1.
San Pablo Bay
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San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. San Pablo Bay was named after Rancho San Pablo, a Spanish land grant given to colonial Alta California settlers in 1815, the bay is approximately 10 mi across and has an area of approximately 90 sq mi. The bay is heavily silted from the contributions of the two rivers, which drain most of the Central Valley of California. All tributaries except for Sonoma Creek are commercially navigable and maintained by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, two peninsulas separate San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay. The eastern is in the City of Richmond and the western in the City of San Rafael, the bay is shared between Contra Costa county on the southern and eastern shore, and Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties on the northern and western shores. The county boundaries meet near the center of the bay, communities on the shores of San Pablo Bay include, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo in Contra Costa County, Vallejo in Solano County, along with Novato and San Rafael in Marin County. Because the Bay is close to major and local airports. Because of its size but shallow waters, San Pablo Bay frequently has difficult boating conditions. There are many undeveloped shore lands with salt marshes and mudflats, the Bay is a primary wintering stop for the canvasback duck population on the Pacific Flyway, as well as a migratory staging ground for numerous species of waterfowl. Much of the shore of the bay is protected as part of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Endangered species that are found in the bay include the California brown pelican, California clapper rail and this is a popular destination for recreation fishing, with Saltwater species including, striped bass, surfperch, sturgeon, starry flounder, leopard shark, topsmelt, and anchovy. In the 1880s there was a village, where some 500 Chinese people lived. The location is now part of China Camp State Park, San Pablo Bay is the setting of alternative rock band Primuss four-part song series Fishermans Chronicles, and is also referenced in The Toys Go Winding Down and Harold of the Rocks. It is also mentioned in The Minus 5 song John Barleycorn Must Live, provides a brief history of the marshes of San Pablo Bay
2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
3.
San Francisco Bay
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San Francisco Bay is a shallow estuary in the U. S. state of California. It is surrounded by a region known as the San Francisco Bay Area, dominated by the large cities San Francisco, Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from approximately 40 percent of California and it then connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Golden Gate strait. However, this group of interconnected bays is often called the San Francisco Bay. The bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on February 2,2013, the bay covers somewhere between 400 and 1,600 square miles, depending on which sub-bays, estuaries, wetlands, and so on are included in the measurement. The main part of the bay measures 3 to 12 miles wide east-to-west and it is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas. Later, wetlands and inlets were filled in, reducing the Bays size since the mid-19th century by as much as one third. Recently, large areas of wetlands have been restored, further confusing the issue of the Bays size, despite its value as a waterway and harbor, many thousands of acres of marshy wetlands at the edges of the bay were, for many years, considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or dredged from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands, from the mid-19th century through the late 20th century, more than a third of the original bay was filled and often built on. The idea was, and remains, controversial, there are five large islands in San Francisco Bay. Alameda, the largest island, was created when a shipping lane was cut in 1901 and it is now predominantly a bedroom community. Angel Island was known as Ellis Island West because it served as the point for immigrants from East Asia. It is now a park accessible by ferry. Mountainous Yerba Buena Island is pierced by a tunnel linking the east and west spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, attached to the north is the artificial and flat Treasure Island, site of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. From the Second World War until the 1990s, both served as military bases and are now being redeveloped. Isolated in the center of the Bay is Alcatraz, the site of the federal penitentiary. The federal prison on Alcatraz Island no longer functions, but the complex is a popular tourist site, despite its name, Mare Island in the northern part of the bay is a peninsula rather than an island. During the last ice age, the now filled by the bay was a large linear valley with small hills
4.
East Bay Regional Park District
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The East Bay Regional Park District is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of parks which is the largest urban regional park district in the United States. The administrative office is located in Oakland, as of 2015, EBRPD spans 120,000 acres with 65 parks and over 1,200 miles of trails. Some of these parks are areas, others include a variety of visitor attractions. The trails are used for non-motorized transportation such as biking, hiking. Nearly 150 miles of paved trails through urban areas link the parks together, a destructive grass fire that broke out in Wildcat Canyon blew west into Berkeley on September 27,1923 and burned down 640 structures homes. The East Bay Water Company was harshly criticized for its failure to deliver water to successfully fight the fire. A state law was passed that enabled citizens of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties to create a district that could obtain water from the Mokelumne River. The East Bay Municipal District was formed and approved by the electorate, the EBRPD was founded in 1934, and acquired its first land two years later, when the East Bay Municipal Utility District sold 2,166 acres of its surplus land. The founders of the district included Robert Sibley, a hiking enthusiast, Hollis Thompson, then Berkeley City Manager, and Charles Lee Tilden, among others. William Penn Mott, Jr. served as director of the agency from 1962 to 1967, in June 2013, EBRPD purchased a 1,900 acres tract of land formerly known as Roddy Ranch in east Contra Costa County. The tract lies south of Antioch and west of Brentwood. The cost was reported as $14.24 million, funding will also be provided by California Wildlife Conservation Board and an unidentified private foundation. The acquisition does not include Roddy Ranch Golf Club or about 240 acres of privately owned land inside the project boundary, the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy will install gates, fencing and signs around the tract in the coming year, while the sale is in escrow. The new area will likely be named Deer Valley Regional Park, in 2016, Vargas Plateau Regional Park in Fremont was the first park ever to have been shut down as the result of legal action in the more than 80-year history of EBRPD. During 2014, EBRPD cut park hours on a temporary and interim basis to reduce access to Mission Peak in Fremont. The parks administered by the EBRPD vary greatly in size and character, there are also bay shore parks such as the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline north of Richmond, the Coyote Hills Regional Park near Fremont, the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline on San Leandro Bay, and the Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline south of the Oakland International Airport, the district also includes a former farm, a former coal mine, an extinct volcano, and one of the biggest dog-walking parks in the country. Redwood Regional Park contains the largest remaining stand of coast redwood in the East Bay
5.
Richmond, California
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Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7,1905, under the McLaughlin Administration, Richmond was the largest city in the United States served by a Green Party mayor. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the population is at 103,710. The largest, Richmond, Virginia, is the namesake of the California city, the Ohlone Indians were the first inhabitants of the Richmond area, settling an estimated 5,000 years ago. The name Richmond appears to predate actual incorporation by more than fifty years, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad had its terminus at Richmond. The first post office opened in 1900, Richmond was founded and incorporated in 1905, carved out of Rancho San Pablo, from which the nearby town of San Pablo inherited its name. Until the enactment of prohibition in 1919, the city had the largest winery in the world, in the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan was active in the city. In 1930 the Ford Motor Company opened a plant called Richmond Assembly Plant which moved to Milpitas in the 1960s. The old Ford plant has been a National Historic Place since 1988, the city was a small town at that time, until the onset of World War II which brought on a rush of migrants and a boom in the industrial sector. Standard Oil set up here in 1901, including a what is now the Chevron Richmond Refinery and tank farm. There is a pier into San Francisco Bay south of Point Molate for oil tankers, the western terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad was established in Richmond with ferry connections at Ferry Point in the Brickyard Cove area of Point Richmond to San Francisco. Many of these lived in specially constructed houses scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Richmond, Berkeley. A specially built rail line, the Shipyard Railway, transported workers to the shipyards, kaisers Richmond shipyards built 747 Victory and Liberty ships for the war effort, more than any other site in the U. S. The city broke many records and even built one Liberty ship in a five days. On average the yards could build a ship in thirty days, the medical system established for the shipyard workers at the Richmond Field Hospital eventually became todays Kaiser Permanente HMO. It remained in operation until 1993 when it was replaced by the modern Richmond Medical Center hospital, Point Richmond was originally the commercial hub of the city, but a new downtown arose in the center of the city. It was populated by many department stores such as Kress, J. C. Penney, Sears, Macys, during the war the population increased dramatically and peaked at around 120,000 by the end of the war. Once the war ended the workers were no longer needed
6.
San Francisco
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
7.
