The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
May - June 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Camp Parks habitat threatened by development
A proposed land exchange between the federal government and the city of Dublin threatens to destroy prime wildlife habitat in the Livermore-Amador Valley.
The U.S. Army and NASA are attempting to transfer 180 acres of land at the southern end of Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area to Dublin for an urban development called Dublin Crossing.
In January the Army held an open house for 50 developers to view the property. Dublin Mayor Janet Lockhart presented alternatives for five massive commercial and residential developments. None of these proposals has received public review or considers habitat for threatened and endangered species.
In May a developer is to be announced, and the land is to be formally transferred a year later.
The relatively undeveloped Camp Parks is home to several endangered, threatened, and rare wildlife species, including one of the East Bay's few remaining colonies of breeding western burrowing owls. Burrowing owls have declined dramatically in the Bay Area; they have been evicted and disappeared from over half of their known Bay Area breeding locations since the 1980s. Development at Camp Parks without consideration of the owls would likely extirpate them there as well. The proposed project site also supports golden eagles, has potential foraging habitat for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, has 21 acres of known and suitable breeding habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog, and has known breeding habitat for the threatened California tiger salamander.
Dublin has a reputation as an aggressive developer for introducing urban blight to the Livermore Valley, sacrificing rolling green hills in favor of a Los Angeles landscape. Left alone, judging by its track record, Dublin may not protect conservation goals and objectives.
The Alameda Creek Alliance is proposing an approach that ensures sustainability for endangered and sensitive species. This would encompass ecological integrity on-site, with funding in perpetuity for maintaining a preserve as an integral part of the development. The goal is for a set-aside of at least 50 acres for on-site mitigation before the conclusion of any land transfer.
For more information see the Alameda Creek Alliance web site
© 2008 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler