Members of the public made their preference known again that Tesla Park, a 3,100-acre tract of undeveloped land in the Mount Diablo range, should be classified as a reserve.
In a virtual meeting on Jan. 28, California State Parks and Recreation officials and their consultants heard from nineteen speakers, most of whom favored a “reserve” designation, which would limit recreational activities and focus on protecting wildlife and plants and securing the area’s Native American history.
In September, state parks officials delayed the process of classifying the park by folding its classification into the general planning process for the area. More than three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to protect the land between Livermore and Tracy from off-road vehicle use, officials said it could take three to five more years before the governmental process is completed to determine its future.
Specifically, the so-called “scoping” session was intended for the public to voice its suggestions to the parks department for what should be examined in an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), a document that will analyze how such activities and subjects including camping, hiking, biking, noise, the possibility of buildings and roadways, and even dog walking could affect what many speakers described as pristine wilderness.
In completing the document, state officials will also decide how to classify the park, either as a reserve with limited to no recreational activities or opening it to more intrusive pursuits.
“Classification helps determine the purpose of a park and the range of conservation, recreation and management activities that are appropriate for the park,” said C.C. LaGrange, senior associate with PlaceWorks, a consultant working on the EIR and general plan for the park. “The general plan defines the park’s primary purpose and establishes a management direction for the park’s future.”
Although LaGrange asked those participating to address topics for the EIR to study, most of those who spoke got straight to the point: Sixteen speakers voiced support for the park to become a reserve, which would allow hiking, but keep trails free of bicycles and any activity like camping that could disturb the wildlife corridor. A similar meeting held in September had a similar level of support.
“I would like state parks to address in their EIR the use of the 3,100 acres as the lowest recreational impacts,” said Carin High, suggesting any visitor center or parking lots be built on park land adjacent to Tesla Park. “I don’t think this is the right spot for camping, and I would also strongly encourage you to incorporate into the EIR a robust discussion of cumulative impacts of any of the different types of activities or levels of activities that you might be proposing.”
Donna Cabanne, speaking for the Sierra Club’s Tri-Valley chapter, said her organization has worked for decades to protect the park. She supported the “lowest recreation intensity possible.”
“I would like the EIR to focus on the unique biodiversity, the pristine conditions that exist here, cultural resources, historical resources, impacts to wildlife and specifically, to really look at biological resources, hydrology and water quality, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, noise and also wildfires,” Cabanne said. “We believe it should be reserved with the least recreational intensity — hiking, educational material, photography, no camping, and to really look at cumulative activities and how they impact what we have… We can’t find a replacement for this type of pristine conditions anywhere else.”
Speaking for Friends of Livermore, Dick Schneider, an open space advocate and co-author of Alameda County’s Measure D, said Tesla Park should be designated as a reserve.
“Tesla contains at least 45 special status plant species, 74 additional locally rare watch list species, nine sensitive natural communities and 53 special status wildlife species and habitats,” Schneider said. “These are not concentrated in one area but spread as a web of life across the entire landscape.”
Schneider said the EIR should address the effects of roads, construction, maintenance and vehicles on wildlife and plants. The analysis also should include how campsites, picnic areas and humans and dogs could affect the habitat, bird behavior, the soil and “direct mortality to wildlife from predatory actions, disruption of normal behavior, pathogen and disease transmission, disruption of incipient reproductions by splashing through creeks and ponds and other impacts,” he added.
Norman LaForce, president of Sustainability Parks Recycling Wildlife Legal Defense Fund (SPRWLDF), said the park should be a reserve “and there should be close collaboration and consultation and cooperation with the Native Americans First Nations people” to analyze the impact various uses would have on sacred sites. The Tesla area was home to Indigenous Ohlone people.
Of the speakers who wanted to see a less-strict designation, Mark Moskowitz of the Mount Diablo Trails Alliance said the State Parks’ mission is to balance conservation and recreational interests and suggested park officials consider “a more holistic and broad-based approach beyond just low-impact parks.”
“This notion of perceived threat, or threat to both people and environment by cyclists, we do believe is overdone and antiquated,” Moskowitz said.
Calling himself a “recreationalist” who loves the outdoors and wildlife, Tom Gandesbury supported designating the park as a recreational area. Suggesting those participating were Bay Area residents, he urged the EIR examine how residents in Tracy, Mountain House and beyond might use the park.
“There are within 20 miles of the Tesla site, about 300,000 people, and within 30 miles, certainly over a million and these folks need a place to do recreation, to enjoy the outdoors,” Gandesbury noted. “It’s very easy to say ‘Set it aside for the wildlife’ when you have access to lots of recreational areas in your backyard. But folks who live in the Sacramento Valley don’t have that luxury.”
Once an environmental impact report and general plan are completed, hearings will be held for more public input. Eventually, the State Park and Recreation Commission will determine a classification for the park. That isn’t expected until 2027.
Anyone wishing to offer suggestions about the EIR can write to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 94296-0001. Contact: Katie Metraux. Emails can be sent to [email protected] with “Alameda-Tesla Park Classification and General Plan Project EIR as the subject line. The deadline for comments is Feb. 14.
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