Albany Hill
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Albany Hill is a prominent hill along the east shore of San Francisco Bay in the city of Albany, California. Geologically, the hill is predominantly Jurassic sandstone, carried to the edge of North America on the Pacific Plate. Albany Hill is part of a range of hills uplifted long before todays Berkeley Hills and these hills include Fleming Point and Point Isabel, Brooks Island, the Potrero San Pablo, and the hills across San Pablo Strait. Albany Hills indigenous Ohlone name is unknown, the name was changed to Albany Hill shortly after the city incorporated as Ocean View changed its name to Albany. The adjacent city of El Cerrito was named after the hills original Spanish name, the north side of Albany Hill was long used by Native Americans, as evidenced by large mortar stones and remnants of a shell midden. Oaks on the side, the willow grove where tributary Middle Creek joins Cerrito Creek, salt and fresh wetlands to the north. Beginning in the late 19th century, Judson Powder Works manufactured dynamite at the northwest foot of the hill, the company had been forced to move from San Francisco and then nearby Fleming Point in Berkeley because of continuing accidental explosions. The eucaluptus trees now on the hill were planted by the manufacturers to catch debris. The stop on the railroad tracks just to the west was called Nobel Station. In 1905, an accidental explosion of nitroglycerin killed 23 workers. The explosion carved a massive crater in the flank of the hill. After this incident, dynamite making was forced north to less-settled areas, making an eventual last stand at Pt. Pinole, now a regional park. As a large space, the only nearby high elevation next to the Bay. Perhaps as a result, the hill harbors unusually large numbers of native wildflowers, the oak forest on the cool north face remains much as it was pre-European-settlement. The non-native eucalyptus trees on the summit attract migrating and wintering monarch butterflies, hawks, owls, wild turkeys, and deer are among the animal inhabitants, herons, kingfishers, and egrets fish the creek. The hill provides a view of Albany, Berkeley — notably, UC Berkeleys Sather Tower —, from the other, it looks out onto the Bay, with San Francisco in the distance. Looking south from the hill, the high-rises in downtown Oakland, from earliest European settlement, residents have enjoyed open space on the hill, sledding on dry grass and swinging from rope swings. Protest by local residents defeated most of these, eventually the city retained an environmental consultant to prepare an Environmental Impact Report on alternative development schemes and development densities
8.
Dynamite
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Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht and it rapidly gained wide-scale use as a safer alternative to gun powder and nitroglycerin. Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder, Nobel obtained patents for his invention in England on 7 May 1867, in Sweden on 19 October 1867. After its introduction, dynamite rapidly gained wide-scale use as an alternative to black powder. Nobel tightly controlled the patents, and unlicensed duplicating companies were shut down. However, a few American businessmen got around the patent by using a different formula. Nobel originally sold dynamite as Nobels Blasting Powder but decided to change the name to dynamite, from the Ancient Greek word δύναμις dýnamis, an industrialist, engineer, and inventor, Alfred Nobels father, Immanuel Nobel, built bridges and buildings in Stockholm. His construction work inspired him to new methods of blasting rock. Immanuels work with later on inspired Alfred to make explosives safer. Today dynamite is used in the mining, quarrying, construction. Dynamite is still the product of choice for trenching applications, Dynamite is occasionally used as an initiator or booster for AN and ANFO explosive charges. Nitroglycerin by itself is a strong explosive, but is extremely shock-sensitive, and degrades over time to even more unstable forms. Dynamite combines nitroglycerin with absorbents and stabilizers, rendering it safe to use, the original composition of dynamite consisted of three parts Explosive Oil, one part diatomaceous earth as the absorbent, and a small admixture of sodium carbonate antacid as the stabilizer. Diatomaceous earth is not usually used today as an absorbent medium and it has replaced by cheaper media like sawdust, wood pulp, flour. Other stabilizers like calcium carbonate or zinc oxide can be used in the place of sodium carbonate, sodium nitrate is added to the medium as an oxidizer that improves the dynamites brisance. Dynamite is usually sold in the form of cardboard cylinders about 20 cm long and about 3.2 cm in diameter, a stick of dynamite thus produced contains roughly 1 MJ of energy. Other sizes also exist, rated by either portion or by weight, Dynamite is usually rated by weight strength, usually from 20% to 60%. For example, 40% dynamite is composed of 40% nitroglycerin and 60% dope, the maximum shelf life of nitroglycerin-based dynamite is recommended as one year from the date of manufacture under good storage conditions
9.
California Historical Landmark
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California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below, The first, last, only, associated with an individual or group having a profound influence on the history of California. California Historical Landmarks of #770 and above are listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. By contrast, a site, building, feature, or event that is of local significance may be designated as a California Point of Historical Interest. List of California Historical Landmarks by county National Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places listings in California — with links to list articles by county, los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments San Francisco Designated Landmarks Johnson, Marael. A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers, official OHP—California Office of Historic Preservation website OHP, California Historical Sites searchpage — links to lists by county
10.
Hiking
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Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails, in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927, in New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is an activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide. In the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, a day hike refers to a hike that can be completed in a single day. However, in the United Kingdom, the walking is also used, as well as rambling. In Northern England, Including the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, fellwalking describes hill or mountain walks, hiking sometimes involves bushwhacking and is sometimes referred to as such. This specifically refers to walking through dense forest, undergrowth, or bushes. In extreme cases of bushwhacking, where the vegetation is so dense that human passage is impeded, the Australian term bushwalking refers to both on and off-trail hiking. Common terms for hiking used by New Zealanders are tramping, walking or bushwalking, trekking is the preferred word used to describe multi-day hiking in the mountainous regions of India, Pakistan, Nepal, North America, South America, Iran and in the highlands of East Africa. Hiking a long-distance trail from end-to-end is also referred to as trekking, in North America, multi-day hikes, usually with camping, are referred to as backpacking. The idea of taking a walk in the countryside for pleasure developed in the 18th-century, in earlier times walking generally indicated poverty and was also associated with vagrancy. Thomas West, an English priest, popularized the idea of walking for pleasure in his guide to the Lake District of 1778. To this end he included various stations or viewpoints around the lakes, published in 1778 the book was a major success. Another famous early exponent of walking for pleasure, was the English poet William Wordsworth, in 1790 he embarked on an extended tour of France, Switzerland, and Germany, a journey subsequently recorded in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude. His famous poem Tintern Abbey was inspired by a visit to the Wye Valley made during a tour of Wales in 1798 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth. Wordsworths friend Coleridge was another keen walker and in the autumn of 1799, he and Wordsworth undertook a three weeks tour of the Lake District. John Keats, who belonged to the generation of Romantic poets began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland
11.
Cycling
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Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. Persons engaged in cycling are referred to as cyclists, bikers, or less commonly, apart from two-wheeled bicycles, cycling also includes the riding of unicycles, tricycles, quadracycles, recumbent and similar human-powered vehicles. Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century and now approximately one billion worldwide. They are the means of transportation in many parts of the world. Cycling is widely regarded as an effective and efficient mode of transportation optimal for short to moderate distances. Cycling also offers a reduced consumption of fuels, less air or noise pollution. These lead to financial cost to the user as well as to society at large. By fitting bicycle racks on the front of buses, transit agencies can significantly increase the areas they can serve, in many countries, the most commonly used vehicle for road transport is a utility bicycle. These have frames with relaxed geometry, protecting the rider from shocks of the road, utility bicycles tend to be equipped with accessories such as mudguards, pannier racks and lights, which extends their usefulness on a daily basis. As the bicycle is so effective as a means of various companies have developed methods of carrying anything from the weekly shop to children on bicycles. Certain countries rely heavily on bicycles and their culture has developed around the bicycle as a form of transport. In Europe, Denmark and the Netherlands have the most bicycles per capita, road bikes tend to have a more upright shape and a shorter wheelbase, which make the bike more mobile but harder to ride slowly. The design, coupled with low or dropped handlebars, requires the rider to bend forward more, making use of stronger muscles, the price of a new bicycle can range from US$50 to more than US$20,000, depending on quality, type and weight. However, UCI regulations stipulate a legal race bike cannot weigh less than 6.8 kg, being measured for a bike and taking it for a test ride are recommended before buying. The drivetrain components of the bike should also be considered, a middle grade dérailleur is sufficient for a beginner, although many utility bikes are equipped with hub gears. If the rider plans a significant amount of hillclimbing a triple-chainrings crankset gear system may be preferred, otherwise, the relatively lighter and less expensive double chainring may be better. Much simpler fixed wheel bikes are also available, many road bikes, along with mountain bikes, include clipless pedals to which special shoes attach, via a cleat, enabling the rider to pull on the pedals as well as push. For basic maintenance and repairs cyclists can carry a pump, a repair kit, a spare inner tube, and tire levers
12.
