Roughly 3,100 acres of open space near Livermore will be off limits to off-road vehicles and preserved as a state park under a $31 million deal struck by Bay Area lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The agreement, which still must be approved by the state Legislature this week, will prevent the property in southeastern Alameda County known by some as “Tesla Park” from becoming an expansion of the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. The recreation area is a haven for 4-wheel drive and dirt bike riders, as well as backcountry campers.
The Tesla property was once the site of a coal mining town named after electrical inventor Nikola Tesla that turned into a ghost town when the mines shut down in 1911. Later, Tesla Inc.’s founders would go on to name the trail blazing electric car company after Nikola Tesla as well.
The deal could end two decades of debate that led to multiple lawsuits in the last five years as environmentalists fought to preserve the land’s sensitive habitat and off-road advocates pushed for the extra space to ride their vehicles.
As part of the deal to preserve the Tesla site as a park, the state agreed to pay for the development of another off-road park at a site still to be identified.
“This is a win-win for all involved,” state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said in a statement.
“Our community and region gets to preserve this natural and cultural treasure while the off-road enthusiasts will keep their current park and receive funding to develop another park on land that’s more suitable to that kind of recreation,” he said.
“We are incredibly thankful that the governor has seen Tesla Park’s value and included it in the ongoing protection of critical natural resources,” Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said in a statement this week.
Off-road enthusiasts were dealt a setback in January when a judge ruled that the state’s environmental impact report for the off-road expansion plan was invalid, bolstering the position of groups such as Friends of Tesla Park as well as the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, who wanted the Tesla area preserved.
Glazer’s office said in a statement that scientists have described the Tesla land as a “biologically unique habitat” and a place long considered a “sensitive historical site” by local Native American groups.
“It would be my hope that the land would be set aside for the protection of nature and for passive recreational uses in the appropriate places,” such as hiking and horseback riding, Glazer said in an interview Tuesday.
“The heart of this was to protect its ecological and historic values, and the bonus would be some passive recreational uses, under the auspices of a public agency and preferably a local one,” he said.
For now, the state will allocate $1 million to California State Parks to determine and map out the best use of the Tesla land.
In 1998, the state used about $9 million from the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund — which is financed by people who buy permits and recreational passes to use off-road areas and parks — to buy the Tesla land.
The deal calls for the state to now reimburse the Off-Highway fund $29.8 million for the original cost of the land, appreciation and expenses incurred working on the expansion plan. The payment also includes $11 million for planning and developing an off-road park in another location, according to Glazer’s office.
Henry Coe State Park in Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties could be a potential location for the off-road park, according to the bill that will go before legislators specifying the deal.
Amy Granat, managing director of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, had a mixed-reaction to the deal.
“We’re very thankful and appreciative that the administration considered the millions of Californians who enjoy motorized recreation and understood … that the community itself had purchased the expansion area and didn’t do anything wrong to lose it,” Granat said Tuesday.
“It’s easy to vilify a community like the off-road community, because if you aren’t one of us, frankly it’s hard to understand. But it’s a legitimate use of state land,” she said.
“It is bittersweet for us because we believe in equity in recreation, and that all people should have opportunities to enjoy what they love,” Granat added.
Glazer sees it a bit differently.
“They were never going to win in the expansion of that park and they should be pleased they are getting a substantial settlement to find a more appropriate place for their activity elsewhere,” he said.
Nonetheless, Granat said the group is looking to the future and partnering with the state on a new project.
“We’re excited about the prospect of creating a new off-road park to meet the needs of this growing segment of the recreation community,” she said.
Before the agreement was reached with the help of Bauer-Kahan, Glazer had authored several previous bills to try and end the Carnegie expansion plan, but they were ultimately shot down in the Assembly despite support from former Republican Assemblymember Catharine Baker of Livermore.
Nancy Rodrigue, a Livermore resident and member of the Friends of Tesla Park steering committee, said in a statement she was happy the Tesla area, with its “irreplaceable biodiversity and cultural riches,” would “forever be protected” from motorized recreation activities.
“The future holds Tesla as a protected native landscape for hikers, history buffs, nature lovers, research and education,” Rodrigue said.
“Saving Tesla Park has been a long, difficult and now rewarding journey,” she said.
Discover more from Today Headline
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.