By Herbert A. Sample, Bee San Francisco Bureau
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
BERKELEY - With an eye on education, environmentalism and a little bit of commerce, efforts have begun to link several dozen locations along San Francisco Bay's shoreline where kayakers, canoeists and human-powered watercraft enthusiasts can launch into the bay.
A measure recently passed by legislators and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kick-started the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail. Much as bicyclists can find their way around the region via the San Francisco Bay Trail, the water trail will eventually provide nonmotorized watercraft users with information on where to enter or leave the bay, as well as improvements to those sites.
"We wanted to make sure that there was continuous access to the bay for human-powered boats," said Penny Wells, an ardent kayaker and president of the nonprofit group Bay Access Inc., before a short ceremony Monday celebrating the legislation's passage at Berkeley's Shorebird Park.
"The problem that exists is that although there are many sites around the bay where people can get into the water, many of them are becoming inaccessible in reality," she added, citing parking restrictions and development of one-time bayside industrial districts into residential areas.
The measure, AB 1296 by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, directs the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to draft a plan over the next two years that will identify water trail access points, particularly those near hotels or campsites.
Following that, the California Coastal Conservancy is charged with implementing the plan.
Already, advocates have identified more than 80 locations, from Alviso Marina in Santa Clara County and Crissy Field in San Francisco to Hudeman Slough in Sonoma County and Mathew Turner Park in Contra Costa County.
Several dozen additional sites could eventually join the initial group of debarkation points.
By identifying access locations and getting the word out about them, more Bay Area residents may get interested in kayaking, windsurfing or other watercraft sports, which inevitably leads to a greater appreciation of the bay's ecological merits, said Jim McGrath, a Bay Access board member.
"If you see wildlife on the bay, you can't help but become an advocate for the proper care of the bay," he said.
Another board member of Bay Access, David Dolberg, noted how the water trail will provide an avenue for teaching children about the bay and its environmental importance to the region.
"Through the bay trail is how future stewards are created," he said.
McGrath, a longtime kayaker, said there also could be economic benefits to increasing usage of the bay by human-powered craft. He cited recent kayak trips that included stops around the bay where he and friends ate in a restaurant or spent a night in a hotel.
"The bay water trail will encourage the idea of low-impact tourism," he said. "It's a way of seeing the bay rather than just from a freeway."
The Hancock measure does not give the Bay Conservation and Development Commission or the Coastal Conservancy increased powers to demand launch points. But the conservancy could add those locations to its strategic plan and finance small construction projects to improve them.
About the writer: The Bee's Herbert A. Sample can be reached at (510) 382-1978 or hsample@sacbee.com.
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