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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12182001 - C.109 RESOLUTION ENDORSING RESOLUTION NO. 2001/605 EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT'S PROPOSED PARCEL TAX MEASURE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE WHEREAS, Contra Costa County and the East Bay Regional Park District maintains a Liaison Committee which meets several times each year in order to maintain policy level communication regarding projects, programs and other issues of mutual interest and concern between the two regional agencies; and WHEREAS,The Contra Costa County/East Bay Regional Park District Liaison Committee last met on September 24, 2001 and discussed, as one of the agenda items, a detailed overview of the East Bay Regional Park District's proposal to place a parcel tax measure on the March 2002 ballot in order to raise needed additional funds for maintenance and operations of Regional Parks and Trails; WHEREAS, The Regional Park District has expanded.by more than 26,000 acres of parkland and shoreline in the last 12 years, however, the ongoing maintenance needs of the Regional parks have increased at a rate that far out strips the growth in the Park District's general fund revenues; and WHEREAS, The East Bay Regional Park District's ballot measure would fund four major Park District needs: environmental maintenance public safety, resource protection/restoration, and public access; and WHEREAS, The members of the Contra Costa County/East Bay regional Park District Committee recommend that Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County endorse the East Bay Regional Park District's proposed parcel tax measure to appear on the March 5, 2002 ballot. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County does hereby endorse the East Bay Regional Park District's proposed parcel tax measure which will be placed on the March 2002 ballot i.n Alameda and:Contra Costa Counties. PASSED BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS THIS 18TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 2001. JO N GIOIA DONN G ER. District I Supervisor District upervisor MARK DESAULNIER .-F-EDEkAL D. GLO R District IV Supervisor District V Supervisor AYLE B. UI MA, Chair District 11 Supervisor I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of an Order entered into the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date aforesaid. John Sweeten,County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervi rs. B Y Deputy Clerk t e j/ / t=:. � �� �� �/ .. �� .K aff Proposed "Parks 2002" Ballot Measure — March 5, 2002 EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT Background East Bay Regional Park Disirict now operates 59 regional parks and more than 1 ,000 miles of trails on _-9.3,000-acres in Ala meda.-and.Contra-Costa_Counties.-These safe and well-maintained parklands offer . visitors a needed respite from the pressures of urban life. With funds made available by the passage of Measure AA in 1988, the Park District has expanded by more than 26,000 acres of parkland and shoreline, protecting these properties for wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation. But several challenges now face the District: • Park usage has increased with the East Bay's dramatic population growth. • Maintenance and replacement costs have escalated in the East Bay. • While past bond measures have provided significant funds for park acquisition and development, bond monies cannot be used for ongoing maintenance of the parks. So the Park District faces a dilemma: it needs to protect and expand open space, yet there are not sufficient funds to meet the resulting environmental maintenance requirements. Plan of In response to the above challenges, the Park District proposes a modest ballot measure to fund four Action major needs: environmental maintenance, public safety, resource protection/restoration, and public access. The ballot measure proposal has been discussed at community forums and "stakeholder" meetings during the past several