160 Acres Added to East Bay Regional Park District’s Doolan Canyon Regional Preserve

The East Bay Regional Park District board of directors voted to authorize purchase of the Grove Family property as an addition to Doolan Canyon Regional Preserve during its November 6, 2018 board meeting. The board action authorized the transfer and appropriation of $1,239,500 of Measure WW acquisition funds for the Doolan Canyon allocation area. Including previously appropriated funds of $32,300, total project cost is $1,271,800. The District closed escrow on November 28 and has taken possession of the property, expanding the existing regional preserve lands.

The East Bay Regional Park District has been negotiating acquisition of the parcel, located between Dublin and Livermore, from the Grove family since June 2018. The Grove property is comprised of a roughly 160-acre parcel located in southern Contra Costa County, approximately three miles northwest of Livermore. The property is bordered to the south by Doolan Canyon Regional Preserve and privately-held agricultural parcels to the north, east and west.

“The purchase will serve to protect the upper reaches of Doolan Canyon for future recreational opportunities, habitat protection, and open space preservation,” said East Bay Regional Park District Board President Ayn Wieskamp. “The property will also protect and preserve forever the headwaters of Cottonwood Creek.”

Doolan Canyon provides habitat corridors for wildlife between Morgan Territory and Doolan Canyon Regional Preserves, including endangered species such as the Alameda whipsnake and red-legged frog. Preservation of the property will also serve to protect riparian and wetland habitats that support a variety of special status species, including rare alkali soil plant species.

“The Grove Family property is in the East Bay Regional Park District Master Plan and has been a long-time goal of the District’s” said East Bay Regional Park District General Manager Robert Doyle. “The District is pleased acquisition of the property has come to fruition.”

The Grove property has been placed into land bank status until a land use plan for Doolan Canyon Regional Preserve is completed.

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The East Bay Regional Park District is the largest regional parks system in the nation, comprising 73 parks, 55 miles of shoreline, and 1,250 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and nature learning. The Park District receives more than 25 million visits annually throughout Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dave Mason, Public Information Supervisor
(510) 544-2217
dmason@ebparks.org