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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
December 29, 2006 Saving a mountain and more Mount Diablo group marks 35 years of preserving lands Chuck SquatrigliaWhen botanist Mary Bowerman and engineer Art Bonwell founded Save Mount Diablo in 1971, the state park they set out to expand covered 6,778 acres at the summit of Contra Costa County's iconic mountain. Today, as the organization marks the end of its 35th year by adding another 207 acres of protected land on the mountain, Mount Diablo State Park covers more than 20,000 acres. The park is the centerpiece of 29 local, regional and state parks that now span nearly 90,000 acres of the northern Diablo Range and comprise almost 10 percent of the Bay Area's open space. That swath of parkland has determined the course of growth in a county that since 1971 has doubled its population to more than 1 million. "The mountain speaks for itself when you compare it to Mount Tam and the development that's happened there," said Mark DeSaulnier, county supervisor and assemblyman-elect. "While we've had lots of development in Contra Costa County, Save Mount Diablo was able to save much of the mountain and the surrounding ridgelines, and we can be proud of the work they've accomplished." Save Mount Diablo has not worked alone -- the East Bay Regional Park District, among others, also deserves credit -- but it has been the most visible and vocal advocate for open space in Contra Costa County. Next week, it closes escrow on a $1.45 million deal for Mangini Ranch, 207 acres of scrub and grassland adjacent to Lime Ridge Open Space northwest of Mount Diablo. It also is brokering a deal for 320 acres on the north face of the mountain. Despite its success, Save Mount Diablo is only getting started. The organization hopes to double the amount of protected open space on the Diablo Range, a goal some call foolhardy given the region's housing shortage. The county's population grew 6 percent between 2000 and 2004, according to the Census Bureau, and most of the 60,000 new residents settled in the eastern end of the county. But Ron Brown, executive director of Save Mount Diablo, said the region can balance growth with conservation. A report released in May by the Greenbelt Alliance found that 1 of every 5 acres in Contra Costa County is at risk of development within 30 years. "People don't realize there are many parcels on the mountain that are privately owned and can be developed," Brown said. Although Mount Diablo State Park has grown since 1971, the threats facing it haven't changed. Then, as now, developers were looking for land on which to build homes for a growing region. "When we got started, we didn't know what we were doing. We just knew something needed to be done," said Bonwell, who serves on the board of the organization he and Bowerman, who died in 2005, founded on Dec. 7, 1971. "There was a housing boom, and we thought that the mountain should be preserved." Within four years, the organization had helped preserve Donner, Mitchell and White canyons and worked with East Bay Regional Parks to create Morgan Territory Regional Preserve. Save Mount Diablo purchased its first plot in 1976, paying $176,000 for 117 acres at Morgan Territory and Marsh Creek roads. The parcel, called Corner Piece, was 4 miles from the northern boundary of Mount Diablo State Park, and the purchase boldly declared an intention to significantly expand the park. "It was a watershed moment," said Seth Adams, director of land programs. "It was a pretty ambitious statement." Today, a corridor of open space stretches 10 miles from Corner Piece through the Clayton Ranch Land Bank to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, creating a swath of protected land from Walnut Creek to Brentwood. Mount Diablo State Park also stretches south to Morgan Territory, which abuts Los Vaqueros Reservoir. The parks are linked by the 30-mile Diablo Trail between Walnut Creek and Livermore. "We've really been able to rely upon them as partners in preserving open space," said Beverly Lane, an East Bay Regional Park District board trustee. "The advocacy of Save Mount Diablo has been significant." The organization has long lobbied for park bonds and regularly weighs in on development projects, but it has in recent years grown more active in regional land use policy. It was instrumental in drafting a county initiative, approved in November, requiring Contra Costa County's 19 cities to adopt growth boundaries if they are to receive proceeds from a half-cent sales tax voters approved in 2004. It has worked with county officials to draft environmental mitigation policies and ridgeline protection measures that limit where and how developers can build. It also joined environmentalists, city planners, developers and others in drafting the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan. That proposal, awaiting final approval, identifies 30,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat. Under the plan, developers will pay to help preserve the habitat in exchange for a streamlined permitting process. Brown, the nonprofit's executive director, says conservation must be balanced by development and points to the conservation plan as one example of his willingness to compromise. Save Mount Diablo enjoys generally good relationships with builders, including Shapell Homes and Blackhawk-Nunn, that have worked with the conservationists to protect land. Such collaboration will become more important as Save Mount Diablo strives to expand open space on the northern Diablo Range. The number of parcels left on the range is diminishing, and each is growing more expensive as competition for them increases. Brown said that is the greatest challenge to the continued success of an organization that he believes is just hitting its stride after 35 years. "We're only now coming out of our adolescence," he said. ### |
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