years. At their regular meeting on Aug. 21 , 2001, Park District Directors approved a resolution of intent to place the measure on the March 5, 2002 ballot, and directed Park District staff to prepare a more detailed formal resolution. Deadline for submitting notice to the two county elections offices is Dec. 6. Proposed • Amount: No more than $1 per month per single-family home, 69 cents per month per apartment unit. Ballot ' . Sunset Clause: After 12 years, the measure would expire. Renewal would require a two-thirds vote. Measure Details • Equity Distribution: Fends would be equitably distributed throughout the District's parks and trails. • Use of Funds: 51°o for one-time environmental maintenance projects, 39% for new park and regional trail openings, 10°o reserve for emergencies and opportunities. • Accountability: The Park District Board of Directors will conduct annual public hearings on projects to be selected and funded by the measure. Media inquiries: Ned MacKay, Public Information Supervisor, (5 10) 544-2208 Public informational inquiries: Pat O'Brien, General Manager, (5 10) 544-2000 East Bay Regional Park District www.ebparks.org SHAPING THE EAST BAY HILLS i I by Christine Colasurdo One of thr.;i;nahrre sr�hts of tle Boy .4rea is a surepinti vista of roturded hills, photographs by Bob Walker Carpeted in"rass and Boned with oaks. It is so rarniliar to us thnt ice tnav tint hart omt 4 "'M stopped to think how those hills came to Iook the loav thev do.One person wbo did not take sail:vistas tnr oratrted was Bob l h'ilker encironrrrerntal pbot,,,nipber and passionate adlocate.li,r Ba,;Area open Notes on the East Bay Landscape spare. When the Oakland Museum or l upcominti As a casual hiker, I used to take weekend walks through the wind-tickled, Calilrrnia,umounre. art exhibit of II"71ker's phot,.;,we rouldnl hawk-swiped hills of the East Bay—that open, landscape stretching east pass up the oppornti,ih,to wed some of from Oakland and south from the Sacramento River to the Livermore /;is dramatic photos with a look at t/x threes that shaped these hill,ornor bonne. Valley—and not think for a moment about water. Enchanted by a wrinkled The nsultiny supplement las been prn- country of curves and miles of sky, I thought of the land as a finished dual by Bay Nature with thr ocnrrons support or the Oakland Aluseut„and tableau, the grassy tint of its hills shifting rhythmically., year after year, theT_ast Bat'Re�i11 Lark I_Xstrirt from September-blond to March.-green.The only water I thought about ZBRPD,, whose parks;nr(ude trrnnv of the landscapes pirmred it,tlese p,�tir>. was maybe a creek, or the sloshing in the plastic bottle inside my pack. PMO-.O:DIABLO FOOTHILLS REGIONAL PAP[ i the Hayvv rd Fault the buinping together of tectonic plates. .1-11 IS tectonic prCSSUre also created California's Coast Ranges, I i• of which the East Bay's sedimentary hills form a part. hlle slow but inexorable grinding of the oceanic Pacific Plate past the continental North American Plate is the main geologic story in the region. However,a slight(about xo degrees;change in plate motion some three million years ago added a component of compression that caused the Uplift and folding of the East i e x Bay's rolling hllls.Today this compression continues. and the East Bay is,till keneralhy rising,even as gravity works,its sur- faces down through landslides, wind,and rain. r What distinguishes the Last Bayes rounded hills from rile older rocks of the Coast Ranges(ryhich Underlie riurcdT Of San Francisco and Marin) is that an inland sea persisted in the at•ea long after the Coast Range rocks to the west had risen.Sedi- Y mcnts eroding from the.emerging lane{gradually heaped LIP f onto the floor of this younger sca to form sandstones(coarsrr- t grained deposits;and mudsrones(liner-grained siltsrones and ° A(f shales: Although the prehistoric sea has long since disappeat•ed. ~ .. �, ` '« ,:•. water—u1 the form of rain—'s still shaprn�those Sandstones, siltstones,and s}rafes.