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Paradise Found

As the Navy winds down operations at its 60-year old Concord Naval Weapons Station, the future of the site, viewed by local enviros as "Contra Costa County's hidden environmental treasure," is up for grabs and the focus of a task force convened by Congressman George Miller. The 13,000-acre base, which lies next to Concord along the Mount Diablo foothills both north and south of Highway 4, boasts grasslands and valley oak woodland (dotted with soon-to-be-empty bunkers), marshlands (surrounding a port facility), 1,600 acres of undisturbed islands in Suisun Bay, and a large administrative area. Since the Navy is not closing the base permanently but wants to keep it in reserve, it wants all re-uses to be temporary in nature. But that hasn't stopped developers from dreaming about covering the site with cookie-cutter subdivisions and commercial strips. The president of Blackhawk Corporation, for example, has said he thinks the best reuse of the base would be a combination of housing, recreation,open space, commercial use, and possibly a marina on the waterfront. He also believes the site would be very attractive to high-tech businesses.

But local enviros have a different vision for the former base. Marcus O'Connell, a neighborhood activist and founder of the Contra Costa County Creeks Council, envisions adding the 20-square-mile base to Mount Diablo State Park, so that the park would stretch from Blackhawk to the top of Mount Diablo, and down again to the marshlands of Suisun Bay. The expanded park, with its diverse habitats and miles of trails, would be accessible from anywhere in the Bay Area by BART, says O'Connell. "This could be our version of Point Reyes - without the Pacific." O'Connell has submitted a proposal for restoring over 125 acres of freshwater wetlands, both seasonal and permanent, in the inland area, including a five-mile stretch of Mount Diablo Creek, which would preserve and expand habitat for the California tiger salamander, red-legged frog, burrowing owl, tule elk and other wildlife.

And in conjunction with Karl Malamud-Roam of the Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District, O'Connell has proposed restoring tidal action to about 1,500 acres of diked wetlands, and enhancing 12 acres of existing freshwater wetlands within the tidal area. Because explosives are loaded from piers in the tidal area, the area has been and will continue to be off limits to the public (the Army has taken over shipping operations there). This area contains some of the most intact tidal wetlands in the Bay, according to John Steere, of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, and offers a significant opportunity for broad-based partnerships to acquire and restore habitat. "It's the largest expanse of contiguous Bay habitat in the East Bay north of the San Mateo Bridge."

Competing with O'Connell's vision for the inland area are proposals for a mega-complex of soccer and baseball fields submitted by the Northern California Soccer Foundation and Concord American Little League (neither could be reached for comment). O'Connell thinks recreational uses would be better off dispersed along the four-mile perimeter of the base, bordering Concord's residential neighborhoods. Not only would this reduce traffic impacts on wildlife, says O'Connell, but children could walk or bike to the sports fields rather than depending on their parents to drive them.

The inland area isn't the only part of the site where competing needs may cause conflict. O'Connell shudders at the interest once expressed by the Concord City Manager in creating "Port Concord" (although the City's current official position is that they have "no plans for the base since the property is not available"). An increase in industrial activity at this site, says O'Connell, could cause problems for the salt marsh harvest mouse, California clapper and black rails, Suisun song sparrow, Mason's lilaeopsis, and soft bird's beak that have managed to hang on in the midst of the Navy's activities.

"Some of the reuse proposals treat the area as just white space on a map," says O'Connell. "I think we need to first take into account the environmental constraints that are there."

Contacts: Marcus O'Connell (925)689-7881; City of Concord (925)671-3495. LOV

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