[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25057]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT AND THE REGIONAL PARKS FOUNDATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 15, 2009

  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the joint 
anniversary celebration of East Bay Regional Park District's 75th 
Anniversary and the supporting Regional Parks Foundation's 40th 
Anniversary. This evening, Park District supporters and friends gather 
at Temescal Regional Park, overlooking open space created through the 
founding of the nation's first and largest Regional Park District.
  In 1934, during the catastrophic depths of the Great Depression, 
members of a grassroots land preservation movement placed a measure on 
the ballot that would preserve excess watershed land in the Oakland and 
Berkeley hills. The project introduced a concept unheard of at the 
time: creating a natural balance between recreational land use and 
wilderness preservation. Bay Area residents responded with 
unprecedented foresight and civic commitment when the measure passed by 
an astonishing 71 percent.
  Today, the East Bay Regional Park District, EBRPD, operating in 
Alameda and Contra Costa counties, manages more than 98,000 acres of 
land comprising 65 parks and over 1,000 miles of biking, hiking and 
horse riding trails. The parks host approximately 14 million visitors 
per year.
  The District, supported by the Regional Parks Foundation's 
fundraising efforts, provides recreational opportunities at freshwater 
swimming areas, fishing docks and piers, day camps, children's play 
areas and numerous camping and picnic sites.
  Myriad visitor services include education centers, a disabled-access 
swimming pool and group meeting facilities. The District's Park Express 
Bus Program offers subsidized bus service to any District park for 
groups of senior, disabled or low-income residents and school classes 
with funded lunch programs.
  Our regional parks' success is the result of eight decades of hard 
work by innumerable citizen activists, elected district directors, 
general managers, district employees, environmental organizations, 
public officials, volunteers, and taxpayers who have collaborated to 
ensure local access to a majestic regional park system. Many park sites 
also contain protected species of plants and animals, as well as Native 
American historical sites containing rock art, and burial or village 
locations. Above all, EBRPD's top priority remains aligned with our 
park founders' original mission: to preserve the natural beauty of the 
land and protect wildlife habitats.
  The future of East Bay Regional Park District is marked by growth and 
stability thanks to last year's passage of Measure WW, the largest 
local park bond measure to pass on record.
  Seventy-five years ago, Bay Area park advocates demonstrated a 
pioneering and progressive local spirit, which endures to this day. The 
rich history of our regional parks has undoubtedly helped lay the 
framework for the Bay Area's famed conservation movement. It is this 
continued passion for open spaces and preservation that inspires 
communities, on a national and global level, to protect and preserve 
both the environment--and our future.

                          ____________________