The East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors voted 7-0 last week to rename Martinez Regional Shoreline in honor of former Board member Ted Rakde, who died Aug. 28, and his wife, Kathy, who died in 2011.
The East Bay Regional Park District and the Oakland Fire Department are planning to carry out a eucalyptus-thinning project this fall in the “Sibley Triangle,” a steeply sloped 45-acre area of the Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in the Oakland-Berkeley hills.
6/21/2016
Partnership Celebrated with June 25 Community Volunteer Event
WHAT:
Volunteers from Caltrans will join the East Bay Regional Park District on Saturday, June 25 to celebrate the launch of a comprehensive environmental education and shoreline cleanup program extending into spring 2017. In an effort to help protect local marine habitats and prevent stormwater pollution, approximately 50 Caltrans and local community volunteers will spend the morning removing trash and debris at Crab Cove and Encinal Beach alongside leadership from the East Bay Regional Park District. This program was made possible through a unique partnership with CBS EcoMedia, which generates financial support for community programs through the power of advertising.
WHO:
Myeast McCauley – Chief Public Information Officer, Caltrans District 4
Hardeep Takhar – Caltrans District 4 Stormwater Coordinator
Bill Yarborough – Regional Parks Foundation Board Chair
Dave Zuckermann – East Bay Regional Park District Interpretive and Recreation Services Manager
Michael Charnofsky – Naturalist, Operations, East Bay Regional Park District
WHEN:
Saturday, June 25 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
-- 9:30 a.m. – Welcoming remarks at Crab Cove Visitor Center
-- 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Volunteer trash pickup along the shoreline at Crab Cove & Encinal Beach
WHERE:
Crab Cove Visitor Center – 1252 McKay Ave, Alameda, CA 94501
Parking available at Crab Cove Visitor Center
WHY:
With Caltrans’ support, the East Bay Regional Park District will fund a series of coastal cleanup programs and events throughout the district, including environmental education programs for local students in the 2016-17 school year. Funding also supports transportation and busing for low-income schools to travel to educational programs along the shoreline, which is often an obstacle to out-of-school field trips.
This initiative is part of Caltrans’ Protect Every Drop campaign, which is a stormwater public education and outreach campaign to educate Californians about the sources and pathways of stormwater pollution, and to encourage behavior to reduce pollutants in order to improve water quality in our streams, rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
Carolyn Jones
(510) 544-2217cjones@ebparks.org
The East Bay Regional Park District board of directors on Tuesday voted unanimously to re-name Breuner Marsh, a 60-acre wetland at Pt. Pinole Regional Park, after the Dotson family for their long-standing efforts to save the Richmond shoreline from development.
The former Breuner Marsh was, at various times, slated for housing, an airport, industrial complex and transit center. But thanks in part to the Dotson family and residents of the adjacent Parchester Village neighborhood, those plans were defeated and in 2011 the land was acquired by the Park District following a three-year eminent domain case.
“This was all possible because of decades of community engagement for environment justice in an area impacted for so long by industrial uses,” said Park District General Manager Robert Doyle. “The Dotson family and other Richmond residents worked hard for this project, and we’re thrilled to honor them this way.”
The marsh is currently undergoing an extensive, $14 million habitat restoration that’s being funded by more than 10 agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and through Measures CC and WW. When the restoration is complete, the marsh will be a self-sustaining wetland complex that will filter polluted run-off and provide habitat for high-quality native plants and threatened and endangered species.
The project also includes a 1.5-mile extension of the San Francisco Bay Trail, a 24-space parking lot and two new trails, to be named the China Clipper Spur Trail and Cordgrass Jetty Trail.
“This is a tremendous honor,” said East Bay Regional Park District director Whitney Dotson, whose family has been on the forefront of Richmond environmental advocacy and justice for many decades. “This beautiful marsh is an asset not just for Richmond residents but the entire Bay Area.”
The restoration is expected to be complete in late spring, 2017.
The East Bay Regional Park District is a system of beautiful public parks and trails in Alameda and Contra Costa counties east of San Francisco Bay, established in 1934. The system comprises 120,000 acres in 65 parks including over 1,250 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding and nature learning.
Carolyn Jones
(510) 544-2217cjones@ebparks.org
The East Bay Regional Park District has closed Vargas Plateau Regional Park in Fremont after an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of two neighbors concerned about the Park District’s improvements to the road leading to the park.
6/24/2016
Grab your beach towel and sunscreen - Quarry Lakes re-opens this weekend for swimming!
The East Bay Regional Park District announced Friday that the popular swim facility in Fremont will re-open on Saturday, June 25, after it closed in early March due to toxic algae.