-I he more rCSISCailt sandstones, those that are better cemented or more tightly compacted,are often found holding up the higher ridges. But the mudsrones are easily eroded.That smooth shape that makes you want to run up those frills results from the fact that rile hills themselves«•ant iY1t.f�..)...,:.Lij4�.::,.. ��:,,(!i�i y � •�•• �5�. I !.l SUNOL REGIONALWILDERNESS It is only now,years later,that I see water eyerylylrere in those ihill.—water that Preceded them:created them,and Co this day sculpts them Into what they are.Salt water.Fresh water. Rain water.Where I once saw only an oaf:freckled knoll, I now sec rurrrPled remnants of an old sea floor,its Ilaxen sandstone � rounded by rain and camouflaged by grass.Where I once saw a sun-baked ridge ringed by vultures.1 now see marine rock craumied with clamshells and other fossils.On some days even the hills themselves appear to undulate.rising and falling like . green oceanic swells.On such days,it doesn't seem so out- rageous to claim that crossing this same terrain several dozen million ago would have required a Boar. The entire last Bay was once a VOLurg sea,which was itself Preceded by an older.ancestral ocean. For millions of Nears.the fixture Bay Area 1a1-under an open ocean.Its landscape was a seascape:no oaks,no bobcats. no kestrels.no globe lilies.Just fish-filled,clan -filtered salt water.Then,beginning about tlrir- teen million tears ago, islands began to appear.Slowly,the land I rose out Of the ocean. Or.you might say. it buckled, crinkled,and shoved itself up ; from the water,millimeter by millimeter,earthquake by earth- quake,driven by the same forces that today create tremors along LAS POSITAS HILLS(PRIVATE RANCH,NORTH OF LIVERMORE BAY NATURE W :e P R I L.-j U N r: z o o l t'.tze n Shapin'Tthe s.��/ ��ry!• , +7n l�-`�.�•� ...:y•Sv{ "„j-w�... .,_ ' •`� r� :'nom a _� _ �..: �. -- ';.'-moi..'. +- `+ ".•• _- - __ �-» aai, , ,�, -�.-a :� _ .� .d-,::T`•t w .e.;.b.• ,- a�:-i3 "'-.�:a,'zt' S=.��- -- _ _��_ -� •fit►-. - _- - - '�+- _ _ -_ . -<.,� '�.'.��"."�;�'_`�-' .;. •-- .✓,_ - _ -. ��_...r-- • a, ♦ ,I VIEW NORTHEAST FROM PLEASANTON RIDGE REGIONAL PARK OVER DUBLIN VALLEY TO MOUNT DIABLO IN DISTANCE to run down.Their loose,erodible soils can easily become satu- I rated with raimwater and run down all at once,or sometinles I gradually, in landslides. According to geologist Doris Sloan at the University of California, Berkeley,geologists call the result t ,.' ''.•._,moi I "melted-ice-cream topography"becaLISe.the slumping earth comes temporarily to rest looking muds like a warming scoop of rocky road. During anv wet winter it's a good bct the hills are going to slLnnp and flow somewhere,as though to hearken back to the time when the sediments themselves Were under water. I-or nwre than a century, rainwater and cattle have also been molding the slopes in a gradual Wac, terracing the hillsides into giant,curvaceous washboards.You m1uht think a farmer plowed � the slopes, leaving deep furrows along each conroL.r.In tact. these "terracettes"are caused by cattle traveling over the rain- saturated soils and can be seen anywhere they graze,such as Briones or Black Diamond Mines Regional Parks.The "corru- gating,"as Sloan describes it, is especially visible in winter,When grasses have died back to reveal the stair-stepped earth as it is slowly being trampled downslope.An intriguing question I remains: Did such terracing exist before the advent of cattle, when large herds of elk trampled these sane hills:. This land of hills bequeathed by the sea is not a landscape of extremes. l he hills arc not as flat as the Great Central V:allev, not as steep as the Sierra Nevada. nor as wet as the northern � n. coast, not as dry as the Mojave.The Winds that sweep across East 13:u•liill} Paicr. APR 11.-J UNP. -1001 W^ BAY NATURE / �IIII ...mow+----�-�•-•^ .. .•�y,�y_ .;, •, .'1 '. l/ �„�,.+'_' -�,. 'J� _. ._ ..,per"`•".'- j.P ,� , .. a.,. J - _.j.,:l°". _ r::.'P.