Equestrianism
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Equestrianism, more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding, refers to the skill of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, Horses are trained and ridden for practical working purposes such as in police work or for controlling herd animals on a ranch. They are also used in sports including, but not limited to, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, reining, show jumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, driving. Some popular forms of competition are grouped together at horse shows, Horses are used for non-competitive recreational riding such as fox hunting, trail riding or hacking. There is public access to trails in almost every part of the world, many parks, ranches. Horses are also used for therapeutic purposes, both in specialized paraequestrian competition as well as non-competitive riding to improve health and emotional development. Horses are also driven in harness racing, at shows and in other types of exhibition, historical reenactment or ceremony. In some parts of the world, they are used for practical purposes such as farming. Horses continue to be used in service, in traditional ceremonies, police and volunteer mounted patrols. Riding halls enable the training of horse and rider in all weathers as well as indoor competition riding, though there is controversy over the exact date horses were domesticated and when they were first ridden, the best estimate is that horses first were ridden approximately 3500 BC. Indirect evidence suggests that horses were ridden long before they were driven, however, the most unequivocal early archaeological evidence of equines put to working use was of horses being driven. Chariot burials about 2500 BC present the most direct evidence of horses used as working animals. In ancient times chariot warfare was followed by the use of war horses as light, the horse played an important role throughout human history all over the world, both in warfare and in peaceful pursuits such as transportation, trade and agriculture. Horses lived in North America, but died out at the end of the Ice Age, Horses were brought back to North America by European explorers, beginning with the second voyage of Columbus in 1493. Humans appear to have expressed a desire to know which horse were the fastest. Gambling on horse races appears to go hand-in hand with racing and has a history as well. Thoroughbreds have the pre-eminent reputation as a breed, but other breeds also race. Under saddle, Thoroughbred horse racing is the most popular form worldwide, in the UK, it is known as flat racing and is governed by the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom
13.
Eucalyptus
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Eucalyptus /ˌjuːkəˈlɪptəs/ LHeritier 1789 is a diverse genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the flora of Australia. There are more than 700 species of eucalyptus and most are native to Australia, one species, Eucalyptus deglupta, ranges as far north as the Philippines. Of the 15 species found outside Australia, just nine are exclusively non-Australian, species of eucalyptus are cultivated widely in the tropical and temperate world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China, and the Indian subcontinent. However, the range over which many eucalypts can be planted in the zone is constrained by their limited cold tolerance. Australia is covered by 92,000,000 hectares of eucalypt forest, Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred to as eucalypts, the others being Corymbia and Angophora. Many species, though by no means all, are known as gum trees because they exude copious kino from any break in the bark. The generic name is derived from the Greek words ευ well and καλύπτω to cover, Eucalyptus oil finds many uses like in aromatherapy, as a cure for joint pains. Eucalyptus trees show allelopathic effects, they release compounds which inhibit other plant species from growing nearby, on warm days, eucalyptus forests are sometimes shrouded in a smog-like mist of vaporised volatile organic compounds, the Australian Blue Mountains take their name from the haze. A mature eucalyptus may take the form of a low shrub or a large tree. The species can be divided into three main habits and four size categories, as a generalisation forest trees are single-stemmed and have a crown forming a minor proportion of the whole tree height. Woodland trees are single-stemmed, although they may branch at a distance above ground level. Many mallee trees may be so low-growing as to be considered a shrub, two other tree forms are notable in Western Australia and described using the native names mallet and marlock. The mallet is a small to medium-sized tree that does not produce lignotubers and has a long trunk. This is the habit of mature healthy specimens of Eucalyptus occidentalis, E. astringens, E. spathulata, E. gardneri, E. dielsii, E. forrestiana, E. salubris, E. clivicola. The smooth bark of mallets often has a satiny sheen and may be white, cream, grey, green, or copper. The term marlock has been used, in Forest Trees of Australia, it is defined as a small tree without lignotubers. They usually grow in more or less pure stands, clearly recognisable examples are stands of E. platypus, E. vesiculosa, and the unrelated E. stoatei
14.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
15.
Hayward Fault Zone
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The Hayward Fault Zone is a geologic fault zone capable of generating significantly destructive earthquakes. This fault is about 74 mi long, situated mainly along the base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It runs through densely populated areas, including the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward, Union City, Fremont, and San Jose, in order from north-to-south. The Hayward Fault is parallel to its more famous westerly neighbor, the San Andreas Fault, to the south of the Hayward lies the Calaveras Fault. In 2007 the Hayward Fault was discovered to merge with the Calaveras Fault east of San Jose at a depth of 4 miles, some geologists have suggested that the Southern Calaveras should be renamed as the Southern Hayward. Further discussion may be found below in the subsection on Rodgers Creek Fault, another fault further north, the Maacama Fault, is also considered to be part of the Hayward Fault subsystem. The Pacific Plate is a section of the Earths crust. It is also being subducted far to the northwest into the Aleutian Trench, in California, the plate is sliding northwestward along a transform boundary, the San Andreas Fault, toward the subduction zone. At the same time, the North American Plate is moving southwestward, the Hayward Fault shares the same relative motions of the San Andreas. As with portions of other faults, an extent of the Hayward Fault trace is formed from a narrow complex zone of deformation which can span hundreds of feet in width. The Hayward Fault is one of the faults in this diffuse zone, along with the Calaveras Fault to the east. The complete fault zone, including the Rodgers Creek fault, is divided by seismologists into three segments – Rodgers Creek, Northern Hayward, and Southern Hayward and it is expected that these segments may fail singly or in adjacent pairs, creating earthquakes of varying magnitude. The various ABAG maps shown below represent some of the likely possible combinations. An alternate prior hypothesis suggested that the Hayward Fault and Rodgers Creek Fault were probably connected by a series of en echelon fault strands beneath San Pablo Bay, the new finding means that the Rodgers-Hayward system together could produce a quake with a magnitude as high as 7.2. It is also considered possible that a seismic event on either fault may involve movement on the other, either concurrently or within an interval of up to several months. The Association of Bay Area Governments has prepared ground shaking maps that include a possible concurrent scenario and it has been suggested that the name Rodgers Creek Fault be retired and that the entire 118 mi fault be known as the Hayward Fault. The Calaveras Fault is considered to be continuous from the Sunol area south to Hollister and it was long believed that there was no connection between the Hayward Fault and the Calaveras. Recent geological studies suggest that the two faults may be connected, the largest quake on the Hayward Fault in recorded history occurred in 1868, with an estimated magnitude of 7.0
16.
Mount Tamalpais
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Mount Tamalpais is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park, the Marin Municipal Water District watershed. Mount Tamalpais is the highest peak in the Marin Hills, which are part of the Northern California Coast Ranges, the elevation at the West Peak, its highest point, where a radar dome currently stands, is at about 2,576 feet. It stood over 2,600 feet before the summit was flattened for the dome construction. The East Peak, the second highest peak, is 2,572 feet. The mountain is visible from the city of San Francisco. The majority of the mountain is contained in protected public lands, including Mount Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods National Monument, and it adjoins the Golden Gate National Recreation Area as well as several Marin County Open Space Preserves. This provides nearly 40 miles of publicly accessible open space. Some of the slopes of Mount Tamalpais fall within several cities and unincorporated communities of Marin County, including Mill Valley, Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, Stinson Beach. These areas are developed, consisting of mostly low-density single-family homes. In 2004 it was suggested by a team of Penn State geoscientists that a blind thrust fault, like the one caused the infamous Northridge earthquake. This idea was based on the steepness of Mount Tamalpais and of nearby Bolinas Ridge. Major Mount Tamalpais rockforms include serpentine, particularly evident in outcroppings near the summit, a number of serpentine endemic plants grow in the serpentine soils in this part of the mountain. The steep southeastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais drain to Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio, annual precipitation around Mount Tamalpais varies greatly from around 27. 5–31.5 inches in the drier, eastern foothills to about 59 inches near the Bolinas Ridge, close to the Pacific Ocean. The same fact holds for the steep, south-facing bowl canyon that Muir Woods is located in, as in San Francisco, most of the annual precipitation falls during the winter months. During cold, wet winter storms, the mountain also regularly gets some snowfall, sometimes as much as 6 inches overnight, as observed in February 2001, March 2006, and February 2011. The region sometimes gets hit with strong Pacific storms that may topple trees, and bring hurricane-force winds to exposed, barren areas like the Bolinas Ridge and the summit of Mount Tamalpais. In contrast, the foothills, sheltered from the oceanic breezes and fog, are drier
17.
