Conservation group eyes next million acres of space

While celebrating milestone, coalition lays out ambitious vision to protect more open space in the Bay Area

By Denis Cuff, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Saturday, June 3, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - Announcing a milestone that the Bay Area has protected 1 million acres of open space, a coalition of conservation agencies and groups said Friday that it plans to preserve a million more.

The conservation plan is one of the most ambitious in an American urban area.

If successful, it would leave 46 percent of Bay Area land dedicated to open space such as parks, trails, nature preserves, playgrounds, water reservoir buffers and agricultural preserves, according to the Bay Area Open Space Council.

The group includes 55 park and open space agencies and conservation groups.

Leaders of the coalition said more land needs to be set aside so the region's growing population has places to exercise, reduce stress, avoid obesity, and grow fresh food close to home.

Wildlife needs protected spaces, too, to sustain their populations, council members said.

"It has taken us 100 years to protect the first million acres. Now we need to protect another million," said Ron Brown, the open space council's chairman, at the group's annual conference in the Presidio.

Brown also is executive director of a nonprofit land trust that protects land on and around Mount Diablo.

Council members said it will take years, and quite possibly decades, to accomplish the goal. It will also require money from state bond measures and grants, federal allocations, county taxes, and nonprofit and private donations.

A computer analysis by the council found that for the first time, the region has surpassed the milestone of 1 million acres of protected open space.

Those lands include places such as Tilden Park in the hills between Berkeley and Orinda, beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, grape vineyards in Livermore Valley's agricultural zones, and smaller areas such as softball fields in Concord.

The council did further analysis to conclude that it is possible -- and warranted -- to protect another million acres.

"This is our vision. We need to partner and collaborate with a lot of groups to implement it," said Bettina Ring, executive director of the open space council.

Leaders of the council plan to meet in the next few months with local and regional groups to pinpoint what kinds of open space and parks different areas need.

The new open space plan would provide a focal point for coordinating the actions of many separate organizations, Ring said.

She asserted locking up more open space would not worsen steep Bay Area housing prices because there is land available for in-fill development in many communities.

Park advocates say they hope to get a big money infusion from a $5.4 billion state water and park bond measure headed for the November ballot.

If voters approve the bond measure, it would allocate $108 million to Bay Area parks and natural areas, $400 million to state parks and $400 million to local and regional parks throughout California.

Council members said Friday that they fully expect local or county ballot measures will also be needed to meet the million acre goal.

Several speakers at the conference said protecting open space and farm land is good for public health by providing places to play, exercise and connect with nature.

Richard Louv, an author, said American children's widespread failure to play outdoors is creating a generation disconnected with nature.

Playing in nature can provide emotional healing, inspire creativity and reduce attention deficit disorders, said Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods. Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder."

Louv said of modern children, "They can tell you just about anything about the Amazon rain forest, but what they can't tell you about is the last time they went out in the woods and watched the leaves come down."

Contact Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267 or dcuff@cctimes.com.

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