RECREATION:
An Oasis of Green: East Bay Parks
As the East Bay Regional Park District celebrates its 75th anniversary, the park is reaching out to the public to create awareness about ways to protect wildlife habitats, as well as opportunities for recreation, education and volunteering in the regional parks. A Siliconeer report.
(Above): A lake, a small beach, and a beach house. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a day outdoors - the Temescal Beach House in Oakland, Calif. [Photo: SILICONEER | Amar D. Gupta]
The East Bay Regional Park District recently celebrated its 75th anniversary with New America Media and the ethnic media representatives during a luncheon meeting Sept. 22.
EBRPD invited publishers and broadcasters from the Bay Area ethnic media sector to share information on the park, including ways to protect wildlife habitats, as well as opportunities for recreation, education and volunteering in the regional parks.
Pat O’Brien, general manager of EBRPD, welcomed the media and asked them to help disseminate information on the regional parks and to generate greater visibility for the parks and its initiatives among the Bay Area’s diverse communities.
Rosemary Cameron, assistant general manager, public affairs, emphasized the link that exists between healthy parks and healthy communities, adding that ethnic media plays an invaluable role in drawing people to the regional parks.
(Above): Sandy Close, executive director, New America Media speaks to members of the ethnic media as Pat O’Brien, general manager, EBRPD – Welcome & on Green Transportation, (seated 2nd. from l) looks on. Also seen are members of the ethnic media and EBRPD. [Photo: SILICONEER | Amar D. Gupta]
Among the topics discussed during the luncheon meeting were creating better awareness of many of the programs and activities offered through the regional park system, as well as, park planning, public safety, and internship opportunities.
The EBRPD serves some 2.4 million people across more than 40 cities, managing 65 regional parks and recreation areas that span some 100,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Visitors to the regional parks last year topped the number of people visiting Yosemite during the same period. The EBRPD is the largest regional park district in the country, employing more than 600 people.
The EBRPD, “established in 1934, has a fascinating history and an inspiring story,” according to the district’s Website. “We began with a vision of far-sighted civic leaders seeking to preserve excess watershed land in the Oakland and Berkeley hills. Their goal was to create a park district as part of the community, one that retained a balance of recreation opportunities and wilderness features, ideas unheard of at the time.”
(Above): A park ranger talks about the sounds of nature as members of the media follow the serene calm of the lake at Temescal Beach Park. [Photo: SILICONEER | Amar D. Gupta]
Members of a grassroots land preservation movement placed a measure on the ballot. During the depths of the Great Depression it passed by a surprising 71 percent and created the first regional park agency in the nation--the East Bay Regional Park District.
“Thanks to the support of residents throughout the past seven-and-a-half decades, the East Bay Regional Park District now encompasses all of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. . . . True to the ideas of our founders, our mission continues to be providing recreational opportunities, preserving the natural beauty of the land, and protecting wildlife habitat. These parks truly do belong to all of us, and, in celebration, we’ve planned a year’s worth of wonderful events, discoveries, contests and more.”
More information on East Bay parks is available on the Web at: www.ebparks.org
|
!-- Start Alexa Certify Javascript -->
