DIABLO WATCH Protecting the Mountain since 1971
Summer 1990
How To Save Mount Diablo "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed dtizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead Save Mount Diablo (SMD) has more than doubled the number of its members in the past two years we're 2500 strong. We expect our donor list to continue increasing rapidly in the near future as we focus on our long range plan of preserving more of the mountain. Given this growth, many new members may wonder how the group accomplishes its goals and whether there are opportunities for involvement. The answer to the latter question is a resounding 'Yes!', since SMD relies heavily on volunteers. Save Mount Diablo is one of a half dozen conservation groups in the county. It began in ·1971 as a loose affiliation of citizens interested in protecting the Mountain. At that time only 7,000 acres of Diablo's nearly 45,000 acres were protected in public open space. Spearheaded by Arthur Bonwell, an electrical engineer at DuPont, and Dr. Mary Bowerman, a Lafayette botanist, the group was a representative one, including members of other established environmental groups and was designed to bring attention to the preservation of Mount Diablo. DIABLOWATCH is printed
on recycled paper that can be recycled again.
Instead, SMD evolved 19 years later into an independent, nonprofit group with a well-known reputation. Since 1971 three new regional parks and two city open spaces have been created and Mount Diablo State Park has almost tripled in size. The group has always participated in planning to make proposed developments more sensitive, but in recent years this work has become more important. Save Mount Diablo volunteers and staff track several hundred individual pieces of property and are watchdogging some 30 development proposals on more than 4,000 acres. All told 30,000 of the 45,000 available acres of Mount Diablo have been preserved. The group's work is hardly over. Thousands of acres of the mountain above Walnut Creek and Concord remain unprotected as do thousands more near Clayton and in the San Ramon and Morgan Territory areas. In our nineteen years land prices have skyrocketed and development pressure has intensified. Houses are now routinely proposed on steep, rugged land considered undevelopable ten years ago. Increasingly, as with !he 725-unit Crystyl Ranch proposal m Concord, Save Mount Diablo informs its members of ways in which they can participate in the public process. Several postcards are enclosed with this newsletter for just that reason. We ask for your support in mailing these cards urging the Walnut Creek and Concord City Councils to preserve vital park lands.
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What Is Save Mount Diablo? Strictly speaking, Save Mount Diablo is a collection of individuals who regularly donate money and/ or time for that purpose. The group is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, charitable corporation governed by an elevenmember Board of Directors. Monthly board meetings are open to interested individuals. (Please call 685-5315 for meeting information and locations.) Most of the group's work takes place between monthly meetings, at committee meetings, field trips, in smaller meetings with land owners and at public hearings before various government agencies. Board committees include an Administrative Committee and an Acquisition and Publications committee. SMD is respected throughout the county as having not only a high profile but one with a reputation for thoroughness and technical expertise. In 1988 the Board hired its first staff member, program director Seth Adams. Adams oversees SMD's many projects, aiding the Board in fund raising and publicity and works with the public and the press on various wues. Since Adams was hired, SMD's public presence has increased greatly. He supervises consultants and volunteers including printers, direct mail consultants, hike leaders and the editor of this newsletter. How Can I Help? You don't have to be on the Board of Directors to help, you -continued on page 2