The Alameda County Environmental Health Department cleared the lake to re-open late Wednesday after tests showed little or no toxins for at least a month. The highest result during the past month was 1.3 parts per billion, well below the state’s maximum safety threshold of 6 parts per billion.
Park District tests have shown the lake has had little or no toxins for at least a month.
Dogs are still not permitted to swim in the lake, but the lake continues to be safe for fishing.
Quarry Lakes is open for swimming from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lifeguards are on duty. Fees are $3 for visitors ages 16 to 61, $2 ages 1 to 15 and seniors over age 62. Parking is $5. Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area is located at 2100 Isherwood Way, Fremont.
All of the Park District’s other lakes are also open for swimming but Park District staff are advising dog owners to keep their pets out of the water due to low level toxins.
For water quality updates and more information, please see http://www.ebparks.org/features/Toxic_Algae_Update.
The East Bay Regional Park District is a system of beautiful public parks and trails in Alameda and Contra Costa counties east of San Francisco Bay, established in 1934. The system comprises 120,000 acres in 65 parks including over 1,250 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding and nature learning.
The Park District and project partners open an all-new outdoor Fitness Zone at Lake Chabot Regional Park with a ceremony set for Saturday, November 9, 10:30 a.m. to noon at Lake Chabot Regional Park, 17600 Lake Chabot Road in Castro Valley.
Connecting diverse communities to the many opportunities available in East Bay parks was the theme of the 3rd annual Multicultural Community Leaders Roundtable in Oakland April 16.
The East Bay Regional Park District reminds park visitors that drones – motorized, remote-controlled aircraft – are illegal in all parks and open space areas in the District.
3/21/2016
The East Bay Regional Park District has been selected as one of the few land agencies – and one of approximately 200 committed organizations - in the United States to participate in this week’s White House Water Summit to commit to addressing water challenges and solutions in the age of climate change.
Park District General Manager Robert E. Doyle will attend the March 22 event in Washington, D.C., highlighting the Park District’s leadership in preparing for drought, El Nino and water policy issues over the past several years.
“We’ve committed extensive resources to address water-related issues, and this is a great opportunity to share our expertise,” Doyle said. “We’re tremendously honored to be included in this important event.”
The largest regional park system in the U.S., the East Bay Regional Park District encompasses 120,000 acres, 65 parks and 1,250 miles of trails. Its scope includes more than 40 miles of shoreline along San Francisco Bay, Carquinez Strait and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, 10 lakes and countless streams, seasonal creeks and wetlands.
“The Park District has taken on a leadership role, not only to respond to the state’s 25 percent water-use reduction goal, but to implement strategies to make our parks and communities more resilient to the consequences of our changing climate,” Doyle said. “We are proud to be recognized by the White House for our leadership.”
During the drought, the Park District reduced water use, promoted water conservation and adapted to a drier landscape by:
1 Replacing lawns with native and drought-tolerant grasses, and installing “brown is the new green” signs.
2 Switching to more efficient irrigation systems and studying the use of reclaimed water.
3 Thinning vegetation, especially eucalyptus and other non-native trees, to reduce wildfire risk.
4 Regularly testing, publicizing and treating drought-triggered toxic algae in our lakes.
5 Using interpretive gardens and educational signs to encourage the public to use less water at home and replace non-native plants in their gardens with natives. The Park District’s Botanic Garden has the state’s largest collection of native plants.
6 Taking special steps to save amphibians and other water-dependent species by monitoring their populations and protecting their breeding areas.
7 Restoring hundreds of acres of wetlands to create a buffer against sea-level rise.
As part of its ongoing efforts to respond to climate change, the District has also reduced energy use, promoted regional trails as an alternative to driving, provided free environmental curriculum to low-income children, and continues to study carbon sequestration.
The White House Water Summit, held in conjunction with the United Nations World Water Day, will focus on long-term strategies to build a sustainable and secure water future through innovative science and technology.
As part of its involvement with the event, the Park District has agreed to set a goal of saving 250 million gallons of water over the next five years. As part of this effort, the Park District plans to eliminate some standard grasses in high-use areas and replace them with drought-tolerant grasses, and seek partnerships with local sod and seed companies to make drought-tolerant grasses available to the public. We also plan to convert a number of grass areas into native plant gardens for water-efficiency and public-education purposes. We expect these initiatives will cut water use by 30 to 50 percent and reduce lawn-mower emissions by 50 percent.
The White House Water Summit will be livestreamed on www.whitehouse.gov/live, and we invite you to participate using the hashtag #WHWaterSummit. For inquiries about this event, please contact env_energy@ostp.eop.gov.