Marin Headlands
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The entire area is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Headlands are famous for their views of the Bay Area, the Headlands sometimes create their own clouds when moist, warm Pacific Ocean breezes are pushed into higher, colder air, causing condensation, fog, fog drip and perhaps rain. The hills also get more precipitation than at sea level, for the same reason, however, despite being relatively wet, strong gusty Pacific winds prevent dense forests from forming. The many gaps, ridges, and valleys in the increase the wind speed and periodically, during powerful winter storms. In summer, breezes can still be very gusty, when the oceanic air and these cloudy, gray, and rainy days often are interspersed with cool but extremely clear ones. As winter turns to spring, the April-to-June weather tends to be dominated by powerful winds, less rain, summer days alternate between clear and warm intervals, giving way to foggy and cool periods. September and October bring the highest average temperatures of the year, the centerpoint of the Marin Headlands skyline is the 920-foot Hawk Hill, the lookout point for the largest known flight of diurnal raptors in the Pacific states. Each autumn, from August into December, tens of thousands of hawks, kites, falcons, eagles, vultures, osprey, hawks avoid flight over water since warm thermals that provide lift are rare. Volunteers with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory count and track this fall migration using bird-banding and radio-tracking techniques, all in cooperation with the National Park Service. The Marin Headlands are also home to black tail deer, mountain lions, bobcats, two types of fox, coyotes, wild turkeys, hares, rabbits, raccoons, river otters inhabit the freshwater lagoons and streams. Large numbers of birds also migrate through the Headlands, including brown pelicans from May through October, and grebes, egrets, and great blue herons in the spring, summer. The Headlands status as a park protects the habitat and populations of animals within just a few miles of San Francisco. The Marin Headlands are a geological formation created by the accretion of oceanic sediments onto the North American Plate from the Pacific Plate. The primary components of Headlands geology include graywacke sandstone, radiolarian chert, serpentinite, pillow basalts and these rocks began their migration over one hundred million years ago from as far south as present-day Los Angeles. The Marin Headlands were home to the Native American Coastal Miwok tribe, from the 1890s, the first military installations were built to prevent hostile ships from entering San Francisco Bay. The batteries at Kirby Cove, above Black Sands Beach, south of Rodeo Beach, the emplacements at the top of Hawk Hill were used for a radio station. During the Cold War, the gun batteries were decommissioned, radar sites were placed atop Hawk Hill and Hill 88. At several locations, shelters were built into the hillsides to protect the military personnel from the use of nuclear, biological, observation posts known as base end stations can also be found in the Headlands
18.
Angling
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Angling is a method of fishing by means of an angle. The hook is attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself can be dressed with lures or bait, a bite indicator such as a float, and a weight or sinker are sometimes used. Angling is the method of sport fishing, but commercial fisheries also use angling methods such as longlining or trolling. Catch and release fishing is practiced by recreational fishermen. In many parts of the world, size limits apply to species, meaning fish below and/or above a certain size must, by law. The species of fish pursued by anglers vary with geography, among the many species of salt water fish that are caught for sport are swordfish, marlin, tuna, while in Europe cod and bass are popular targets. In North America the most popular water sport species include bass, pike, walleye, muskellunge, yellow perch, trout, salmon, crappie, bluegill. In Europe a large number of fish for species such as carp, pike, tench, rudd, roach, European perch, catfish. South Africa has a great fishing coast where anglers fish for species like cod, White Steenbras, some fish are sought for their value as food, others are pursued for their fighting abilities or for the difficulty of pursuit. The use of the hook in angling is descended, historically, the word gorge, in this context, comes from the French word meaning throat. Gorges were used by ancient peoples to capture fish and animals like seal, walrus, a gorge was a long, thin piece of bone or stone attached by its midpoint to a thin line. The gorge would be baited so that it would rest parallel to the lay of the line. When the game would swallow the bait, a tug on the line would cause the gorge to orient itself at right angles to the line, some laws and regulations require hooks to be barbless. This rule is implemented to protect populations of certain species. A barbed hook could kill a fish if it were to penetrate the gills, which of the various techniques an angler may choose is dictated mainly by the target species and by its habitat. Angling can be separated into two categories, using either artificial or natural baits
19.
Breuner Marsh
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A habitat restoration plan for 60 acres of wetlands and 90 acres of California coastal prairie was subsequently approved. The boundaries surrounding Breuner Marsh are approximately, San Pablo Bay to the west, giant Marsh and Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park to the north. A Southern Pacific Railroad embankment and Parchester Village to the east, the Breuner Marsh land was owned by Fred Parr in the mid 20th-century. It was/is located between the bay and Parchester Village, a post-WW II master planned community that was the first in the state to sell to African Americans and it was built by Parr with the promise of maintaining the marsh free from development. However, Parr subsequently sold it off, leaving the open space in uncertainty. The new owner was Gerald Breuner, the owner of the former Breuners Home Furnishings chain, during the 1970s he had much of the wetlands illegally destroyed, with the intention of building a private general aviation airport, to be called Breuner Field. However community and political opposition prohibited it, and the model plane airfield was the largest he could build. In the 1980s Bruener tested experimental aircraft, a gyrocopter, at the site, Breuner Field or Breuner Airfield was a 5-acre private radio controlled aircraft airfield or flying field and club built in the 1970s. It was located on the illegally reclaimed wetlands, at 4114 Goodrick Avenue, the site had a sports club, some cottages, and a fishing pier. The runway was about 300 ft and is marked with xs to state that it is not suitable for landing by any planes and it was run by the Bay Area Radio Control Society. Breuner Marsh was purchased in 2000 by Bay Area Wetlands LLC, since the purchase by Bay Area Wetlands LLC, various proposals to develop the marsh have been put forward. The latter was the option from the Parchester Village Neighborhood Council which had fought development in the past. Development was also fought by the Sierra Club and the North Richmond Shoreline Open Space Alliance, and by Gayle McLaughlin, the East Bay Regional Parks District had considered using Eminent Domain to prevent development of the rare undeveloped San Francisco Bay shoreline and to protect endangered species. Bay Area Wetlands LLC at one point wanted to build Edgewater Technology Park but were rebuffed by Parchester residents, the city was willing to zone 27 acres for residential but no more. A lawsuit was filed against the property owners to protect the space. The jury decided that the value of the 217 acres was $6.85 million and this was contrary to the East Bay Regional Parks Districts appraiser whom valued it at $1.5 million, and the previous purchase price the Breuners received of $3 million. The defendant owners argued that the city would make up to $18 million off the 27 acres where development would be allowed, the owners were allowed to keep 20 acres, but appealed the March 2008 decision nonetheless. A sale was reached two months later for the undeveloped property
20.
Bird
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Birds, a subgroup of Reptiles, are the last living examples of Dinosaurs. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at ten thousand. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, the fossil record indicates that birds evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, Birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Birds have wings which are more or less developed depending on the species, the digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have evolved for swimming. Many species annually migrate great distances, Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and bird songs, and participating in such social behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of species are socially monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous or, rarely, Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents, most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Some birds, such as hens, lay eggs even when not fertilised, songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano is harvested for use as a fertiliser, Birds prominently figure throughout human culture. About 120–130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry, the first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae. Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use, Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the dinosaur clade Theropoda, Aves and a sister group, the clade Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria
21.
