Ride a Bus… Save a River

The Foothill Conservancy is chartering a bus to East Bay Municipal Utilities District’s (EBMUD) Oakland offices on October 13, 2009. EBMUD will be voting on whether or not to expand Pardee Reservoir, on Tuesday at 1:15 pm. The reservoir would be enlarged by more than 1,200 acres, destroying miles of the Mokelumne River and inundating the historic Middle Bar Bridge.

If you watched Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” you’ll remember what an ordeal it was to create Grand Teton National Park. The original Grand Teton National Park, set aside by an act of Congress in 1929, included only the Teton Range and six glacial lakes at the base of the mountains. It took nearly 20 years, many ‘heated’ debates, and one of the country’s wealthiest men to purchase and preserve land in order to create what is now the Grand Teton National Park.

In 1919 the Yellowstone Park Superintendent was practically run out of town when he traveled to Jackson, WY, to promote the park’s enlargement vision. Ranchers worried that park extension would reduce grazing allotments; Forest Service employees feared the loss of jurisdiction on previously managed forest areas; and local dude ranchers were against improved roads and hotel construction. Proposals emerged to dam outlets of Jenny Lake and Emma Matilda and Two Ocean Lakes in 1919. Many in the local community did not support the idea of national park expansion, “because they wanted traditional hunting, grazing, and dude-ranching activities to continue.”

If you happen to live in or near the Sierra Foothill community of Jackson, the non-profit organization, Foothill Conservancy, is chartering a bus to Oakland. If you don’t live near Jackson, or prefer instead to carpool with friends, feel free to join folks at EBMUD headquarters at 375 11th Street  Oakland CA 94607. Let your voice be heard.

EBMUD directors need to see faces to remind them that their decision will affect not just their water users, but those who enjoy the Mokelumne River for whitewater rafting, kayaking, hiking, and strolling along its banks. Their decision will affect a river loved by many, as well as the fish and wildlife it supports. The Foothill Conservancy would like to fill EBMUD’s offices, just like they filled public hearings in the Sierra Foothills.

Their bus will depart from Jackson, CA in the morning of October 13 – in time to reach Oakland for lunch and a rally. The bus may not return until late afternoon or early evening, depending on how long the meeting takes. For more information, contact Randy at 209-295-4900 or randy@foothillconservancy.org. (Please consider a $5 – $10 donation to help cover the cost of the bus and fuel.)

For more information on the New Pardee plan that would destroy the Middle Bar Bridge, cultural and historical sites, the Middle Bar reach of the Mokelumne, and much more, see www.foothillconservancy.org and click on Pardee Expansion for details.

Written by Tracy

Writer, Photographer, former Waterblogged Editor