The establishment of the East Bay Regional Park system in the 1930s led to a reduction of cattle grazing and an expansion of coastal scrub into the grassland areas along the east side of the East Bay Hills. Later, in the mid-1970s, an 11-day freeze resulted in mass removal of damaged trees.
Fuel management proposal for UC Hill Campus by Joe R. McBride
The purpose of this paper is to present a fuel management plan for University of California property located in Strawberry and Claremont canyons. The plan will identify site-specific fuel reduction treatments to reduce the fire hazard present in naturally occurring vegetation types and to convert highly hazardous plantations of eucalyptus and conifer species to less hazardous naturally occurring vegetation types.
Click here for Professor McBride’s full proposal.
Aerial views of eucalyptus trees in UC’s Hill Campus before and after the 1972 freeze, by Jerry Kent
Comments regarding the NOP and IS from Stuart Flashman and Michael Graf
These comment are submitted by myself and Mr. Michael Graf, Esq. on behalf of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy (“Conservancy”), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization, in response to the University of California Regents’ Notice of Preparation (“NOP”) and Initial Study (“IS”) for the above-referenced plan. We appreciate the opportunity to submit these comments, which enlarge upon comments made by the two of us at the public scoping meeting held on December 2, 2019.
Comments submitted by Jerry Kent regarding UC's NOP and Initial Study
The Conservancy has been a strong supporter of the University’s efforts to mitigate fire hazards on the Hill Campus since the 1991 fire—including the significant fire hazard reduction improvements that were achieved between 2000 and 2007 in Claremont Canyon, at Chaparral Hill, and along the Grizzly Peak Boulevard Ridgetop Fuel break between Grizzly Peak and Chaparral Hill. We believe UC was able to accomplish important fire mitigation work at these project areas with limited funds, limited staffing, and without opposition by the public.
Conservancy submits comments regarding UC's Vegetative Fuel Management Initial Study, by Jon Kaufman
We were pleased to learn that the Initial Study is not the complete plan that UC intends to make the subject of the Environmental Impact Report. As was noted at the scoping meeting, the Initial Study is too vague and non-specific. As UC and its consultant develop the full plan, we urge that the following points be given careful consideration.
UC Professor Emeritus Joe McBride's comments regarding UC's Vegetative Fuel Management Initial Study
On November 20, 2019, UC Berkeley issued a Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for its Hill Campus Wildland Fuel Management Plan. The following response by UC Professor Emeritus Joe McBride was submitted to the planners, along with oral comments given at a December 2 scoping meeting:
Response to UC Berkeley Hill Campus Management Plan – Joe McBride – Nov. 25, 2019
… Vegetation management treatments are proposed (e.g., defensible space; shaded fuel breaks; roadside fuel breaks) without providing the details of these treatments. It is suggested that ‘five types of vegetation treatment activities are proposed for implementation, but no specific details are given as to how decisions will be made in the three vegetation treatment types to select one or more of the vegetation treatment activities. More specificity is needed to access the environmental impacts and the potential effectiveness of the vegetation treatment activities.
The Claremont Canyon Conservancy and UC Professor Joe McBride collaborate, by Jon Kaufman
Members of the conservancy’s board of directors spent much of the past summer working with UC Berkeley Forestry Professor Emeritus Joe McBride developing a plan to manage vegetation in Strawberry and Claremont canyons. I am pleased to report that Joe’s plan is now available at www.claremontcanyon.org/fuel-management-proposal. We urge UC to follow the plan as it is the standard for how to minimize the damage of a future wildfire.
Restoring the high ridge meadow areas above Claremont Canyon by Glen Schneider
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem. The Skyline Gardens Alliance has been doing just that in the high ridge volcanic area between Tilden and Sibley regional parks. This is East Bay MUD watershed land, traversed north-south by the Skyline Trail. Under special permit from EBMUD, we are doing a botanical census …
Introducing the Oakland community preparedness and response program by Doug Mosher
In light of continued wildfire and earthquake disaster threats to Oakland, the Oakland Firesafe Council has begun a new program called Oakland Community Preparedness and Response (OCPR). The program, which launched in September, will help citizens and groups in the Oakland hills and foothills—both high- risk areas due to the “very high-hazard wild fire zone” at the Wildland-Urban Interface and the 120-mile-long major earthquake zone along the Hayward Fault—to prepare for these threats. The goal is to bring about fewer injuries and deaths and lower financial losses in the event of a major disaster, such as a wild re or earthquake.
