Alameda County is best known for the cities, including Berkeley and Oakland, that line the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. But the County also stretches over the redwood-studded coastal hills and extends 50 miles east through ridges and valleys before descending into California’s Central Valley. With help from the State of California, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local governments, Alameda County and its cities have steadily preserved an impressive variety of open space, from wetlands and oak woodlands to grasslands and vineyards.

Vineyard preservation is part of the City of Livermore’s strategy to support agro-tourism and build its reputation as a premier wine region.

The voters in Contra Costa County, adjacent to Alameda County, agreed in 1934, during the Great Depression, to use their property taxes to buy open space when they approved the East Bay Regional Parks District, the first regional open space district in the country. Ultimately, the boundaries of the District expanded to include Alameda County. The District now manages 65 parks with a total of 97,000 acres, including 24 regional parks in Alameda County totaling 50,000 acres.

The District’s largest land holding in Alameda County is the 9,700-acre Ohlone Regional Wilderness, named for the indigenous people who once inhabited the area. Although the wilderness serves as an active cattle ranch, it also provides habitat for mountain lions, bobcats and a herd of tule elk. The Sunol Regional Wilderness lies west of Ohlone Regional Wilderness, with over 6,500 acres of rugged terrain for mountain biking, backpacking, horseback riding and a hiking trail to a picturesque gorge of Alameda Creek known as “Little Yosemite.” Flanking these two wilderness areas are 3,000-acre Mission Peak Regional Preserve to the west and 4,700-acre Del Valle Regional Park to the north, allowing the creation of the 28-mile Ohlone Wilderness Trail.

Along the shores of San Francisco Bay, the federal government contributes 23,000 additional acres of open space with the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the largest urban wildlife refuge in the nation. This sanctuary provides habitat to over 230 bird species as well as several endangered species including the salt marsh harvest mouse and the California clapper rail. The Don Edwards NWR also offers refuge for birders, kayakers, mountain bikers and hikers, featuring over 30 miles of trails past ponds, mudflats and marshes and through oak-covered uplands, home to the California gray fox, the only canine capable of climbing trees.

The San Francisco Water District preserves another 38,000 acres of open space in Alameda County for watershed protection with limited public access. In addition, the State of California maintains three parks in Alameda County including the Robert Crown Memorial State Beach, which features Crab Cove, California’s first estuarine marine reserve.

Many municipalities in Alameda County are also deeply committed to open space preservation. For example, the voters of Oakland approved three bond measures since 1990, raising a total of more than $80 million in conservation funding. Oakland is particularly proud of its open space jewel, Lake Merritt, which the City declared as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1869, making it the first in the United States.

The City of Livermore uses transfer of development credits to preserve a greenbelt north of the City and adopted a specific plan in which development within the City’s urban growth boundary pays for preservation of vineyards outside that boundary. To date, the South Livermore Specific Plan has reached its target of facilitating the creation of 24 new small wineries and is fast approaching its goal of preserving 5,000 acres of vineyards. These accomplishments support agro-tourism as a local industry and help Livermore build its reputation as a premier wine region.