Duck
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Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the waterfowl family Anatidae, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the family Anatidae, they do not represent a group but a form taxon, since swans. Ducks are mostly birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese. Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules and this word replaced Old English ened/ænid duck, possibly to avoid confusion with other Old English words, like ende end with similar forms. Other Germanic languages still have similar words for duck, for example, Dutch eend duck, the word ened/ænid was inherited from Proto-Indo-European, compare, Latin anas duck, Lithuanian ántis duck, Ancient Greek nēssa/nētta duck, and Sanskrit ātí water bird, among others. A duckling is a duck in downy plumage or baby duck. A male duck is called a drake and the female is called a duck, the overall body plan of ducks is elongated and broad, and the ducks are also relatively long-necked, albeit not as long-necked as the geese and swans. The body shape of diving ducks varies somewhat from this in being more rounded, the bill is usually broad and contains serrated lamellae, which are particularly well defined in the filter-feeding species. In the case of some fishing species the bill is long, the scaled legs are strong and well developed, and generally set far back on the body, more so in the highly aquatic species. The wings are strong and are generally short and pointed. Three species of duck are almost flightless, however. Many species of duck are temporarily flightless while moulting, they seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period, the drakes of northern species often have extravagant plumage, but that is moulted in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the eclipse plumage. The plumage of birds generally resembles that of the female. Over the course of evolution, female ducks have evolved to have a corkscrew shaped vagina to prevent rape, Ducks exploit a variety of food sources such as grasses, aquatic plants, fish, insects, small amphibians, worms, and small molluscs. Dabbling ducks feed on the surface of water or on land, along the edge of the beak there is a comb-like structure called a pecten. This strains the water squirting from the side of the beak, the pecten is also used to preen feathers and to hold slippery food items. Diving ducks and sea ducks forage deep underwater, to be able to submerge more easily, the diving ducks are heavier than dabbling ducks, and therefore have more difficulty taking off to fly. A few specialized species such as the mergansers are adapted to catch, to avoid injury when digging into sediment it has no cere, but the nostrils come out through hard horn
22.
Wader
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Waders are birds commonly found along shorelines and mudflats that wade in order to forage for food in the mud or sand. They are called shorebirds in North America, waders are members of the order Charadriiformes, which includes gulls, auks and their allies. There are about 210 species of wader, most of which are associated with wetland or coastal environments, many species of Arctic and temperate regions are strongly migratory, but tropical birds are often resident, or move only in response to rainfall patterns. Some of the Arctic species, such as the little stint, are amongst the longest distance migrants, the smallest member of this group is the least sandpiper, small adults of which can weigh as little as 15.5 grams and measure just over 13 cm. The largest species is believed to be the Far Eastern curlew, at about 63 cm and 860 grams, in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, waders and many other groups are subsumed into a greatly enlarged Ciconiiformes order. Formerly, the waders were united in a single suborder Charadrii, however, it indicated that the plains wanderer actually belonged into one of them. Shorebirds is a term used to refer to multiple species of birds that live in wet. Because most these species spend much of their time near bodies of water, some species prefer locations with rocks or mud. Many shorebirds display migratory patterns and often migrate before breeding season and these behaviors explain the long wing lengths observed in species, and can also account for the efficient metabolisms that give the birds energy during long migrations. The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of mud or exposed soil, different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. Many waders have sensitive nerve endings at the end of their bills which enable them to prey items hidden in mud or soft soil. Some larger species, particularly adapted to drier habitats will take larger prey including insects. Shorebirds, like other animals, exhibit phenotypic differences between males and females, also known as sexual dimorphism. In shorebirds, various sexual dimorphisms are seen, including, but not limited to, size, color, in polygynous species, where one male individual mates with multiple female partners over his lifetime, dimorphisms tend to be more diverse. The suborder of Charadrii displays the widest range of sexual dimorphisms seen in the Charadriiformes order, however, cases of sexual monomorphism, where there are no distinguishing physical features besides external genitalia, are also seen in this order. One of the biggest factors that leads to the development of sexual dimorphism in shorebirds is sexual selection, males with ideal characteristics favored by females are more likely to reproduce and pass on their genetic information to their offspring better than the males who lack such characteristics. Mentioned earlier, male shorebirds are typically larger in size compared to their female counterparts, competition between males tends to lead to sexual selection toward larger males and as a result, an increase in dimorphism. Bigger males tend to have access to female mates because their larger size aids them in defeating other competitors
23.
Black rail
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The black rail is a mouse-sized member of the bird family Rallidae. It is found in scattered parts of North America and the Pacific region of South America, usually in coastal salt marshes and it is extinct or threatened in many locations due to habitat loss. The largest populations in North America are in Florida and California, Black rails appear to be omnivorous, feeding primarily on small invertebrates but also on seeds of some marsh plants. They are preyed upon by many avian and mammalian predators and rely on the cover of thick vegetation for protection. They are territorial and call loudly and frequently during the mating season, the black rail is rarely seen and prefers running in the cover of the dense marsh vegetation to flying. It will often make its presence known, however, with its distinctive ki-ki-krr call or an aggressive, presumably territorial, growl. The best opportunity to see a rail is during an extremely high tide when the birds are forced out of the coastal marshes into nearby fields. These high tides are dangerous time for black rails as they are vulnerable to predation outside the marsh. This bird has sometimes been considered conspecific with the Peruvian Junín crake, Black Rails on the Audubon watch list Back Rails in Chile Black Rails in inland marshes Black Rail Bird Sound
24.
Pacific Flyway
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The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in America, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or travelling to overwintering sites. Any given bird species travels roughly the route every year. Ornithologists and bird lovers can often predict to the day when a species will show up in their area. Along the Pacific Flyway, there are many key rest stops where birds of many species gather, sometimes in the millions, to feed, some species may remain in these rest stops for the entire season, but most stay a few days before moving on. Notable locations include, Boundary Bay, British Columbia, has listed as an Important Bird Area by the Canadian government in recognition of its value to migratory birds. Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges Complex consists of different wildlife refuges on the border of Oregon. The Summer Lake Wildlife Sanctuary, located on Hwy 31, across from the Summer Lake Lodge, sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of several wildlife refuges in the northern Central Valley of California. San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of wildlife refuges in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Suisun Marsh, next to the exit of the inverted Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, has protected portions, San Francisco Bay, protected estuaries and mountain open space preserves. Coyote Valley, a section of the Santa Clara Valley with one of the highest recorded bird species richness. Great Salt Lake, Utah, a Great Basin hub of flyway, monterey Bay, protected estuaries and mountain open space preserves. Ballona Wetlands between the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Playa del Rey and Marina del Rey and adjacent city-owned lagoons, salton Sea, an inland Colorado Desert saline endorheic lake in Southern California, hosts many birds and has surrounding wildlife refuges. Seeking Refuge, Birds and Landscapes of the Pacific Flyway 245 pages Important Bird Areas of Canada
25.
Salt marsh harvest mouse
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There are two distinct subspecies, both endangered and listed together on federal and state endangered species lists. The northern subspecies is lighter in color and inhabits the marshes of the bay. They are both similar in appearance to their congener species, the, to which they are not closely related. Genetic studies of the subspecies have revealed that the salt marsh harvest mouse is most closely related to the plains harvest mouse, R. montanus. Its endangered designation is due to its range, historic decline in population. The southern population of the salt marsh harvest mouse tends to have brown fur above and a pinkish cinnamon or tawny belly, moreover. An adults length is five to seven centimeters and a length of six to ten centimeters. The height is between 1.5 and 2.1 centimeters, weight of a mature mouse is approximately 10 to 20 grams. The northern subspecies is also dorsally brown or reddish brown, but the venters tend to be white or cream and this species is nocturnal, with particularly noted activity on moonlit nights. This mouse is particularly resourceful, making use of runways of other rodents, moreover. It occupies marsh habitats where pickleweed and marsh plants abound and its many predators feature hawk, snake and owl species, as well as shorebirds and larger mammals. Predation by domestic cats is a due to encroachment of the limited habitat by humans at the perimeter of the San Francisco Bay. As would be expected of a native to salt marshes. It eats seeds and plants, especially pickleweed and glasswort, one of the most common salt marsh plant species, similar species are the Plains Harvest Mouse, and the Fulvous Harvest Mouse, which has a longer tail. Survey data from Suisun Marsh found that the salt marsh harvest mouse can live up to 18 months, females commonly have two litters per year. In the summer, when salinity of water and vegetation increases, the northern species can survive purely on salt water, but prefers fresh water to salt water. The southern species can survive on either, and does not display a preference, the mice depend heavily on vegetation cover, particularly pickleweed and tules. Pickleweed is their primary and preferred habitat as well their main food source and they can also survive tidal or seasonal flooding due to their superior ability to swim, float and climb
26.