-:ar 1. .. - :r• Jf_ , ot M. ydm • . a,:s ' ii' them are not hurricanes,the air is tempered more by fog than As the sun Journeys from cast to west it strikes the face of frost,and the light that strikes them is riot unrelenting.Unlike some slopes directly,others hardly at all,leaving traces of its a flat plain,the gradual slopes create shade each morning and Journey in the great mosaic of swaying grasses,brushy ehapar- evening. rhe daily course of sunlight across such slopes is a ral,and dark stands of oaks.Slopes facing southwest,which study in subtleties—a diurnal choreography of retreating and endure afternoon heat as well as direct sun,are mostly grass or advancing shadows. chaparral,with few trees.Shady,northeastern slopes tend to be BAY NATURE �Q .5 P R l L-I U N L -'0 0 1 Page o : Shaping rhe i a I I - DIABLO FOOTHILLS REGIONAL PARK,WITH MOUNT DIABLO IN BACKGROUND cooler and damper,encouraging the growth of oak woodlands by June.Each year,the rains of winter are literally sucked into and forests. billions of spiking sterns,translating the hills'precipitation into It.is the thin-bladed grasses—those knee-deep,grain-tipped lush pelts of billowing green.Then,as moisture disappears over stems lining every hillock and valley—that announce an abun- the.late spring and early sununer,so too does life recede in each dance of sun and paucity of water.Sprouting after the rains stern,rendering the slopes as pale as the buff-colored coyotes begin,the short-lived annual grasses bloom,set seed,and die. roaming them. ExmBay Hills : Pagel: APRIL-JI1NF, 2001 W BAY NATURE I I I AERIAL VIEW OF DAM SITE FOR LOS VAQUEROS RESERVOIR,PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION(1987).KELLOGG CREEK AND THE SURROUNDING VALLEY ARE NOW SUBMERGED UNDER THE RESERVOIR. Such a blanket of countless blades might seem beautiful and variety of soils—as long as there is water. Like palm oases in a benign,stretching toward an endless blue sky.In fact,the desert,oak-covered folds and forested canyons flag the availabil- grasses'supreme presence betrays a disturbed and altered land. ity of water.,defining in their green,leafy 'profiles the places 1 What we think of as the hills two quintessential colors— where streams run,groundwater is shallow.soils retain moisture, i I spring green fading to autumnal tan—are,from a distance,very or dew persists.The oaks'haunting shadows are cast atop like what,you would have seen ;oo years ago. But closer inspec- ridges,along draws,and upon valley floors,unifying the land- tion reveals that the East Bays original wildflowers and native scape in curving,riluscular gestures that echo the rounded con- perennial bunch grasses have been largely replaced by hardy tours upon which they thrive.They are spherical,graceful trees European annual grasses,brought as seeds by the Spanish with for a spherical,graceful land. their livestock in the late 170os.These introduced grasses have More than a hundred years ago, writer Charles Nordhoff displaced indigenous,variegated oceans of purple owl's clover, observed this powerful aspect of oaks when he described them orange poppies,blue lupines,and bunch grasses,according to in 187;as "evergreen trees which nature has planted so that the Steve Edwards,director of the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic finest park-like effects are produced.-Nordhoff was speaking of Garden.Edwards has documented that before the Spanish one particular species of oak—the coast live oak,which grows arrived,some hills were ablaze in spring, "shining yellow and along the coast from Mendocino to Baja California and is the orange"for miles. Others were probably "solid pink"with most common species of oak in Alanuda and Contra Costa clarkias in early June. counties.The "live"in its name denotes the fact that it is an Although the composition of wildflowers and grasses on the evergreen,remaining active in winter.The hills are also shaded hills has changed dramatically,the patchy beard of chaparral has by two other evergreen species,the.interior live oak and canyon remained relatively intact.Composed of drought-tolerant, oak,as well as three deciduous species—the valley,oak,blue 4 impenetrable shrubs and dwarf trees like manzanita,scrub oak, oak,and black