The East Bay Regional Park District made moves to secure the great outdoors for our future knee-hugging, tree-befriending residents with a land acquisition that ticks off another box toward an even grander vision for green spaces in Concord. We're talking about a hefty slice of terra firma – 190 acres, to be precise, now tucked under the protective wing of the Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – Home of the Port Chicago 50. According to the announcement from the East Bay Regional Park District, this swath of land is set to complete a greenbelt that currently has more gaps than a golfer's dream.
Historical import and ecological richness seem always to go hand in hand, and this land is no exception. From the open grasslands to the oak woodlands teeming with riparian life, the Britton properties, situated between the Concord Naval Weapons Station lands to the west and the Upper Hess Creek Watershed to the east, are an environmental treasure. But let's clear something up: the District didn't have to part with a single dollar to claim this land. West Coast Home Builders, Inc. kindly left it on their porch like an oversized Christmas present, fulfilling a part of a 2019 agreement that focused heavily on environmental mitigation due to nearby development plans.
Growth is inevitable, but according to Abigail Fateman, Executive Director of the Habitat Conservancy, hashing out a partnership across multiple layers of government has been the key to making sure nature gets its fair share. "The transfer of the Britton properties is strategic for both conserving habitat for threatened and endangered species and securing an important connection to existing parklands," she told the East Bay Regional Park District. And in a high five to future connectivity, Max Korten, Acting General Manager of the Park District, boasted about this linking up Thurgood Marshall to Black Diamond Mines, which wonderfully helps retain irreplaceable habitat for posterity.
