East Bay Regional Park District at the Crossroads
East Bay Regional Park District at the Crossroads
A perspective from Lynda Deschambault, candidate for East Bay Regional Park District Ward 2
Lynda Deschambault is a candidate for the East Bay Regional Park District Ward 2, which encompasses Most of Oakland, Piedmont, Lamorinda, Rossmoor, and a small part of Walnut Creek.
The views that candidates share are their own. Oakland Report does not endorse candidates.
All local candidates are invited and encouraged to submit a view, provided that it adheres to Oakland Report’s editorial standard for reasoned, evidence-based, verifiable information.
Our parks are in trouble. Climate change has upended everything. No matter which city you live in, or which of the 75 parks you visit, or whether you’re a regular user of our parks or not, most people take them for granted and don’t realize how fragile the parks have become.
A recent East Bay Regional Parks District study found over 1500 acres of dead trees primarily in Lake Chabot, Redwood, and Tilden parks, and along the connecting ridgelines. They’re dying for a variety of reasons, all linked to climate change: drought, sudden Oak death, and parasites, pathogens and diseases, caused in large part from longer hot seasons and dry conditions. These parks in particular, are not getting fog that once was commonplace. Moreover, while over 1500 acres of dead trees were documented, estimates of trees that are struggling to survive are much higher, and with high temperatures, the death rate of trees in our parks is expected to escalate.
We have never seen trees die off at this rate or this magnitude, and the impacts are multi-faceted. Fire danger from dry wood; fewer trees negatively affect native species and habitats; changes to sunlight and shade affects both plant and animal life as well as people who come to hike, picnic, and otherwise enjoy the parks.
In addition to the dying trees, climate change is causing other issues in the East Bay Regional Parks. Several water bodies (such as Lake Temescal in Oakland) are warming and the blue green algae is so toxic swimming has been banned at times; others have become lethal for pets to come in contact with. Sea level rise threatens shoreline parks, and there may be contamination from legacy chemicals left by prior industrial uses in urban parks such as at the recently acquired Point Molate. High heat forced closure of the parks on several occasions in 2023 and 2024, a first, which further elevates fire danger. Dangerous conditions also threaten the safety and well-being of essential park workers.
With the changing climate creating so many issues at once for our parks, a new holistic, science-based approach to assessing damages and identifying solutions is needed at the board level.
My Commitment to Solutions
While the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is obviously not able to solve climate change on its own, the agency should ensure it is doing everything it can to do its part to mitigate the impacts. And as the largest regional park district in the nation, it should lead by example. The updated Second Century Plan or general plan in 2025 will offer a key opportunity to do so. The plan is the blueprint for all operations, and it needs to include new chapters on climate resilience and environmental justice. I will work with the other directors, to make certain that the chapters include measurable outcomes to ensure that our agency lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and make progress on environmental and equity-based programs over the next 20 years.
EBRPD will also need to include these two new priorities (climate and equity) in its day-to-day operations and when making board decisions. Current staff planning reports always address the fiscal impacts of any project being considered. I’ll work to ensure that every planning report also includes a section on “‘climate impact’ and ‘equity impact’. For example:
If the park district is considering a new structure or a new trail, I suggest a section on “ecological and climate impact” be included in the planning report. Information in this section would help decision makers understand the impact on natural resources. The report should include an inventory of endangered and threatened species in the area being developed. It should also inform elected officials of the timing of the installation relative to nesting seasons, how/if it will impact wildlife corridors and how we will mitigate elsewhere for the anticipated impacts. It is also important to ensure staff are trained, and contractors are in compliance with protecting and preserving our natural resources, and potential encountered cultural resources and artifacts.
Even in the consideration of something as simple as new park benches, decision makers should be asking about the materials they are made of, the carbon footprint of the distance the purchased products have to travel, and how they might be placed to best benefit low-income patrons and people of various cultures and abilities.
Having my scientific perspective and influence at the table will elevate the discussion of protection and preservation of natural resources, and it will also ensure we are discussing our greenhouse gas emissions, opportunities for sequestration, carbon footprint, environmental purchasing decisions, and equity discussions.
In addition, advocating for robust climate resiliency includes conducting a full inventory and assessment; and outlines a path forward that brings science and a voice for nature, into all decisions and all policies. Both human and ecological risk assessments should consider short and long-term ramifications of all projects on our plants, the air, soils, water, animals and people. If we are going to consider new trails, or new uses, such as electric bikes, we must consider a full analysis of the potential impacts on our biological natural resources. The bottom line is, we are not just a government agency; we are a natural resources agency. We must consider all of our resources, in every deliberation.
We need to fully incorporate input from the Park District’s natural resources stewardship team, and share best practices and lessons from other natural resource agencies. In the spirit of the original land stewards, we must ensure that our decisions consider how we will impact the next seven generations. It is essential that board decisions factor in the complex climate resiliency challenges that our parks will face now and in coming decades.
Experience Matters
When elected, I will be the only career scientist on the East Bay Regional Park District board bringing 37+ years of professional expertise to the table. I know Oakland well, having worked in and on behalf of Oakland since the 1990s. My background also includes serving as a policy maker, Mayor, and councilmember in Moraga. I have already been on the EBRPD’s Parks Advisory Board for six years.
Competence and experience are the most effective ‘voices’ now needed at the table to serve Oakland as well as the other communities Ward 2 represents. I am the only candidate with knowledge not only about WHAT needs to be done to preserve and protect our parks for everyone, but who understands the complexities and inter-relationships of HOW to do it.
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Thank you for bringing to light the considerations and impact this work entails. Our parks and the preservation of nature is not to be over shadowed by strictly political biases. You definitely have my support.
The curation of the parks system according to ideology is what is ruining them: cutting down trees, adding benches, removing non-native species, blocking access to the view along Grizzly Peak, leaving dead Eucalyptus stumps everywhere so that erosion is eliminating the bike lanes. It is obvious the park services no longer care about nature. Go away and we’ll be better off.