oak.According to botanist Bruce Pavlik, co- 1 bUckbrush,and chamise.,chaparral often grows on steeper,rock- author of Oaks of California,the. East Bay enjoys a rich diversity ier slopes where plants can take root in fractures.In contrast to ; of oaks because it lies in a transition zone between the wet coast grasslands,which can survive on mudstone in the East Bay, and dry interior.The long,dry summers of the interior East chaparral is often found on the old sea's sandstone,according to Bay hills favor oaks over other tree species,such as redwood and Edwards. Douglas lir,that prefer the foggy coast. Unlike the chaparral,the East Bays oaks grow on a wide Throughout the Bast Bay hills,water ofien determines I BAY NATURE W. A P R I L-J U N i'. 2 o o I taker : shapin"rhe „vhcre—and in what sort of grouping—an oak will grow. 6•, Ul a i3ir°,Q fW T � Closed-canopy forests(often IndudIn La' laurels,madrones, , , 000? and buckeyes;occur inverter areas, whereas open woodlands and grassy savannas are in drier locations.The blue and valley oak savannas cast of the Oakland-Berkeley hills are "at the edge Of a climate that supports tree growth;'according to Pavlik.T}u. arm iainl4YcYe? I ,,,. ••: �� ti "S•• principal gardeners of such "park-like"savannas are climate and �"'LL�r�"'��"``•�' fire:the relative lack of water in the East Bay's climate helps 5+,• .• . determine the wide spacing of oaks in a savanna: fire both culls and boosrs,oaks through cycles of burning and regrowth. BoDDta° 2 C2�S�al / Other players besides water and fire help determine where oaks grow.Grasslands with no oaks night have clavey soils that arc tough for oak seedlings to gro�ti in,partly becat.ue of the soil's texture,but also because the frequent slumping*rips out I trees and grinds up roots. A rocky outcropping on a hilltop might allow a few oaks to suck rainwater from its cracks.Clumps of oaks in a savanna might delineate where,decades ago,a par- eat D tree dropped acorns around itself,creating offspring.Ora ;,�,�o�, �,�, � clump of oaks might bean old acorn cache forgotten by a gray �` D o p®(�mAmag AQytttmum� squirrel,scrub jay,dusky-footed woodrar,or acorn woodpecker,er, MM&A���^, dDW 0 0 all of whom carry,off and store acorns in their own secret hid- �& ' ` °oA °@W @O �,�`��;,,��,D,,"��V��� ° ° ing places, uphill and down.Whcn the Cache goes uneaten,the '&Wm&Mm�R gl;""�"'”n"05= acorn,have an opportunity to sprout. One other player figures prominently in the ecological dance of the hills.As Pavlik and others have pointed out, California's km&qp OnHi l&pm@m& native Ocoples have been residing in oak-dominated landscapes D�,,o,�,0�,,0�. [6 gp e �p@yJ for at least iz,000 vear:s.The East Bav:s Ohlone and Miwok @dW� gm"*=F@Fbm Pimma k Gibes dcpestded heavily on oaks as well as native grasses for �ar�neo�¢ food.Their acorn mortars. pecked into bedrock,can still be `"'��1���"@M � � � ° ° b O °,jr seen in places like.the Sunol Regional Wilderness.The Ohlone and Miwok burned their lands regularly to encotn•age the °° �C"d offiyj MW.W mamm 0& ° resprouting of forage for game as well as edible plants for them- ` ° ° 1 ° 09 seh•es.and to keep[hell-acorn harvest abundant.(Among other ° thinks, burning reduces pests that take shelter in the leaf litterAd�P �"" �v ° `wAg�� under oaks.,The park-like savanna Nordhoff described may ° �6am �° qME ° SWW well have been the last vestige of a complex,sustainable system ©° of native lire managenunr. ChI'Otlgh 1V})1C11 people lived oif oaks for centuries, along with grizzlies,elk.deer,squirrels.birds, Cir t ° 89 t a °CC �G�IIC1 r�.D ?1ID� ° salamanders,moths,wasps• mistletoe,lichens,and bacteria. It was the arrival of die-Span'sh that brought great change to the landscape. In addition to bringing seeds of exotic grasses �G�kB and other weedy species,the newcomer- banned the. burning of D""'� &2CVmA w grasslands,scat their livestock out to graze,and shot the elk, MA D e9YlL 91 Uri D Qhl D�9 1➢�AYAY1�0141Lr ° � thereby depriving the indigenous villages of their resources and ending centuries of Gee-based stewardship.The Spanish