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Donated Mount Shasta Trail12-23-22 | Department

Donated Mount Shasta Trail

The trail crosses lands owned by the City of Mount Shasta and the Mount Shasta Union School District
by Tom Hesseldenz, Landscape Architect, Tom Hesseldenz & Associates

The dedication plaque at the library trailhead of Sisson Overlook Trail. The trail is one-quarter-mile in length and was designed through the donation of time by Tom Hesseldenz and Associates of Mount Shasta, California.
2 Constructed freshwater marsh used as wetland mitigation for the boardwalk installation in Sisson Meadow (a jurisdictional wet meadow).

The Sisson Overlook Trail was undertaken by the Mount Shasta Rotary Club in Northern California at the start of a paved multi-use ADA-compliant trail network connecting residential areas, schools, the local library, parks, and a land trust preserve. At one-quarter-mile in length, the Trail overlooks a 7-acre wet meadow in the heart of town and provides spectacular views of the Mount Shasta Volcano, Black Butte, and the Trinity Divide. It also connects to boardwalks in Sisson Meadow that pass by a one-acre constructed freshwater marsh and provide linkages to the downtown area.

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Tom Hesseldenz and Associates, a local ecological landscape architectural firm, undertook the design, grant writing, and construction management in an entirely pro bono capacity. Tom Hesseldenz is a long-standing member of the Rotary Club and was able to rally considerable volunteer support while also raising $30,000 from the Club to match construction funding from the Community Foundation of the North State (formerly Shasta Regional Community Foundation).
The trail crosses lands owned by the City of Mount Shasta and the Mount Shasta Union School District. The City Manager and the School Superintendent were both members of the Rotary Club at the time of trail development. In addition, a local attorney who is also member of the club prepared the lease in a pro bono capacity, and the trail was added to the adjacent Youth Sports Park administered by yet another Rotary Club member.
Tom Hesseldenz also assisted with the acquisition of Sisson Meadow by the Siskiyou Land Trust, which he founded in 1991, and donated his services for the design, grant writing, and environmental compliance for the boardwalks and marsh. Another Land Trust board member donated her services to prepare the grant application for land acquisition, and several board members signed for a bridge loan to secure the property until the grant funding came through.
Alltold, the Sisson Meadow Project and the Sisson Overlook Trail Project comprise a major community-wide volunteer effort to secure a spectacular open space meadow in the heart of town.

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