Reports and Publications
This page hosts papers, reports, and information about East Bay CNPS’ pro-active conservation efforts.
A “Green” Paper on East Bay Hills fuels management
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MID YEAR Conservation Analyst Report – July-August, 2009
Spring has proved to be both challenging and rewarding for the Conservation Committee with some of our major issues moving toward resolution and others still hanging in the balance. Thanks to the following volunteers and plant scientists who have pushed hard to ensure that CNPS’s concerns are always on the table by gathering information, attending meetings, offering comment, and writing letters: Heath Bartosh, David Bigham, Bob Case, Janet Gawthrop, Mary Ann Hannon, Dianne Lake, Erin McDermott, Peter Rauch, Sue Rosenthal, and Roy West. Please be sure to visit the conservation web page to view the letters of public comment that we have submitted on these and other projects.
Serpentine Prairie: The East Bay Regional Park District has come up with an excellent restoration plan for the Serpentine Prairie in Redwood Regional Park. Over the past three years, EBCNPS has lobbied hard to get a sound, scientifically based plan that would restore and protect this botanical gem. In May, the District issued its Initial Study and Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Serpentine Restoration Plan. In July the Board will vote on whether to adopt the IS/MND. The next steps will involve the first phases of tree removal and fencing. We will continue to work to help see the full implementation of the plan and to assist in public education regarding the restoration.
Vegetation Management in the Urban-Wildland Interface: EBCNPS joined forces with the Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Golden Gate Chapter of Audubon to issue a green paper on our views on how to approach vegetation management at the interface to reduce the danger of catastrophic fire while enhancing native plant and wildlife habitat. The centerpiece of our paper is the emphasis on a site-specific approach. To date, management of the interface has been based on generic fuels models which effectively exclude consideration of native habitat values. The coalition has introduced our approach to the District in light of its upcoming release of the EIR and Vegetation Management Plan for the East Bay Hills Fuelbreak later this summer.
Russell City Energy Center: We have continued to provide public comment and technical support to the grassroots organizations who are fighting to prevent approval and construction of Calpine’s giant power plant next to the sensitive native habitat of the Hayward Regional Shoreline. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has not been able to issue its final permit to greenlight the project. Attorneys from Earthjustice who are representing the Citizens Against Pollution have successfully argued to the EPA that the Air District, in attempting to grant Calpine its Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit, cannot use the PM10 standard (referring to the size of the particulate matter of 10 microns) as a surrogate for the more stringent PM 2.5.
Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) Transmission Project: A statewide project has arisen to connect potential “green” power generation facilities with end users throughout Northern California. TANC promises to drape another 600 miles of power lines across northern California associated with renewable energy generation. After a tumultuous public meeting in Livermore in May, where TANC refused to record comments from the 200+ attendees, the transmission project is likely to have little support from local residents, environmentalists, or public agencies. TANC admits to failing to work with existing utility companies to maximize existing corridors and towers in their ”green” project. EBCNPS will be submitting comments on this and other associated problems. Please let Lech know if you’d like to help write or review comments.
Tres Vaqueros Wind-Repowering Project: A Texas wind power company that owns a facility located in eastern Contra Costa County has applied for permits to remove existing wind towers and build new towers and 13 miles of new roads across land that is currently under protection of conservation easements. We pointed out in our scoping letter that, in addition to a host of legal problems that arise from such a proposal, there is the potential for impact to special status plants Atriplex depressa and A. coronata var. coronata and to sensitive plant communities on site.
Eastern Alameda County Conservation Strategy (EACCS): We continue to provide input on the EACCS process through monthly “users’group” meetings and communication with the steering committee and consulting staff. We have deep concerns over the legitimacy of this approach to conservation. While the focal plant species are good conservation targets, we continue to press for authentic technical review and a more transparent public process. Thus far, we have received no response to our formal letter of February, 2009 to the steering committee outlining our issues. We reiterated our complaints at the first public meeting this month. Because the EACCS does not contain the same legal protections as an HCP, there is a danger of setting a precedent for other jurisdictions to adopt this approach to “conservation planning” in lieu of an HCP.
Priority Protection Areas (PPA): We are working toward finishing our first full draft of the PPA. This document will map and describe some 15 areas where we believe plant conservation activities should be directed. Coordination of our efforts with Project Manager Heath Bartosh of the Rare Plants Committee is helping make this a rigorous and informative document.
Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion: As many long-time CNPS members may remember, the Contra Costa Water District created mitigations years ago for the original reservoir that included planting of oaks and protections for listed species. CCWD has proposed flooding these mitigations in its bid to expand the reservoir. We submitted comments on the draft EIR/EIS noting a host of impacts. EBCNPS believes that legally imposed mitigations for a project should not be destroyed to create a new project.
Oakland Zoo Expansion: The Oakland Zoo hosted a late-noticed meeting in May to discuss its plans for expansion in Knowland Park. The highly controversial plans–which include a large veterinary hospital, a California wildlife exhibit, overnight camping area, an aerial gondola, and a fenced exclosure that would remove up to 60 acres of open space and trail from free public access–have shifted over time and increased in scope. As yet, there have been no copies of plans, proposals, or illustrations that the public can examine. Knowland Park has large expanses of grassland and oak woodlands with vibrant native flora. Despite our requests for a land management plan that would fulfill the zoo’s role as steward of this lovely site, none has as yet been developed. EBCNPS believes that the zoo’s commitment to the wild should extend beyond educating the public about the “exotic” and should embrace the values inherent in the natural community of its own East Bay hills setting.
Lech Naumovich and Laura Baker
The Full 2008 Conservation Report is coming soon
Conservation: 1620 Volunteer hours
Staff recorded 883 hours.