also cut of;t�1�� ` n ddmA down acres of oaks to plant crops and for use as firewood. In �����'° �mD °��� o °o po(��j¢O I the footsteps of the Spanish carne the Mexicans,and eventually am hmm(�P dper°`r�,°�,� D D °D W5& D C��,a,�a ,�D` homesteaders from Europe and back cast, who continued these ""�`"s °t,, """ practices. Upon the rolling hills,one:tide of life—with its sea- }. �. -. -�,. } g conal shapes.rhythms,and colors—yielded to another in a geo- logic blink of an eye. Perennial bunch grasses and wildflowers were replaced by annual grasses;elk and grizzly were replaced by cattle:oak savannas were replaced first by walnut orchards, then Cz�FW D„ eventually by backyard exotics such as sweet guru and acacia. ° ° D &M D D ar ala¢ 0 E.a,lBavIlilts : Pa,2cc AVR11.-JUNE 2001 j({ BAY NATURE Today.patches of native flora still exist in the East Baty. seeking to better understand the flux of lite upon them—and Throughout the East Bay Regional Park District's 92,000 acres working to keep intact what we have left.In the meantime.we Of open space,you can find relatively intact communities of can take a moment to lie on otrr backs in the grass to watch the indigenous plants.The region's overstory of long-lived oaks, hawks,vultures,and eagles.We.can roff acorns in our palms like gigantic bay laurels, buckeyes,and madrones are all remnants of warbles,or try to crumble sandstone with our fingers.We can the original flora.Near-pristine thickets of chaparral cloak the listen for the whisper of dry oak leaves as they sift down Lipper reaches of Mount Diablo(a state park)as well as por- through branches.We can shift a laurel leaf.Or.as my four- tions of Morg;ln Territory and other parks. And although fields year-old son did recently,we can climb a Coast I've oak and of native bunch grasses do not remain,the EBRPD is expert- refuse to cone.down.Not ever. �! mentally managing areas of bunch grasses at Point Pinole I Regional Shoreline and Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve using A_Io nter resident of Oakland, Christine Colasurdo now lives irr San Trancisco.She a combination of cattle grazing and fire.The original carpets of is the author of Return to Spirit Lake.Journey through A Lost Landscape wildflowers are gone, bur eye-widening displays still burst into (Sasguatch Books, 1997). Her work has appeared in California Wild.Audubon, i turd other puhliiations.She thanks the following people for stearin;their knowled,e: bloom in some areas of the hills, including on Mount Diablo, f liC, geologists David Nowell and Russ Cra}auer If the C/SC,S mrd Doris Sloan o and at Sunol and Black Diamond Mines. I Berkdev;homniv Bmee 1,,vlik at Xfills(,olltye;and Steve Edwards,director of the A sense of loss is perhaps inescapable when roairiing these Regional Parks Botanic Carden. hills,but it neer{n't Blind us to what remains or keep us from All photos courtesv of Oakland Museum of California L IDG Films. Produced by Bay Nature(www.baynature.com),with support from the East Bay Regional Park District and the Oakland Museum of California. Crockell' Sen �!r°__L� Martinez `--Pori�r _B nti fbiret Pablo ).b;J C 1`.Shoreline Waterbitd ea �,�; �; I'.. Pinole g Hercules �L+• `,sr> t JLPaint- .,;:. > . B;g.. Accordingto the Greenbelt Alliance,overi5o,000 acres aY.o a fq� _�_4 1 ra\ �' —�;Plttsbury — - ...Break lam_ ,Plnele ca Di�� j•Mar„"a= �"_,.-..` ansocnr B.k.ak of Alameda and Contra Costa open space—including large �~�'oak'eV r pokloy 1r1(.. '' r it —_-�CContra'Shore ine ,flllt_� obranteRid a )) /,' L, a�r:.r parcels in the East Bay hills—remain"at risk"of being l��L'Wildcat_ lfg� -�JN E,ilvGConcord.;: ,\. i �' '•P h4Carnon on-,,,, ^� Jl� ->' e' ' # -;i'� =_` developed.Following are some of the organizations �Y \ Plea- /l /`�...,/'' Black kmo d', �' rove / l sappl� ��,...: Diamond I; S. �i`•'R° 'U 1_, I? l r�)Hnl'�"'`\„ o,avta`,. Midas workin re ionall to sto develo ment of the hills and Miller/ Bnones 7 v. )i �1 g regionally P P -_-- to protect remaining open space,either through acquisition PointV.