Roadside clearing by Nancy Mueller
This season the Oakland vegetation management unit, under the leadership of the incomparable Vince Crudele, made significant progress in reducing vegetation on city and public roadside properties. Major thoroughfares in our area include Tunnel Road, Skyline Boulevard, Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Hiller Drive, Clarewood Drive, Panoramic Way, and Claremont Avenue. I’m pleased to say that Oakland is doing its job in the hills along major roads and near open spaces.
A wildland-urban hike: Gwin Canyon to Garber Park by Sandy Friedland
(Note: Do this hike with a friend because two cars are required for a short shuttle.)
This moderately difficult 3.5-mile route begins at Signpost 29 and finishes at the Claremont Avenue end of Garber Park. The hike traverses parkland trails and parts of the neighborhoods above the Claremont Hotel, where many of the lovely houses were rebuilt after the 1991 Berkeley-Oakland Hills fire.
Summer update, by Jon Kaufman
Conservancy volunteers were busy in June and July working on the trails in our canyon, while efforts to make us safer from wildfire were moving forward at UC, in Oakland, and in Sacramento.
In June, our volunteers relocated a small section of the Willow Trail, where it had become a seasonal creek, and a little further up the trail moved a creek crossing where erosion had begun to weaken one of the corners.
Slide show chronicles wildfire history in East Bay Hills, by Jerry Kent
Click on the image for a self-guided slide show. Contact us for a presentation with this slide show.
Eagle Scouts widen the Gwin Canyon Trail, by Jon Kaufman
Here are some of the 25 members of Joe Lewis’ Boy Scout Troup widening the Gwin Canyon Trail. The portion of the trail on UC property is now fully widened and enough broom on the EBRPD property portion was pulled to make it easily passable.
President's Message, by Jon Kaufman
At its March meeting, the Conservancy Board of Directors elected new officers—including Marilyn Goldhaber as Vice President, Nancy Mueller as Secretary, Kay Loughman as Treasurer, and myself as President. Tim led this organization with dedication and a steady hand for much of the past 18 years. Fortunately, we are not saying goodbye to Tim; he will remain on the board as a member-at-large.
I begin my term with a shout-out to retiring president Tim Wallace.
Oakland reconsiders vegetation management in biennial budget, by Elizabeth K. Stage
Oakland’s current $4 million funding level for vegetation management, for which the Conservancy and other local organizations lobbied hard, will need our support again soon. In February, the city’s finance director, Katano Kasaine, told the City Council that these funds, to be spread over two years, were a “onetime appropriation” and thus were not included in the baseline budget.
UC awarded $3.6 million grant for its Hill Campus by Jerry Kent
After more than a decade of disappointments in its failure to obtain funding to assist with vegetation management and wildfire protection, the University of California is once again hopeful as it has been awarded a $3.6 million grant from Cal Fire.
UC’s Grant Proposal to Cal Fire: The University of California at Berkeley proposes to treat vegetation in 250 acres in its Hill Campus (upper parts of Strawberry and Claremont canyons) to reduce wildfire hazard to its buildings and nearby homes, targeting areas forested with “flammable eucalyptus and high fuel volume.” UC will also create defensible space within 100 feet of roads, fire-trails, buildings, and homes and increase the reliability of the 150 KV transmission line that supplies power the campus and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Summer Tanager in Claremont Canyon, by Jon Colbert
To bird is to listen. And once you know the vocalizations of the local birds, an unusual bird stands out. That’s how Erica Rutherford and I discovered a summer tanager last fall in the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. Within minutes of stepping out of our car on the October 30, we heard “pit-ti-tuck,” a vocalization reminiscent of an expected (albeit out-of-season) species, the western tanager . . . but not quite. So, when we heard “pit-ti-tuck” again, we ran.
Survey of members–summary of findings, by Marilyn Goldhaber
Members Tell Us What They Think - Summary of findings from 2018 Survey (click here to download tabulations).
On November 12, 2018 we began an online survey of members and friends of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy for whom we had email addresses (N=523). We followed up three weeks later by a mailing to non-respondents and additional member households for whom we did not have email addresses. By the close of our survey in January, 2019, a total of 180 persons responded, either electronically (N=105) or by sending in their survey through the mail (N=65).
