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OVER 3,000 ACRES OF EAST BAY OPEN SPACE TO BE…


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OVER 3,000 ACRES OF EAST BAY OPEN SPACE TO BE PRESERVED AS STATE PARK IN $31
MILLION DEAL


SITE HAD BEEN PLANNED AS EXPANSION OF OFF-ROAD RECREATION AREA


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By Joseph Geha | jgeha@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: September 7, 2021 at 5:36 p.m. | UPDATED: September 8, 2021 at 6:35
a.m.

Roughly 3,100 acres of open space near Livermore will be off limits to off-road
vehicles and preserved as a state park under a $31 million deal struck by Bay
Area lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The agreement, which still must be approved by the state Legislature this week,
will prevent the property in southeastern Alameda County known by some as “Tesla
Park” from becoming an expansion of the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation
Area. The recreation area is a haven for 4-wheel drive and dirt bike riders, as
well as backcountry campers.

The Tesla property was once the site of a coal mining town named after
electrical inventor Nikola Tesla that turned into a ghost town when the mines
shut down in 1911. Later, Tesla Inc.’s founders would go on to name the trail
blazing electric car company after Nikola Tesla as well.

The deal could end two decades of debate that led to multiple lawsuits in the
last five years as environmentalists fought to preserve the land’s sensitive
habitat and off-road advocates pushed for the extra space to ride their
vehicles.



As part of the deal to preserve the Tesla site as a park, the state agreed to
pay for the development of another off-road park at a site still to be
identified.

“This is a win-win for all involved,” state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said in
a statement.

“Our community and region gets to preserve this natural and cultural treasure
while the off-road enthusiasts will keep their current park and receive funding
to develop another park on land that’s more suitable to that kind of
recreation,” he said.

“We are incredibly thankful that the governor has seen Tesla Park’s value and
included it in the ongoing protection of critical natural resources,”
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said in a statement this week.

Off-road enthusiasts were dealt a setback in January when a judge ruled that the
state’s environmental impact report for the off-road expansion plan was invalid,
bolstering the position of groups such as Friends of Tesla Park as well as the
Alameda County Board of Supervisors, who wanted the Tesla area preserved.


A motorcyclist rides on a trail at the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area
located between Livermore and Tracy, Calif., on Friday, July 31, 2020. (Doug
Duran/Bay Area News Group) 

Glazer’s office said in a statement that scientists have described the Tesla
land as a “biologically unique habitat” and a place long considered a “sensitive
historical site” by local Native American groups.

“It would be my hope that the land would be set aside for the protection of
nature and for passive recreational uses in the appropriate places,” such as
hiking and horseback riding, Glazer said in an interview Tuesday.

“The heart of this was to protect its ecological and historic values, and the
bonus would be some passive recreational uses, under the auspices of a public
agency and preferably a local one,” he said.

For now, the state will allocate $1 million to California State Parks to
determine and map out the best use of the Tesla land.

In 1998, the state used about $9 million from the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund
— which is financed by people who buy permits and recreational passes to use
off-road areas and parks — to buy the Tesla land.

The deal calls for the state to now reimburse the Off-Highway fund $29.8 million
for the original cost of the land, appreciation and expenses incurred working on
the expansion plan. The payment also includes $11 million for planning and
developing an off-road park in another location, according to Glazer’s office.

Henry Coe State Park in Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties could be a potential
location for the off-road park, according to the bill that will go before
legislators specifying the deal.

Amy Granat, managing director of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association,
had a mixed-reaction to the deal.

“We’re very thankful and appreciative that the administration considered the
millions of Californians who enjoy motorized recreation and understood … that
the community itself had purchased the expansion area and didn’t do anything
wrong to lose it,” Granat said Tuesday.

“It’s easy to vilify a community like the off-road community, because if you
aren’t one of us, frankly it’s hard to understand. But it’s a legitimate use of
state land,” she said.

“It is bittersweet for us because we believe in equity in recreation, and that
all people should have opportunities to enjoy what they love,” Granat added.

Glazer sees it a bit differently.

“They were never going to win in the expansion of that park and they should be
pleased they are getting a substantial settlement to find a more appropriate
place for their activity elsewhere,” he said.

Nonetheless, Granat said the group is looking to the future and partnering with
the state on a new project.

“We’re excited about the prospect of creating a new off-road park to meet the
needs of this growing segment of the recreation community,” she said.

Before the agreement was reached with the help of Bauer-Kahan, Glazer had
authored several previous bills to try and end the Carnegie expansion plan, but
they were ultimately shot down in the Assembly despite support from former
Republican Assemblymember Catharine Baker of Livermore.




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Nancy Rodrigue, a Livermore resident and member of the Friends of Tesla Park
steering committee, said in a statement she was happy the Tesla area, with its
“irreplaceable biodiversity and cultural riches,” would “forever be protected”
from motorized recreation activities.



“The future holds Tesla as a protected native landscape for hikers, history
buffs, nature lovers, research and education,” Rodrigue said.

“Saving Tesla Park has been a long, difficult and now rewarding journey,” she
said.





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JOSEPH GEHA | REPORTER

Joseph Geha is a multimedia journalist covering Fremont, Milpitas, Union City,
and Newark for the Bay Area News Group. His prior work has been seen in multiple
Bay Area outlets, including SF Weekly, as well as on KQED and KLIV radio. He is
a graduate of California State University, East Bay (Hayward), a Fremont native
and a lifelong Oakland Athletics fan.
jgeha@bayareanewsgroup.com
Follow Joseph Geha josephgeha16 Follow Joseph Geha @josephgeha16

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