The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
May - June 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| CONSERVATION NEWS |
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East Bay Regional Park District to acquire most of Breuner property
218 acres down, hundreds more to go - for protection of North Richmond shoreline
Most of Breuner Marsh will soon finally be publicly owned.
After more than fifty 50 years of community activism to save the area from development, the East Bay Regional Park District voted on March 7 to acquire all but 20 acres of the property by eminent domain. The property combines Bay wetlands with very scarce coastal-upland habitat.
The acquisition includes about 218 acres of the 238 acre parcel. The District did not pursue the remaining 20 acres, in the southeast corner of the site, because they are identified in the North Richmond Shoreline Specific plan as developable. These 20 acres are critical coastal-upland habitat, necessary for the health of the entire marsh. While the District is to be applauded for its new acquisition, the marsh is not safe till the coastal upland is protected from development. The District could ensure this by either acquiring or restricting access to those 20 acres. The Sierra Club will be working to get those 20 acres protected.
A step forward for the whole North Richmond shoreline
The campaign for Breuner is just a piece of the effort to protect the whole North Richmond Shoreline from inappropriate development.
The work to save the Richmond shoreline is a joint effort of the Sierra Club, the Parchester Village Neighborhood Council, the North Richmond Municipal Advisory Council, the Shields/Reid Neighborhood Council, and residents of West San Pablo. These communities' support for the shoreline was and is absolutely essential for the success of this effort. Other supporting organizations include Citizens for East Shore Parks, the East Bay Watershed Center, the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, the Public Trust Alliance, the Richmond Environmental Defense Fund, Save San Francisco Bay, the Natural Heritage Institute, the West County Toxics Coalition, the Urban Creeks Council, and many others in the North Richmond Shoreline Open Space Alliance.
Immediately north of Breuner Marsh is Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, but the rest of the North Richmond shoreline, between the Bay and the Richmond Parkway, consists of private lands, south to Wildcat Creek. The Park District is on record as interested in creating a wildlife corridor for this same area.
We must continue our collaborative efforts to ensure the community involvement that will enable the Park District to acquire the remaining parcels. This major task will require all of our strategic skills and energy.
WhatYouCanDo
Protecting the North Richmond shoreline involves numerous agencies including the city of Richmond, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the state Coastal Conservancy, the state and federal Environmental Protection Agencies, the Department of Toxic Substance Control, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the state Department of Parks and Recreation.
To celebrate and continue our work, we are planning a public forum to bring together community members with representatives of all these agencies. The event will held on Tue., June 27, tentatively from 2 - 5 pm, at the Parchester Community Center, 900 Williams Drive in Richmond. Show your support, and help discuss the next steps in enhancement and further protection for the North Richmond shoreline. To confirm the time and details, contact Dan Hernandez at (510) 848-0800, ext. 312, or email dan@sfbaysc.org
To help inform the community about the North Richmond shoreline, the North Richmond Shoreline Open Space Alliance will host a series of walks. (These will not be sponsored or administered by the Sierra Club.) The schedule will be announced shortly. For information about these, call Whitney Dotson at (510) 235-2534 or Henry Clark at (510) 232-3427.
For more information, and to join in the Sierra Club's efforts to protect the North Richmond Shoreline, contact Dan Hernandez at (510)848-0800, ext. 312, or email dan -at- sfbaysc.org
© 2006 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler