OAKLAND CITIZENS' COMMITTEE FOR URBAN RENEWAL, Oakland, Calif., August 9, 1971. Hon. Roy A. TAYLOR, Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation, Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

GENTLEMEN: The Oakland Citizens' Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR) wishes to state its position on the proposed legislation being considered by the Congress of the United States and particularly by this sub-committee for the establishment of a Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the San Francisco Bay Region. We believe that the outcome of the proposed legislation will greatly affect the quality of life for residents of the City of Oakland and the residents of the entire Bay Area.

The San Francisco Bay Area has been urbanized and developed at an extremely high rate over the past few years. Also, current population projections indicate that the Bay Region's population of about five million may triple to fifteen million within fifty years. Such increases in population would undoubtedly entail developing most land in the Bay Region that is presently undeveloped unless substantial portions of present open space are preserved for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations of Bay Area residents.

The City of Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay Region. Several economic studies of the city over the past few years have pointed to the fact that Oakland's unemployment rates and other adverse economic indicators have been and continue to be considerably higher than those in other large core cities. These studies also indicate that many of Oakland's economically disadvantaged residents traditionally depend heavily upon public transportation. OCCUR believes that the economically disadvantaged people of Oakland and other Bay Area cities, who lack the financial capacity to leave the Bay Area for the fulfillment of their recreational and aesthetic needs, will be particularly affected by whether or not, and to the extent, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is established.

OCCUR, therefore, strongly supports the establishment of a Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which would be under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and which would include those portions of Fort Baker, Fort Barry, Fort Cronkhite, Fort Mason, Fort Miley, Fort Funston, Fort Scott, and the Presidio of San Francisco, which are determined not to be essential for national defense. OCCUR further supports the inclusion in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area of additional parcels of Federal, state, city, and private lands north of the Golden Gate, including a corridor of greenbelt in Marin County extending up to Mount Tamalpais State Park and from Mount Tamalpais State Park to Olema between the lands of the Marin Municipal Water District and Point Reyes National Seashore, thus establishing an area open for public recreation between San Mateo County and Point Reyes.

OCCUR believes that the establishment of such a recreation area would be in accordance with the statement made by the President of the United States in his January 22, 1971 State of the Union Message in which he promised to put forward a program "to expand the nation's parks, recreation areas and open space in a way that truely brings parks to people: where the people are." This program, if established, will bring national parks and recreation areas to the people of Oakland and the people of the San Francisco Bay Region. Respectfully Submitted,

LORNA E. JONES, Chairman.

STATEMENT OF MRS. JOSEPH B. LIBRA, DIRECTOR, HILLWOOD ACADEMIC

DAY SCHOOL, SAN FRANCISCO

My name is Mary J. Libra, director of the Hillwood Academic Day School in San Francisco, and of the Hillwood Young Peoples' Conservation Center and Youth Camp in Marin County. We are one of two conservation-minded organizations in the Muir Woods area that have been working quietly for generations to preserve the land and to bring the benefits of outdoor recreation to

young people of all races and religions. We endorse the proposal of a Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and thank the members of your committee for coming to San Francisco to give the people of the Bay Area an opportunity to express their views about it. We are grateful to Senator Alan Cranston, and to Congressman Phillip Burton and Congressman William S. Mailliard for their individual and joint efforts to bring about a significant legislative step forward.

We are heartened by the assurances of Park Service Director George B. Hartzog Jr. that he will seek to work out agreements to allow our youth and conservation work to continue.

What you are considering here today will make conservation history. Future generations will remember your endeavors with gratitude as they look upon and enjoy the beauties of nature you will have ensured for them. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF MRS. ANNA LENN, SAN FRANCISCO

I am Mrs. Anna Lenn, residing in San Francisco at 3933 Clement Street. I am a free lance writer by occupation, and although speaking today as an individual, I am a member of the Planning Assocation for the Richmond as well as the Outer Richmond Neighborhood Assocation.

California, the most populous state in the Union, is rapidly being buried under asphalt, concrete, metal and plastic.

The slopes of her snow-capped mountains have been despoiled by real estate developers, her purple valleys appropriated by agricultural conglomerates-and now the developers are waiting to pounce on her spectacular coastal areas.

It has gotten so that a California family on a Sunday outing out of town is hard put to find a patch of open land on which to picnic and stretch out in the sun.

California desperately needs to preserve for all time the green space and open sky of the proposed Golden Gate National Recreation Area-not only for Californians but for all Americans, and for the rest of the world that travels to California for refreshment and recreation.

How can our Federal government afford to let slip from protective custody the priceless coastlands first glimpsed by Sir Francis Drake in Shakespeare's time, the lovely pines and lagoons that made Don Gaspar de Portola gasp in amazement, the hills and fields blessed by Father Junipero Serra, the arroyos and barrancas explored by de Anza, Vallejo, Fremont, and Kit Carson?

The Federal administrations of earlier times had the wisdom and foresight to preserve the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion National Park, Mesa Verde, Death Valley, for all the people.

It is inconceivable that this administration would be less wise, that it would fail to see that California's spectacular coast belongs to generations yet unborn as well as to the beauty-starved, nature-hungry city dwellers of today.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS, San Francisco, Calif., August 9, 1971.

