Once known for prodigious agricultural output, California's
Contra Costa County is today synonymous with housing construction and
traffic snarl. Brentwood, in particular, claims the title of the state's
fastest growing city. But through the efforts of the Trust for Public Land,
in association with local groups, a good-sized portion of this landscape
will remain untouched.
After several years of community discussion and debate, TPL
recently completed a $13-million deal to purchase and preserve nearly 4,000
acres previously earmarked for urban development. The historic Cowell Ranch
will remain open habitat, and will enjoy a bright future as our newest state
park.
"The new state park will be one of the defining features of
eastern Contra Costa County," says Tim Wirth, TPL-California's San Francisco
Bay Area Program Director.
The roots of Cowell Ranch trace back to 1837, when Dr. John
Marsh purchased the 13,285-acre Rancho Los Megaņos from a Mexican landowner,
and in the process became Contra Costa's first anglo-American settler. Marsh
planted orchards and vineyards and built a massive stone house, which he
christened "Brentwood." Wild horses, elk, and antelope roamed the
oak-studded hills and grasslands. After Marsh's untimely death in 1856, the
ranch passed through a handful of owners until 1924, when Samuel Henry (S.H.)
Cowell and his family purchased 4,000 acres. The property retains the Cowell
name, and until TPL's purchase, was operated by the S.H. Cowell Foundation.
What neither Marsh nor Cowell could anticipate is that by the
1980s, this six-square-mile ranch would become the subject of a heated
debate between developers and environmentalists. With California's fastest
growing suburb just a stone's throw away, Cowell Ranch sat like the last
piece of cake at a birthday party. Would Contra Costa County's largest
undeveloped property be carved up into a golf course and 5,000 single-family
residences, or would its current residents-special-status species like the
red-legged frog and endangered San Joaquin kit fox-be allowed to thrive in
their natural habitat?
The S.H. Cowell Foundation first considered development of
the ranch back in 1987, a proposal that included homes, schools, and a
business park. Contra Costa officials enthusiastically welcomed these new
plans as a handy solution for a growing city. In 1990, voters responded by
approving Measure C, which drew a new county urban limit line through the
middle of Cowell Ranch, bisecting Marsh Creek Reservoir. Hundreds of acres
were now up for grabs. Only one portion of the ranch was to be untouched: A
14-acre parcel already owned by the California Department of Parks and
Recreation that contains the historic three-story home built by John Marsh.
But developers and the Cowell Foundation met with a robust
public-awareness campaign raised by environmental groups, in particular the
Greenbelt Alliance, Sierra Club, and Save Mount Diablo. The groups stressed
that while expanded housing might look ideal in the short term, Cowell Ranch
clearly represented a rare opportunity for long-term preservation. If
protected, the ranch would help create a wildlife corridor that would
encompass about 81,000 acres from the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Watershed,
extending west through Morgan Territory and Mt. Diablo State Park, to Walnut
Creek's Shell Ridge.
"Cowell Ranch was very highly sought after," says Seth Adams
from Save Mount Diablo. "We got decision makers out on the property to show
them what was at stake and how different aspects of the urban limit line
would affect different areas. We showed them where the line actually was,
and what areas should be preserved."
County officials began to ponder the options. Stellar
political support came in the form of state Assemblymember Joe Canciamilla
(then county supervisor), and Senator Tom Torlakson (then state
assemblymember). "It was a very difficult process," recalls Canciamilla.
"It's one thing to move a line, but the board could move it back again. As
we negotiated, the goal was not only to move the urban limit line, but to
come up with an agreement with the Cowell Foundation, the development
communities, the open space advocates and others, that would give TPL the
opportunity to come up with the money to acquire the parcel and permanently
protect it."
Through the efforts of Canciamilla and Torkalson, voters
agreed to relocate the urban limit line to exclude nearly all of Cowell
Ranch. The Cowell Foundation withdrew its development plans and TPL optioned
the property. Working on a two-year deadline, TPL's Tim Wirth was able to
secure financial commitments from the California Coastal Conservancy,
Caltrans, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Wildlife Conservation
Board, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Later this year, TPL will turn
Cowell Ranch over to the Department of Parks and Recreation to create a new
state park for the Brentwood community and the whole Bay Area. "Cowell Ranch
is a work in progress," says TPL's Wirth. "Our acquisition of the property
is a major first step, but there is still a lot of work to be done. In the
coming months, State Parks will develop a master plan for Cowell Ranch to
determine how best to balance natural resource protection, while also
providing new recreational opportunities for this fast growing part of the
state."
"I don't have anything but accolades for TPL and what they've
accomplished here," says Save Mount Diablo's Seth Adams. "I look forward to
the day when pronghorn and tule elk are wandering over the Cowell Ranch, as
they did 150 years ago."
With your help, over the last 30 years, the Trust for Public
Land has created and protected more than 122 special places throughout nine
Bay Area counties, totaling more than 20,000 acres-the equivalent of 20
Golden Gate Parks. For more information about our Bay Area Program, or to
contribute to land-saving efforts near you, contact Vicki Peet at (415)
495-5660.