United States Geological Survey
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The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its resources. The organization has four science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology. The USGS is a research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, the USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, the current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is science for a changing world. The agencys previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its anniversary, was Earth Science in the Public Service. Prompted by a report from the National Academy of Sciences, the USGS was created, by a last-minute amendment and it was charged with the classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30,1879. Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies, after a short tenure, King was succeeded in the directors chair by John Wesley Powell. Administratively, it is divided into a Headquarters unit and six Regional Units, Other specific programs include, Earthquake Hazards Program monitors earthquake activity worldwide. The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines detects the location, the USGS also runs or supports several regional monitoring networks in the United States under the umbrella of the Advanced National Seismic System. The USGS informs authorities, emergency responders, the media, and it also maintains long-term archives of earthquake data for scientific and engineering research. It also conducts and supports research on long-term seismic hazards, USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast. The USGS National Geomagnetism Program monitors the magnetic field at magnetic observatories and distributes magnetometer data in real time, the USGS operates the streamgaging network for the United States, with over 7400 streamgages. Real-time streamflow data are available online, since 1962, the Astrogeology Research Program has been involved in global, lunar, and planetary exploration and mapping. USGS operates a number of related programs, notably the National Streamflow Information Program. USGS Water data is available from their National Water Information System database
27.
Union Pacific Railroad
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The Union Pacific Railroad is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Pacific Railroad network is the largest in the United States and it is also one of the worlds largest transportation companies. Union Pacific Railroad is the operating company of Union Pacific Corporation. Union Pacific Corporations main competitor is the BNSF Railway, the second largest freight railroad. Together, the two railroads have a duopoly on all freight rail lines in the U. S. The original company was incorporated on July 1,1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union. It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, the line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War. The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah,53 miles west of Ogden on May 10,1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha. It built or purchased local lines that gave it access to Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon and it also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas. UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872 and its independent construction company the Crédit Mobilier had bribed congressmen. The UP itself was not guilty but it did get bad publicity, the financial crisis of 1873 led to financial troubles but not bankruptcy. The company was reorganized as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24,1880, the new company declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. When it emerged in 1897 it reverted to the original name, the corporate headquarters of the Union Pacific Corporation were located in New York City from its initial founding in the 1860s until Drew Lewis became CEO in the mid-1980s. He relocated it to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later the headquarters was shifted to Dallas, Texas, before relocating to Omaha to join the operating headquarters. From the ICC annual reports, except 1979 is from Moodys, on December 31,1925 UP-OSL-OWRN-LA&SL-StJ&GI operated 9,834 route-miles and 15,265 track-miles. At the end of 1980, Union Pacific operated 9,266 route-miles and 15,647 miles of track, Moodys shows 220,697 million revenue ton-miles in 1993 on the expanded system
28.
San Francisco Bay Trail
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The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that will eventually allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2016,350 miles of trail have been completed, when finished, the Bay Trail will extend over 500 miles to link the shoreline of nine counties, passing through 47 cities and crossing seven toll bridges. It is a project of the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Trail is a collaboration between elected officials, government agencies, private companies, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups and the public to increase access to the edge of the bay. It provides recreational opportunities for hikers and bicyclists, offers a setting for viewing and environmental education. The Bay Trail provides access to points of historic, natural and cultural interest, the Bay Trail consists of paved paths, gravel trails, bike lanes or sidewalks. The Bay Trail is a trail system that links parks, open spaces, points of interest. Sections of the Bay Trail exist in all nine Bay Area counties, the northernmost trail section passes through San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Bicycle and pedestrian pathways exist on five Bay Area toll bridges, Golden Gate Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, Benicia-Martinez Bridge, Dumbarton Bridge, a complete connection on the Bay Bridge East Span between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island is scheduled to open in September 2016. A 5-year pilot program will open the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to bicyclists, the idea for the Bay Trail was launched in the Fall of 1986, when Senator Bill Lockyer of Hayward was having lunch with a local editor in a waterfront restaurant. The end-of-session legislative frenzy was over, and Senator Lockyer was in a reflective mood, “Let me try this idea out on you, ” he said to his companion. “What if we tried to develop a pedestrian and bicycle path around the bay, with access to the shoreline. ”His luncheon partner applauded the idea, the outcome was Senate Bill 100. Coauthored by all Bay Area legislators, the bill passed and it defined parameters of the planning process, designated the Association of Bay Area Governments as the lead agency, and provided $300,000 for the preparation of a Bay Trail Plan by July 1,1989. The Bay Trail Plan, adopted by ABAG, shows a network of trails that meander and loop along the shore, connecting all nine surrounding counties, the San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide was revised in 2012. It provides information about the natural and cultural history of San Francisco Bay, published by University of California Press for the California Coastal Conservancy. The San Francisco Bay Trail maps were released in May 2013, the box set of 25 cards and a large fold-out map provide detailed information about the trail and points of interest along its route. Production of the maps was funded in part by the California Coastal Conservancy, the San Francisco Bay Trail Plan, A Recreational Ring Around San Francisco Bay was published in 1989 by the Association of Bay Area Governments. The plan includes the trail alignment, project goals, policies, San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail, a proposal to create a safely navigable water trail for nonmotorized beachable watercraft, circumnavigating the bay. San Francisco Bay Trail San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail Walking San Francisco Bay The San Francisco Bay Trail, Its Closer Than You Think Walk the Whole Bay Trail Bit by Bit
29.