MARIN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS,

Marin County Civic Center,

San Rafael, Calif.

GENTLEMEN: The matter of the proposed Stinson Beach/Bolinas sewage collection and treatment facility has been given careful consideration by the Executive Committee of the Northern California Chapter, American Institute of Architects.

The following resolution on this matter has been passed by unanimous approval of the Executive Committee:

The Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects stands in favor of a sewage treatment facility for the Marin communities of Stinson Beach and Bolinas.

We, however, propose that the complex, expensive, and potentially ecologically dangerous treatment facilities now under consideration may well result in irreparable damage to the delicate ecosystems of Bolinas Lagoon,

Agate Beach, and Duxbury Reef. We hereby propose that these plans be held in abeyance temporarily until the plans for a more justified, less costly, and more ecologically acceptable system are finalized. We request that you give it your most urgent attention.

Sincerely yours,

ELMER E. BOTSAI,

President.

STINSON BEACH/BOLINAS SEWAGE FACILITY

The presently proposed massive sewage collection and treatment plant for the Marin communities of Stinson Beach and Bolinas has been under attack by a 4 majority of the local residents, by the Sierra Club, the Oceanic Society, Marin Ecology Action, and a number of other groups, because of the following problems which its construction would propose :

(1) In present form it is a $8.1 million over-reaction to a relatively simple problem posed by a total of 187 flush toilets.

(2) Local residents, who are being committed to a $5.6 million bond indebtedness without a referendum, would overwhelmingly prefer a less costly and more efficient facility which would as well not endanger the vital ecology of the area.

(3) In present form the plant would have potential capacity to serve 21,000 people, nearly ten times the present area population of 2,500. Resultant highspeed, constricted development and population growth would necessitate damming of fresh-water sources to Bolinas Lagoon, "an ecological gem of national importance" (San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 1971) and would have a destructive effect on the rural beauty and open space of the area.

(4) The accompanying 2,500 foot long ocean outfall pipe would deposit a proportion of its chlorinated effluent on the sands of Agate Beach, a Marin County Park, and public access to ecologically delicate Duxbury Reef State Marine Preserve, the only ecosystem of its kind along the California Coast, and the largest shale reef in the United States.

(5) Further effluent from the $1.5 million outfall would disperse northward along the beaches of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

(6) The proposed force main under the Bolinas Lagoon would cross the San Andreas Fault, presenting a potential health hazard in case of rupture. Adequate safety features to deal with this danger would even further increase the cost.

(7) A great number of the local residents would prefer the technologically feasible and ecologically preferable solution of recycling and reusing wastes, rather than of "disposing" of them.

Copies of letter addressed to Marin County Board of Supervisors dated August 9, 1971 and Fact Sheet on Stinson Beach/Bolinas Sewage System:

Marin County Supervisors: Louis H. Baar, Peter R. Arrigoni, John F. McInnis, Michael Wornum, FAIA, Arnold Baptiste, John F. Barrows, Asst. County Administrator; U.S. Army Engineer District, San Francisco Corps of Engineers; Hon. Alan Cranston, U.S. Senate; Hon. John Tunney, U.S. Senate; Hon. William T. Bagley, California State Assembly; Hon. Philip Burton, House of Representatives; Hon. Roy A. Taylor, Chairman, Sub-committee of National Parks and Recreation Insular Affairs Committee, House of Representatives; Environmental Protection Agency, Attn: Richard O'Connell; Chairman, Jose Silva, BCPUD; Regional Water Quality Control Board, Attn: Fred Dierkes; Jerry Gilbert, Executive Director, California Water Resources Control Board; Department of Housing and Urban Affairs Development, Region VI, Attn; Joel Y. Nemschoff; Kent Watson, Sierra Club Bay Area Chapter; Bolinas Future Studies.

STATEMENT OF FREDERIC WEEKES, CHAIRMAN, URBAN CARE, BERKELEY, CALIF.

My name is Frederic Weekes. I live in Berkeley and I speak to you today as chairman of URBAN CARE, an organization that concerns itself with land-use practices in that city.

I would like to report to you on an incident that took place this spring in Berkeley. The matter deals with open space and it is germane to the subject under discussion.

Tidelands in the Bay adjoining Berkeley have long been used as the city garbage dump. This practice is soon to stop but in the meantime a particular 85 acres of submerged tidelands has been filled in and covered over with top soil; at this moment it has the appearance of a large empty meadow at the city's front door. These lands are owned half by an individual and half by a railroad company. This property has never been zoned by the city and therefore no serious attempt has ever been made to develop the land.

This spring a developer came forth with a proposal to build a regional shopping center on the land; this was the first definite plan made for the land and the citizens of Berkeley were faced with a choice: to let the land be developed: or to do what they could to keep the space open.

Our organization, I feel, spearheaded the effort to thwart the development; we succeeded in bringing together sufficient expertise and in finding enough popular support to stop the development. Indeed we found no mass popular support for the shopping center, only scattered individuals interested in it.