`Tilden* l5� cas<le \�clayyt1on ` Il P S P P g q �I58be�' t�\ Jj' JL��•�iW elnut Rod,, MI.Diablo RaflCtt .J ar' _ 0 _ - -_.Crc k or conservation easements: Blrootls�Berkelef remora\ �` i!��:atayelre Diablo0fk !l "� ^\pound I� ,Uv CW - J/Drinae Foothills r�JCanYoh;; b,ey �,:�� 11 A,am", �I. VaiQ Bay Area Open Space Council,(415)398-3730; Eastshore L`r:`! r' State Park e 'ynllo,ry H,xtdeberry�v/ Tas \`-\, 11l /rTe_mescal`>' M ga pas,, �,+„�� �� www.openspacecouficii.org C• �� :,,�_Lil.�� ora, ban. ��^=: eo""'�`;oakta`ne Robe �rr•Vt. $ Bay Area Ridge Trail Council (415)391-9300; �C Termor r / FTedwOb Hills `5fi IC Sycamore n' ��\ Vasco www.ridgetraii.org �yValley' 'i� Caves Ala tle� o-CLAntho �•^' '1 abo ��`;ran l� 1L✓-�_ �% Golden Gate Audubon Society,(51o)843-2222, Beacl,Crown %? r:� l' �I www. olden ateaudubon.or Lake" �- Z ishoP ilTassajara 1`1�;BrushyL I Pu g g Martin Luther ��Snn`\ChabYt. 0; 1. I� Ranch C,�k,`, tit Peak, LJ Greenbelt Alliance,(925)932-7776•www.greenbelt.org n, King,Jr. l,'�L•n'dro `cull ' Dublin\ �` C( ' , Canyon DHills �I � l�. y /` Muir Heritage Land Trust (925)228-546o; i;;yera..!' /c Dublin I I'. ,ter g �ster'S...nao vall y�seo.Palomares— ,J ._= _i:.':_—.yso, I 1L www.muirt,erita elandtrust.or Y San\.����pon Ridge 'd Shadow Livermore i;-- g Lorenzo ,a, P_ L=L Clifls.�'��. tan HaywarECastro -:� a a``^��; _ �, \ :��( . Save Mount Diablo,(925)947-3535; Ra-_ Hayward 1�._s �n\ \ ��i.l nt nton`�J _ www.savemountdiablo.org Shoreline "-;\^ F�r-L`-,JPleasanton .�sf.\ �`" Ridge \ g Gai \ 'Camp. Sierra Club,Bay Area Chapter,(51o)848-o800; _\,],�"tY"1°i '� �R mike.daley@sierraclub.org ity .:Pioneer Sa�'. Y@ g l,. A`i ,' Del Valle . East Bay Regional Park District v I� �Rri var9as Trust for Public Land,(415)495-4014;www.tpl.org \�'. '�,kSi.•. Ple eau Parks N Ctei���'="Fremonl',.�' Hi.71 s° n Ardenwliod � 'fico Ohlone Visror Centers 00 1✓ Historic'�;:�9.�;/i `�l ' 1 �( Fe 0 10 NNW, /�^`ter Newa`rk\, '1,���.-1 - ,is .._ Sunol K!,Fri�'.I:pC':=a."ay Fpjor:al FaA ! i da 1� `dB Pea ak„ THE EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT I I Without the foresight of conservation-minded j Bob Walker worked closely with the EBRPD, hills by establishing the Bob Walker Trail and citizens who founded the East Bay Regional beginning in 1982,when he was contracted to naming Bob Walker Ridge,both in Morgan Park District(EBRPD)in 1934,many of the hill- create a photographic portfolio of the District's Territory Regional Preserve,one of Walker's sides and landscapes photographed by Bob holdings.Most of the landscapes portrayed in favorite places.Walker called this"the greatest Walker would have long since been ravaged by the preceding pages lie within the District's honor of my life." suburban sprawl.The District—a free-standing, units,and include Morgan Territory,Round The District sponsors an extensive series of iindependent governmental organization—is Valley,Diablo Foothills,and Pleasanton Ridge. public educational activities and recreational charged with acquiring and managing a diverse Besides working for the District as a photogra- outings exploring the region's natural and cul- I system of interconnected parklands in Alameda I pher,Walker also prodded it to become more tural history through its six visitors centers.A and Contra Costa counties.Its core mission is proactive in acquiring and protecting areas in schedule of these activities is contained in to balance public recreational usage with pro- the East Bay hills that were coming under Regional In Nature,a free bimonthly publica- i tection and preservation of natural and cultural increasing pressure from expanding suburbs. tion available at all six of the District's visitors' i resources.The District manages over 92,000 In August of 1992,shortly before Walker's centers,or through the District headquarters, acres in the two counties,including 59 regional I death from AIDS,the District recognized his (51o)635-0135.For more complete information, parks and 29 regional trails. enormous contribution to conservation of the check out their website:www.ebparks.org. I BAY NATURE W .APR [L-II)NE 20o1