AC Transit
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AC Transit is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates Transbay routes across San Francisco Bay to San Francisco and selected areas in San Mateo, AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members and it is not a part of or under the control of Alameda or Contra Costa counties or any local jurisdictions. Buses operate out of three operating divisions, Emeryville, East Oakland, and Hayward, the Operations Control Center is located in Emeryville. The Richmond operating division closed in 2011, the District is the public successor to the privately owned Key System. The Districts bus lines also serve parts of some other East Bay communities, including Milpitas, Pinole, most routes connect with regional train service, primarily BART, in addition to ACE and Amtrak, including the Capitol Corridor. While most AC Transit service consists of lines throughout the East Bay. Most of these run across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge to connect communities as distant as El Sobrante, Bus service is also provided across the San Mateo and Dumbarton bridges to the south. AC Transits primary hubs include BART stations, major shopping centers, and points of interest, most routes serve and/or terminate at BART stations, providing convenience for transit users. The hubs include, See also AC Transits page on fares and passes or AC Transits page on bus fares, on July 1,2014, AC Transit introduced a Day Pass, designed for customers taking more than two local buses in a day. The pass is good for unlimited rides on local routes from 3,01 a. m. to 3,00 a. m. Customers can obtain a Day Pass in one of two ways, Using Clipper, Customers keep cash value on their card. Once fares equalling the Day Pass price have been deducted, the Day Pass automatically activates, on subsequent rides, the card is tagged but no additional fare is deducted. On-Board, Customers deposit the amount in the farebox and request a Day Pass from the bus operator. On subsequent rides, the pass is swiped at the farebox, AC Transit fares are structured to promote the use of Clipper. Not only are local bus rides cheaper, but certain interagency transfers and day passes are easier to obtain, monthly passes are only available on Clipper. Local BART-to-bus transfer, $0.25 cash discount to and from BART with paper transfer issued at BART, applied as $0.50 Clipper discount on bus trip away from BART only. To transfer from AC Transit to another bus agency without Clipper, to transfer from another bus agency to AC Transit without Clipper, ask the other bus driver for a transfer. Notes, All fares are in USD,1 Issued upon request when full price is paid
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Pedestrian
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A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using tiny wheels such as skates, skateboards. In modern times, the term refers to someone walking on a road or pavement. Walking has always been the means of human locomotion. The first humans to migrate from Africa, about 60,000 years ago and they walked along the coast of India to reach Australia. They walked across Asia to reach the Americas, and from Central Asia into Europe, during the 18th and 19th centuries, pedestrianism was a popular spectator sport just as equestrianism still is in places such as Great Britain and the United States. One of the most famous pedestrians of that period was Captain Robert Barclay Allardice, known as The Celebrated Pedestrian and his most impressive feat was to walk 1 mile every hour for 1000 hours, which he achieved between 1 June and 12 July 1809. This feat captured many peoples imagination, and around 10,000 people came to watch over the course of the event. During the rest of the 19th century, many tried to repeat this feat, including Ada Anderson who developed it further. Since the 20th century, interest in walking as a sport has dropped, racewalking is still an Olympic sport, but fails to catch public attention as it did. However major walking feats are still performed, such as the Lands End to John o Groats walk in the United Kingdom, and these feats are often tied to charitable fundraising and are undertaken by celebrities such as Sir Jimmy Savile and Ian Botham as well as by others. Regular walking is important both for health and for the natural environment. Frequent exercise such as walking tends to reduce the chance of obesity, general availability of public transportation encourages walking, as it will not, in most cases, take one directly to ones destination. Roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the sidewalk in North American English, the pavement in British English, and the footpath in Australian and New Zealand English. There are also not associated with a road, these include urban short cuts and also rural paths used mainly by ramblers, hikers. Footpaths in mountainous or forested areas may also be called trails, pedestrians share some footpaths with horses and bicycles, these paths may be known as bridleways. Other byways used by walkers are also accessible to vehicles, there are also many roads with no footpath. Some modern towns are designed with the network of sidewalks and cycle paths almost entirely separate from the road network, the term trail is also used by the authorities in some countries to mean any footpath that is not attached to a road or street
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Sierra Club
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The Sierra Club is an environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28,1892, in San Francisco, California, by the Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, in recent years, the club has gravitated toward green politics and especially toward bright green environmentalism. Recent focuses of the club include promoting green energy, mitigating global warming, in 2015 Sierra Club launched its activism platform AddUp. The Sierra Club does not set standards for or regulate alpinism, but it organizes wilderness courses, hikes, rock climbs, the Sierra Club is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors. Each year, five directors are elected to terms. A president is elected annually by the Board from among its members, the Executive Director runs the day-to-day operations of the group. Michael Brune, formerly of Rainforest Action Network, has served as the executive director since 2010. Pope stepped down amid discontent that the group had strayed from its core principles, Sierra Club members belong to statewide chapters and local groups. National and local special-interest sections, committees, and task forces address particular issues, the national Sierra Club sets the organizations policy agenda. As early as 1889, Johnson had encouraged Muir to form an association to protect the Sierra Nevada. Others involved in the planning included artist William Keith, Willis Linn Jepson, Willard Drake Johnson, Joseph LeConte. The Sierra Clubs charter members elected Muir president, an office he held until his death in 1914, Muir escorted President Theodore Roosevelt through Yosemite in 1903, and two years later the California legislature ceded Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to the federal government. The Sierra Club won its first lobbying victory with the creation of the second national park. In the first decade of the 1900s, the Sierra Club became embroiled in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir controversy that divided preservationists from resource management conservationists. In the late 19th century, the city of San Francisco was rapidly outgrowing its limited water supply, which depended on intermittent local springs and streams. Gifford Pinchot, a supporter of public utilities and head of the US Forest Service. Muir appealed to his friend U. S. President Roosevelt, Muir and attorney William Edward Colby began a national campaign against the dam, attracting the support of many eastern conservationists. With the 1912 election of U. S. President Woodrow Wilson, the bill to dam Hetch Hetchy passed Congress in 1913, and so the Sierra Club lost its first major battle
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Alfred Nobel
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Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a manufacturer of cannon. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous, after reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him and his name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established. Born in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was the son of Immanuel Nobel, an inventor and engineer. The couple married in 1827 and had eight children, the family was impoverished, and only Alfred and his three brothers survived past childhood. Alfred Nobels interest in technology was inherited from his father, an alumnus of Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, following various business failures, Nobels father moved to Saint Petersburg in 1837 and grew successful there as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented modern plywood and started work on the torpedo, in 1842, the family joined him in the city. For 18 months, from 1841 to 1842, Nobel went to the school he ever attended as a child. As a young man, Nobel studied with chemist Nikolai Zinin, then, in 1850, there he met Ascanio Sobrero, who had invented nitroglycerin three years before. Sobrero strongly opposed the use of nitroglycerin, as it was unpredictable, but Nobel became interested in finding a way to control and use nitroglycerin as a commercially usable explosive, as it had much more power than gunpowder. At age 18, he went to the United States for one year to study chemistry, working for a period under inventor John Ericsson. Nobel filed his first patent, an English patent for a gas meter, in 1857, while his first Swedish patent, the family factory produced armaments for the Crimean War, but had difficulty switching back to regular domestic production when the fighting ended and they filed for bankruptcy. In 1859, Nobels father left his factory in the care of the son, Ludvig Nobel. Nobel and his parents returned to Sweden from Russia and Nobel devoted himself to the study of explosives, Nobel invented a detonator in 1863, and in 1865 designed the blasting cap. On 3 September 1864, a used for preparation of nitroglycerin exploded at the factory in Heleneborg, Stockholm, killing five people. Dogged and unfazed by more minor accidents, Nobel went on to build further factories, Nobel invented dynamite in 1867, a substance easier and safer to handle than the more unstable nitroglycerin. Dynamite was patented in the US and the UK and was used extensively in mining, in 1875 Nobel invented gelignite, more stable and powerful than dynamite, and in 1887 patented ballistite, a predecessor of cordite
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Alvarado Park
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Alvarado Park is a subsection of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in Richmond, California and is a National Historic Place. It is located at the mouth of Wildcat Canyon is the Alvarado Park section, between 1909 and 1923, Alvarado Park was a private park that was owned and operated by local residents. In 1923, it was donated to the city of Richmond, later it was admitted into the East Bay Regional Park District. Then, in 1985, it was incorporated into Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, in its early years, Alvarado Park was served by its own streetcar line from the East Shore and Suburban Railway, a Key System precursor, which was later discontinued. The park district made certain improvements including a new play area, conversion of parking into meadows. It was also the home of the Grande Vista Sanitarium, later known as Belgum Sanitarium, though the associated buildings have since burned to the ground, their foundations and the surrounding grounds, including an orchard remain. The park also features distinctive and noted stone masonry, retaining walls, the lampposts are no longer lit. A stonework bridge spans Wildcat Creek in the main entrance. The park district is currently struggling to return the river to a natural state in hopes of restoring its fish population. The park also featured an open-air pavilion dance hall which was converted to a roller rink, National Register of Historic Places listings in Contra Costa County, California