What I am presenting to you is a vastly simplified story of what took place. The key element is that thousands of citizens in Berkeley became aware of the proposal (It became an issue in the recent city council elections) and it appears that almost all were against it.

Our need for some place for bicycling, kite flying, picnicking, softball games, bird watching, and walking is so great that we consider an 85 acre former garbage dump as something very much worth preserving for the region.

There are 120,000 of us in Berkeley; that represents 2-2% of the Bay Area population. We hike at the Point Reyes National Seashore, we use the beach at Stinson, we hike on the trails on Mount Tamalpais, and in the City, we use the Marina, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate Park. All these open spaces are vital to us and it is very important that they be increased and that they be kept as open spaces.

Of course I can not speak for the population of Berkeley; but I can report that in similar circumstances this spring the great majority of Berkeleyans expressed a strong need for open space in the region; and that which they feel for their own 85 acres they would certainly feel about this great recreational area under discussion today.

Hon. Roy A. TAYLOR,

AMERICAN YOUTH HOSTELS, INC.,
San Francisco, Calif., August 9, 1971.

Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation, Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR SIR: The Golden Gate Council of American Youth Hostels wholeheartedly gives its support to the establishment of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Our purpose is to help all, especially young people, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through outdoor activities, educational and recreational travel, to develop fit, self-reliant, well-informed citizens, and to provide youth hostels (simple overnight accommodations with supervising house parents) in scenic, historic and cultural areas.

As a local organization we feel it is essential that the remaining open spaces of the Bay Area be preserved for recreational areas. As the population of the area grows, people must have some green open spaces easily available. Not everybody has the time and money to travel far out of the city for rest and relaxation, and young people growing up in a city should not be doomed to spend their spare time playing in the streets and concrete school-yards. We feel it is our duty to young people to make them aware of the beauty of nature and to give them an awareness of the outdoors.

As an international organization which welcomes visitors from all over the world to the City of San Francisco, which is known as one of the world's most scenic cities, we would hope that its beauty may be preserved.

It is also our hope that as the hiking and cycling trails of Marin County are developed, that we may establish a trail hostel for young people from near and far. It is similarly our hope that we can establish a hostel in the City of San Francisco for the many young visitors. We are most anxious that the

open spaces of this area are preserved, for without them young people in the area will be denied the opportunity to learn to appreciate and enjoy outdoor recreational activities.

BERYL KAY, President, Golden Gate Council.

RESOLUTION OF GOLDEN GATE COUNCIL OF AMERICAN YOUTH HOSTELS, INC.,

SAN FRANCISCO

WHEREAS green grass, growing plants, open space and blue sky should be easily accessible to all, and

WHEREAS the coastline area offers a unique variety of natural, historic, scenic and recreational lands which should be preserved for the use and enjoyrent of present and future generations of Bay Area residents, and

WHEREAS poor people in central urban areas, people who lack the financial capacity to leave the Bay Area for fulfillment of their recreational and aesthetic needs, will be particularly affected by whether or not, and to what extent, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is established, and

WHEREAS the purpose of the Golden Gate Council of the American Youth Hostels is to help all, especially young people, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through outdoor activities, educational and recreational travel, to develop fit, self-reliant, well-informed citizens; to provide youth hostels (simple overnight accommodations with supervising houseparents) in scenic, historic and cultural areas:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Golden Gate Council of American Youth Hostels, Inc. endorses the establishment of a Golden Gate National Recreational Area to include those portions of Fort Baker, Fort Barry, Fort Cronkhite, Fort Mason, Fort Miley, Fort Funston, Fort Scott and the Presidio of San Francisco which are determined not to be essential for national defense, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Golden Gate Council of American Youth Hostels, Inc. endorses the inclusion in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area of additional parcels of Federal, State, City and private lands North of the Golden Gate, including a corridor of green belt in Marin County extending up to Mount Tamalpais State Park and from Mount Tamalpais State Park to Olema between the lands of the Marin Municipal Water District and Point Reyes National Seashore, thus establishing an area open for public recreation between San Mateo County and Point Reyes. Dated: July 20, 1971

BERYL KAY, President.

STATEMENT OF MRS. DOROTHY GIBBONS,

I am Mrs. Dorothy Gibbons. I have been a resident of the outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco for twenty-eight years.

I thank you for permitting me to testify before your committee.

I do not wish to repeat previous testimonies and I would only ask that your committee follow the present administration's plan of "Parks to the People" by adopting the entire plan proposed by the group of concerned citizens known as Feople For a Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This will insure that our fragile shoreline and greenbelt areas be preserved for all future generations.

STATEMENT OF TERRY L. CODDINGTON, SAN FRANCISCO

I, Terry Coddington, wish to speak for the establishment of a Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Although I am speaking as a private citizen, I am a professional member of a law enforcement team (criminalist in the San Francisco Police Department) and am familiar with social behavior and the etiology of crime. As a result of my background I wish to direct my remarks to the role of open space in affecting the quality of life in general.

When individuals are forced to live close together petty differences turn into aggressive behavior, frustrations into hostility, suicidal acts. and various types of antisocial acts known as crimes. The urban crime rate and sociological studies have documented these phenomena.