September 15, 2003

Disappointing EBRPD Sunol/Ohlone Plan

1) The East Bay Regional Park District has released their draft Land Use Plan for Sunol and Ohlone Parks. Disappointingly, EBRPD has ignored much of the public input and the wilderness Alternative proposed by the Alameda Creek Alliance and other environmental and flyfishing groups. There are a few positive changes proposed for the parks, such as excluding cattle from about 7.5 linear miles of upper Alameda Creek. However, the LUP largely glosses over or ignores many of the significant impacts in the parks from cattle grazing. EBRPD has issued a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the LUP, claiming no significant environmental impacts - we had hoped an Environmental Impact Report would be prepared.

EBRPD will hold a public hearing on the Sunol/Ohlone Plan on Wednesday, October 8, from 7-9 pm at the Sunol Glen School in Sunol. This meeting will be a good opportunity to ask the EBRPD why they have ignored the input from environmental and flyfishing groups and why they refuse to conduct an EIR for the Land Use Plan. I will have comments prepared on behalf of the ACA before the meeting. The EBRPD will accept written comments until October 31.

The EBRPD documents are available online at http://www.ebparks.org/resources/resources.htm - scroll down to the Sunol-Ohlone group of documents. E-mail me for a copy of the ACA's wilderness Alternative.

2) If you have not yet received a copy of the summer issue of the ACA newsletter, you are not on our mailing list or we have an incorrect address for you - please e-mail me with your address.