership/.
The jewel of inland Mendocino!!!!
Ha!! Haha!!
This was AI-written. Nice try. I live pretty close to there and absolutely nobody considers this a “vacation destination”. If you’re craving to sleep out in the woods protected only by a thin layer of nylon, sure. That’s me, basically all the time. But there are plenty of better spots nearby.
Make it safe for the local youth, or don’t make it at all.
The old “UKIAH – U Know It’s All Here” and “Nearby – Far Out” are two examples of past branding gone astray. Better luck next time. And keeping some water in the lake would be an important part of this latest effort.
My humble opinion from almost 60 years of living near and using Lake Mendocino is that the Corps of Engineers could not have managed all of its facets worse if it tried.
Lake Mendocino has been neglected and left to rot for at least a decade. All but one of the campgrounds have been shut down for years. The one that is still sometimes open is usually inaccessible until late June or July. Some of the day use areas have been closed for years too. Decades of deferred maintenance. Filthy homeless encampments thrive in the bushes around the southern lakeshore. The parking lots are usually filled with norteno gang bangers getting liquored up and smoking dope. The iron rangers were repeatedly vandalized and stolen to the point that they don’t even try to collect day use fees at all anymore. The boat ramps and docks are always in poor condition, and once all the water has flowed to Sonoma in September the ramps are unusable anyway. Nobody answers the phone or returns calls at the corps of engineer office at the lake. The lake is never stocked with trout or striped bass anymore and carp are taking over. I’m sure lots of public money will be spent in this weak attempt to revive the lake, probably all in vain. Would’ve been cheaper to just keep up maintenance and enforcement at the damned place way back ten or fifteen years ago.
I went to have a picnic at Bushay Campground on the upper part of lake mendo. It looked like the setting from Friday the 13th meets the Last of Us. Army corps of engineers lol ?
They’re gonna have to do ALOT of work all around the lake to make it a “premier” destination spot. They couldn’t even cut a tree out of the road to open the campground area above the channel.
The Army Corp of Engineers shouldn’t have a say in any of this ! They have allowed a beautiful place to go camping and enjoy water sports to go to hell. Unfortunately they “own” the lake which means it’s probably doomed to fail.
Don’t pretend you aren’t part of the problem, Old ukiah man. You welcome into our county the very people destroying the lake. More homeless fentanyl addicts and third-world drug dealers suits you just fine. I am sure you haven’t been to the lake in years, if at all.
Great. Now do the same for Lake Pillsbury. SAVE LAKE PILLSBURY. A much more peaceful and enjoyable place. I just got home today after opening weekend for B zone. 3 days of solitude camping and hunting. No bucks but it was still wonderful and relaxing. The elk are amazing except when they bugle 60 ft from your tent at 2:30 am. But still amazing.
Build some mountain bike trails! I’d ride mine out there more often, but the poison oak is always growing into the trail and it’s the only thing on my mind when I’m out there.