{"id":53655,"date":"2022-10-19T20:20:18","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T03:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=53655"},"modified":"2022-10-19T20:20:18","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T03:20:18","slug":"parks-to-people-come-and-enjoy-but-dont-destroy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=53655","title":{"rendered":"Parks to People: Come and Enjoy, But Don\u2019t Destroy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Peter Schurmann<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"EBRPD<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nature, for all its majesty, is fragile. It can also be deeply healing. Which is why, during the Covid pandemic, millions flocked outdoors to escape prolonged lockdowns, with local habitats and the animals that call them home feeling the brunt of the impact.<\/p>\n

That is nowhere truer than in the 125,000 acres and 73 parks that make up the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) which at the height of the pandemic saw record numbers of visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we bring ourselves to these parks, we need to understand the history and the sensitivity of these parks to our presence,\u201d says Dee Rosario, the first Filipino American and first Asian American board member with EBRPD, the nation\u2019s largest urban regional park district. \u201cThese are our lands. They belong to everyone. But with that ownership comes responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosario was part of a panel of speakers during a\u00a0media briefing<\/a>\u00a0co-hosted by EMS and EBRPD on ways to encourage better stewardship of public parks.<\/p>\n

His own affinity for nature followed a college visit to Humboldt in far northern California, where Rosario recalls the \u201cawe\u201d he felt at seeing the redwoods for the first time. Thirty-seven years later, Rosario is among a cohort of dedicated individuals at EBRPD working to strike a balance between rising demand for recreational use and the \u201cintricacies and delicacy\u201d of local habitats.<\/p>\n

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Dee Rosario is\u00a0the first Filipino American and Asian American Board Member<\/em>\u00a0for the\u00a0East Bay Regional Park District.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Data show a 400-fold increase along some of the more popular trails that crisscross EBRPD\u2019s parks, with visitors frequently venturing off trail \u2014\u00a0to the detriment of nesting birds and other wildlife, including a number of endangered species \u2014\u00a0or violating park regulations on things like drone flying. In one instance, a visitor crashed their drone into the nest of a bald eagle, destroying the nest and likely leading to the demise of the nesting chicks.<\/p>\n

According to Rosario, the rise in visitors is accompanied by an increasing mix of people to the parks and changes in how parks are used. Whereas once people flocked to open spaces in search of solitude today many visitors come with family. \u201cThis is something parks have to recognize,\u201d says Rosario. \u201cHow do we meet the needs of diverse cultures while balancing the needs of the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becky Tuden is the Environmental Services Manager with EBRPD. She says climate change, along with a prolonged drought and increased fire risk, are among the stressors already taxing local habitats and threatening biodiversity. Many of EBRPDs parks also abut urban or semi-urban areas. Add to this the steep and sudden increase in the presence of people and it can lead to harmful outcomes for what are already fragile ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiodiversity is really important\u2026 and the added pressure of so many people aggravates the system\u2019s incredible biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among some of the more harmful activities Tuden and her colleagues have witnessed are increasing amounts of litter, as well as letting dogs off leash in areas where that is prohibited. A dog owner herself, she says individually it isn\u2019t a problem. What dog owners don\u2019t realize is that \u201cthere are 25 million other visitors, half of who own dogs.\u201d The damage done by hundreds and even thousands of our beloved canines romping through sensitive habitat is a major challenge, notes Tuden.<\/p>\n

Despite the dire warnings, speakers were eager to stress that they welcome the park\u2019s increased popularity while acknowledging \u201cwe need to go further\u201d on public facing messaging around how to better care for these treasures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need is a way of communicating to people to help them better protect the parks,\u201d Tuden noted.<\/p>\n

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The endangered western snowy plover has survived along the California coast for thousands of years. It is among a number of endangered species that depend on EBRPD lands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Western Snowy Plover weighs in at a whopping 1.5 oz. Yet despite its diminutive stature this slight bird has survived along California\u2019s beaches for thousands of years. Today there are fewer than 3,000 in the wild, with loss of habitat a key driver of their decline.<\/p>\n

EBRPD Wildlife Program Manager Doug Bell says the plover is one of four critically endangered species that rely on EBRPD\u2019s parklands as important breeding grounds. Signs warning visitors to steer clear of areas where plovers are known to congregate are routinely ignored, he explained. That can cause birds to avoid the areas entirely, further eroding what little habitat they have left.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the mere act of hiking across the terrain can disturb the wildlife,\u201d says Bell, a Bay Area native.<\/p>\n

The other critically endangered species include the ridgeways rail and least tern, as well as the salt-marsh harvest mouse, which can swim for over two hours and can drink water saltier than the ocean, among its other talents. Bell says most visitors are likely to dismiss this adorable little super mouse with its tent of piled up twigs as just another \u201crodent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The salt-marsh harvest mouse can swim for over two hours and can drink water saltier than the ocean. It is among several endangered species within the EBRPD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

And he adds that aside from the park\u2019s increased number of visitors, the pandemic\u2019s economic toll drove many families to abandon their pets, including a large number of cats that were let loose in the parks. That\u2019s led to an \u201coverpopulation of feral cats, threatening other endangered species.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell also echoes Rosario, noting that as more diverse communities engage with the parks some are bringing with them practices that can be detrimental to the health of the local ecology. That includes religious communities that traditionally release fish, turtles or other animals into local waterways to commemorate an individual\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

Such practices can introduce invasive species, as well as harmful diseases or toxins that can cause significant die-off of native species, explained Joe Sullivan, who manages the EBRPD\u2019s 10 fishing reservoirs and four fishing piers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want people to come out and enjoy these resources, but people release pets \u2014\u00a0goldfish, turtles, etc. \u2014\u00a0and these have consequences,\u201d he said, sharing a gruesome image of a river clogged with dead frogs to drive home his point.<\/p>\n

Rainbow and steelhead trout along with the California red legged frog are among the federally endangered species that Sullivan and his team are working to protect.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a delicate balance,\u201d said Tuden of the effort to protect habitat while welcoming the increase in recreational visitors. \u201cImagine you\u2019re a guest,\u201d she urged visitors, \u201cfollow the rules and try to be sensitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByPeter Schurmann Oct 19, 2022 Nature,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53656,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53655\/revisions\/53656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}