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Have you walked that little, unofficial trail behind Zane Middle School and the dog park? Really nice back there, right? What you may not know — what I didn’t know, anyway — is that the city calls that “Second Gulch.”

Someday soon that trail may become a little more than unofficial. The City of Eureka is ramping up its efforts to develop comprehensive policies for its greenways and gulches — including Second Gulch, Cooper Gulch and the various branches of Martin Slough, as show in the map above.

Before any policies are drafted, though, the city would like your input. What sort of activities should be allowed in the gulches? Trails? Community gardens? Vegetation management? What should be prohibited? Development above a certain slope? Timber harvesting? What?

If you like Eureka and its gulches, you should take the city’s survey, which can be found at this link. And once that has whetted your appetite for all matters gulch, maybe you want to register for the city’s “Virtual Public Workshop” on the topic, which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, at 5:30 p.m. Register at this link.

Want to learn lots more about the city’s gulch program? Click here to do that. Right now city staff are hoping to have draft policies in front of the city’s Open Space, Parks and Recreation Commission by April 28, before the Planning Commission by May 9, and to the City Council for approval by July.

Second Gulch from the air. Photo: Robert Torres, via Google Maps.