If any of the points below reflect your opinions, please paraphrase them in your own words and include them in your responses to the East Bay Regional Park District’s District Plan Public Survey.
1. What is your vision for the future of regional parks in the East Bay?
A system of ecologically thriving lands and waters managed to protect natural diversity.
In the future, regional parks in the East Bay will be exemplars of ecologically thriving park lands and waters that are managed first and foremost to protect the rich and diverse native plant communities of the East Bay and the wildlife species, from tiny invertebrate pollinators through large mammals, that depend on them.
Natural quiet and peace prioritized.
The East Bay Regional Park District will prioritize protecting the natural quiet and peace of open space lands.
2. What do you want and need to make your experience in the parks even better?
Actively seek input from a more representative cross section of park users.
Find ways to reach a more representative cross section of the people who use the parks (or would like to use the parks), announce major park land use and other changes to all park user groups at the same time, and describe proposed changes in the Park District’s various publications months ahead of their appearance on a Park District Board meeting agenda..
Develop a trail plan that protects sensitive natural habitat and ensures safety for all users.
Park surveys show that hikers represent 80 percent or more of trail users. Currently the Park District puts hikers and mountain bikers on the same narrow trails, and it is neither safe nor desirable for either group. We need a trail plan that protects natural areas of sensitive plant and wildlife habitat; ensures a safe and desirable trail experience for hikers, equestrians, trail runners, and people with disabilities; and looks toward providing appropriately sited recreation facilities outside of park flora and fauna habitat, such as for the proposed, dedicated narrow-trail courses for higher-speed downhill cycling.
Prioritize control of invasive weeds.
Increase efforts to control and remove ecologically harmful invasive weeds. Many are also a fire threat.
Repair trails.
Repair badly rutted and otherwise degraded trails.
Expand volunteer participation in stewardship and restoration projects.
There’s growing interest among local citizens in helping the Park District steward and restore native plant and wildlife habitat. Expand the Park District’s stewardship capabilities both internally and in partnership with local citizens by funding a stewardship field team and stewardship volunteer coordinator to recruit, guide, and train more volunteers to assist in stewardship and restoration projects.
3. How could our parks welcome visitors that represent the full range of the growing and diverse communities nearby?
Share information about relationships of diverse East Bay communities to parks.
Use the bulletin boards at park entrances to inform park users about the historical relationships of the East Bay’s diverse communities with those parklands.
Expand programs that provide access to and interpretation of parks for underserved groups.
Continue to provide, and expand much as possible, the Park District’s many programs to share the parks with students in underserved communities and others who cannot easily access parks.
4. How could our parks protect land, water, plants, animals, historic sites, and places of cultural significance?
Map and develop stewardship plans for areas of high conservation value.
Map areas of high conservation value in the parks, including wildflower populations and other sensitive-habitat vegetation. Develop stewardship plans and fund the staffing to care for these unique areas, and work with volunteers to restore them.
Offer more interpretive walks.
Offer wildflower walks in more parks in the spring, and continue offering walks to historic sites and places of cultural significance.
Prioritize native plant conservation in wildfire vegetation management projects.
Plan and implement “wildfire vegetation management projects” that conserve and enhance native plants and plant communities as allies in wildfire risk reduction. Include in all wildfire vegetation management project budgets sufficient funds for long-term monitoring and management to prevent establishment of and type conversion to invasive non-native plant species.
5. Share other ideas, questions, or comments you have about the future of regional parks in the East Bay.
Prioritize protection of biodiversity in the parks.
Protecting the biodiversity of the parks should be the East Bay Regional Park District’s top priority. The parks are an extraordinary resource for plants and wildlife as well as for the human population of the Bay Area.
Accelerate protection of natural habitat and built features from climate change.
Accelerate implementation of plans to protect sensitive plant and wildlife habitat, shoreline parks, trails, and park infrastructure from climate change impacts.
