LAKE ELSINORE, CA—The hills of Lake Elsinore are bright green from all the rain, and anticipation is building for the potential poppy bloom of 2024. Lake Elsinore’s mayor, Steve Manos, and the city council met this week with officials to ensure safety for residents, visitors, and the poppies that attract the curious year after year.
Lake Elsinore City officials have learned lessons after more than 100,000 visitors stomped the flower fields in 2019. That year, the bloom was not only a headache for many locals and motorists just trying to get through Lake Elsinore, but the event was marred by tragedy when a California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Licon was struck and killed while working extra hours to provide traffic enforcement along I-15.
Then-Mayor Natasha Johnson described the debacle in Walker Canyon. “The flowers were beautiful. The scene was a nightmare.”
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The image of people squashing the famed poppy fields is something Lake Elsinore has battled ever since, putting such strict rules in place that a city in Vermont used the model to protect viewing of its fall leaves last year.
Related: Super Bloom 2023: Photos From Space To A Bug’s Eye View
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In 2024, the city has chosen a unified approach with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to address traffic management, parking enforcement, expanded outreach, and transportation options for visitors to the natural flower fields.
“While the City of Lake Elsinore typically welcomes visitors to enjoy our vibrant community, the overwhelming number and unfortunate behavior of visitors on land intended for conservation in 2019 came at a cost that was disruptive to our resident’s quality of life and destructive to wildlife,” Mayor Steve Manos said.
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The City of Lake Elsinore is taking proactive steps to create a coordinated response that prioritizes safety, preserves the environment, and minimizes disruptions to residents’ lives, according to a news release from the city. Thus far, the city has put the following measures in place:
Read also:
Lake Elsinore’s Strict Poppy Plans Help City Handle Fall Leaf Viewing
Super Bloom 2023: Photos From Space To A Bug’s Eye View
Poppies Aplenty In Southwest Riverside County, But Enjoy From Afar
Poppies Seen From Above In 2019: Super Bloom Wows SoCal
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