Was Live | Tue, Oct 18, 2022
Guest Speakers:
- Dee Rosario, Ward 2 Board Member, East Bay Regional Park District
- Becky Tuden, Environmental Services Manager, East Bay Regional Park District
- Joe Sullivan, Fisheries Program Manager, East Bay Regional Park District
- Doug Bell, Wildlife Program Manager, East Bay Regional Park
News Report from this Media Briefing
Parks to People: Come and Enjoy, But Don’t Destroy
Event Overview
The pandemic gave Californians a new appreciation of being in nature. With the onset of pandemic restrictions in 2020, the public parks drew record numbers of visitors and continue to do so today. Nowhere is this more evident than in EBRPD parks where some parks saw a five fold increase in 2020 and 2021. While the growing popularity attests that parks are essential to our mental and physical health, the increased visitations bring growing risks to the habitat and wildlife that live in these parks.
This briefing will explore what happens when people stray off the hiking trails, trample the grasslands, inadvertently cause toxin build up in lakes, release turtles, birds and fish often for ceremonial purposes, feed coyotes and feral cats – and what visitors need to do to balance the human impacts of recreation with the natural environment.
Presented by the East Bay Regional Park District
& Ethnic Media Services
