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Picturesque Franklin Canyon in East SF Bay Preserved
Picturesque Franklin Canyon in East SF Bay Preserved
8/2008 California Oak Report
http://californiaoaks.org
Ending a 20-year debate, the non-profit Muir Heritage Land Trust has announced that it has negotiated a sales agreement to buy 423 acres of Franklin Canyon oak woodlands and grasslands located in Hercules (Contra Costa County). Muir has two years to raise the $1.8 million purchase price through contributions and grants. Franklin Canyon, with its sweeping views of San Francisco Bay, will join Muir’s Fernandez Ranch to form a 1,100-acre contiguous swath of protected open space between Hercules and Martinez.
“When you drive along Highway 4, you look up and see a great corridor of hills,” said Steve Kirby, who helped write the Hercules ballot measure that blocked a proposed 500 home development. “It would have been very disappointing to see this developed.” The most recent development proposal, misnamed GreenPark, would have graded the hills extensively and removed more than 3,000 oak trees. The 2004 passage of Measure M by 63 percent of Hercules voters stopped the project.
The Muir Land Trust plans to kick off its fundraising dinner for the Franklin Canyon property with its Fresh Aire Affaire from 5 to 9 p.m Aug. 16 at the John Muir National Historic Site on Alhambra Avenue in Martinez. For more information, visit www.muirheritagelandtrust.org.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_10121125?IADID
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/08/BAGK12734V.DTL
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