[EBB Sightings] Sibley Regional Preserve

Hi EBBers,

I've been in touch with Sylvia Sykora about her postings on the 
proposed "improvements" to Sibley. We both thought that additional info 
would be welcome if birders want to contact the East Bay Regional Park 
District to comment on these potential changes to a beloved East Bay 
birding/wildlife area.

The April issue of the Golden Gate Audubon Gull newsletter will have a 
cover story by Conservation Director Arthur Feinstein on the subject. 
The Gull will be
online by the end of the month. In the meantime, here are some details.

The EBRPD land-use plan calls for adding new, adjacent land to Sibley. 
With this would come the building of a campground to accommodate 300 
campers; the construction of new roads and the improvement of others; 
and the addition of new parking lots for new trails. The new facilities 
and the increased human activities they bring could potentially 
threaten wildlife such as mountain lions and coyotes that rely on the 
Caldecott Wildlife Corridor to travel north and south in Contra Costa 
County. Furthermore, the proposed development goes against a 
long-standing resource plan that advised against making significant 
changes to the area--a resource plan in which the EBRPD participated.

The EBRPD website has minutes from a November 2004 meeting that 
outlined the new plan. Go to http://www.ebparks.org/district/PAC/ and 
choose the minutes from 11/22/04.

You can go to http://www.ebparks.org/district/board.htm and email the 
board members directly, especially board president Beverly Lane and 
John Sutter, whose ward includes Sibley.

Judith