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Anthony Chabot Regional Park
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Anthony Chabot Regional Park is a regional park in Oakland, California in the United States. It covers 5,067 acres in the San Leandro Hills adjacent to Oakland and it is part of the East Bay Regional Park District system. The terrain of the park is steep, consisting of grasslands, chaparral. The park is adjacent to Lake Chabot Regional Park, Redwood Regional Park, Dunsmuir Ridge Open Space, there are trails for hiking, horseback riding, and cycling that connect to other regional parks. Trailheads are located along Redwood Road and Skyline Boulevard in Oakland, the park houses two equestrian centers for private horse boarding and lessons, Chabot Equestrian Center and Skyline Ranch Equestrian Center. A marksmanship range was operated within the park by the non-profit Chabot Gun Club, the range closed in 2016, after operating 53 years, due to pollution problems caused by shell casings. Redwood Canyon Public Golf Course, a marina with rental boats, camping is a major activity in the park with a 75 campsite family campground and seven group camps. Anthony Chabot Family Campground is open year-round and features 53 drive-to tent campsites,10 walk-to tent campsites, some campsites offer views overlooking Lake Chabot. The parks seven group campsites are for groups ranging in size from 11 to 300 campers, Bort Meadow Group Camp, with a capacity of 300, also allows equestrian camping. Anthony Chabot Regional Park opened in 1952 as Grass Valley Regional Park, originally named for the dominant geographic feature of the part of the park. In 1965 the park was renamed in honor of Anthony Chabot, the lands that make up the park were originally ancestral land of the Jalquin, an Ohlone and Bay Miwok speaking tribe. The lands were divided by the Mexican land grants in the 1840s, the portion of the park to Rancho San Lorenzo. In the 1860s American settlers ranched the area including the 525-acre Grass Valley Ranch located in the area that is today Bort Meadow, cattle grazing continues in Grass Valley in modern times. Extensive coast redwood logging occurred in Anthony Chabot Regional Park and neighboring Redwood Regional Park from the late 1800s to early 1900s, while all the coast redwoods in Anthony Chabot Regional Park were logged, many regrowth trees are over 100 years old. Various water companies, predecessors to the East Bay Municipal Utility District, beginning around 1910, the water companies were responsible for planting the large eucalyptus plantations that are still a dominant feature in the park. Some water company land was leased to ranchers in the 1900s, including the family of Manuel Maciel, the Maciel family, ranched the land in the area that is now the Anthony Chabot Family Campground and marksmanship range. The main access road to these facilities is named Marciel Road in the familys honor, in the area of Big Bear Staging Area along Redwood Road was the Big Bear Tavern. While no traces remain, this was the site began the traditional jazz revival
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Briones Regional Park
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The park is located in rolling hills of the East Bay region, near Lafayette, Walnut Creek, and Pleasant Hill. The western end of Briones Regional Park is adjacent to the Briones Reservoir, the park is also home to many animals and birds, such as turkey vultures, black-tailed deer, cougars, coyotes, squirrels, and redtailed hawks. Cattle, sheep, and goat ranchers still use portions of the park for grazing purposes, Lafayette Ridge is within Briones Park, and runs parallel to the city of Lafayette. The Lafayette Ridge Trail is approximately 2 miles long and it begins at the parking lot of Springhill Elementary School and reaches the summit of Russel Peak at 1357 ft in elevation, where it divides into the Russel Peak Trail and Briones Crest Trail. Several other trails branch off of the Lafayette Ridge Trail, most notably the Springhill, the ridges trails offer terrain for mountain biking, with periodic gains/descents of up to 200 ft elevation. The area which includes present day Briones Park and the Russell Reservation were part of the 1842 Mexican land grant of Rancho Boca de la Canada del Pinole granted to the widow of Felipe Briones, the Briones began cattle ranching in the area, which continues to the present day. In 1870, the Briones family sold the rancho, by 1850, Happy Valley Road, which runs along the edge of Briones Regional Park, was the main thoroughfare from Martinez south to the Pueblo of San José, and then up to San Francisco. In 1909, the Peoples Water Company, the precursor to the East Bay Municipal Utility District purchased the land for watershed protection. Since 1966 the University of California has maintained a 283-acre parcel of land in the Briones Hills, known as the Russell Reservation, Briones Regional Park was established in October 1967 by the East Bay Regional Park District
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Coyote Hills Regional Park
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Coyote Hills Regional Park is a regional park encompassing nearly 978 acres of land and administered by the East Bay Regional Park District. The park, which was dedicated to use in 1967, is located in Fremont, California. In addition to the hills themselves, the park encloses an area of wetlands. There are a number of sites within the park, preserving evidence of habitation by Native Americans of the Ohlone group of tribes. Access to these sites is not allowed for visitors. There is a network of hiking trails in the park, most of them also available to equestrians. Most of the trails are wide fireroads that go around the hills and the marshes, there are few narrow trails which are off limits to bikers and equestrians. These trails connect to others in the east bay, and the San Francisco Bay Trail passes through the park, cross country meets for local schools are held occasionally in the park. The waters to the south and west of the park part of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Coyote Hills is home to the remnants of a large Project Nike missile base and it has intact facilities that are in disrepair and some still in place are used as radio transmission & microwave antenna stations. Guard stations are still visible throughout the park, a firing range and aquifer exist on the southernmost hills. The East Bay areas original inhabitants were the ancestors of the Ohlone Indians, at Coyote Hills Regional Park, some of this rich wetland is preserved, along with 2, 000-year-old Tuibun Ohlone Indian shellmound sites. Programs at the main shellmound site allow visitors to see a reconstructed tule house, shade shelter, pit house, large collection of photos and trail descriptions of Coyote Hills Coyote Hills official website Coyote Hills Trail Map
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Del Valle Regional Park
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Del Valle Regional Park is a park of the East Bay Regional Park District in unincorporated Alameda County, California, south of the city of Livermore. The park is 4,316 acres big, the park largely surrounds Lake Del Valle, an artificial reservoir made from the damming of Arroyo Valle, a small river. The lake provides a source of recreation for visitors including swimming, fishing, there are lifeguards present at designated swimming areas. The park also offers 28 miles of hiking, horseback, and bicycle trails, there are many prominent and locally famous cliffjumping locations around the lake including The Rock, The Swallow Bay Cliff, and The Pillars. All can be accessed through various trails surrounding the park, the park can be approached from Mines or Arroyo Road, where the parking meter is often broken. Del Valle Park at the EBRPD website
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Garin Regional Park
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Garin Regional Park is a regional park located in Hayward, California, that is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system. It shares a border with sister park Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park. The park is the site of the former Garin Ranch, sold by Andrew J. Garin to the district in 1966, Ukraina Honcharenko, the former homestead of Ukrainian political émigré Agapius Honcharenko and a California Historical Landmark, is located in the park. The park is situated behind the California State University, East Bay campus, summits in the park reach as high as 1,500 feet. Among the maintained trails, Garin Regional Park features several fenced off abandoned trails, the park is used by the Hayward Area Athletic League as a high-school cross-country course. It is considered the course of Moreau Catholic High School. Due to the nature of the course race times are generally slower on this course than comparable distances elsewhere. The 2 and 3 mile trails that are used climb the hills at the front of the park, the entire San Francisco Bay can be viewed from the hills. The park contains a small apple orchard with heirloom varieties. The park hosts the Garin Apple Festival in late Summer, with apples available for tasting, Ukraina was the former home, and final resting place of Agapius Honcharenko and his wife, Albina. The site, located within Garin Regional Park and dedicated on May 15,1999, is listed on the California Historical Landmarks list, Honcharenko lived on the property, totaling 40 acres, for 43 years during the 19th and 20th century. In 1902, the property emerged as a commune when a group of Ukrainian Canadians moved to the area, the commune eventually dissolved due to management disagreements. Honcharenko went on to live on, work on, and own the property until his death in 1916, the property was then owned, until 1991, by the Meillke family. In 1991, the East Bay Regional Park District acquired the property and it took approximately 30 years for the property to be dedicated a historical landmark. This was primarily due to disagreements between the Russian American and Ukrainian American communities as to whom Honcharenko belonged to, eventually it was settled in the Ukrainian favor and the place was named Ukraina, by the Ukrainian American Honcharenko Committee. Today, the property consists of the gravesite of the Honcharenkos, the foundation of a coop. The grotto consists of a cave, six feet by three feet, that was cut out of a sandstone cliff. Wall paintings exist in the grotto, Honcharenkos house stood on site until the 1950s, when it was demolished by the Meillke family due to vandalism
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Lake Chabot Regional Park
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Lake Chabot Regional Park is a regional park located in the southern Berkeley Hills in Alameda County, California. It is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system, Lake Chabot is a reservoir located in the park. The dam and reservoirs water are part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District water system, official Lake Chabot Regional Park website EBMUD official website
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Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
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Middle Harbor Shoreline Park is located on San Francisco Bay and the Port of Oakland entrance channel, west of downtown Oakland, California It is operated by the East Bay Regional Parks District. The park is primarily on land that was the site of the Oakland Naval Supply Depot. The Naval Supply Depot closed in 1998 and the property was transferred to the Port of Oakland, the interlocking tower from the railroads pier has been moved and partially restored as a small commemorative museum. The land was redeveloped for the park from 2002 to 2004, redevelopment of the land included restoration of beaches and creation of a lagoon. The mast of the USS Oakland is displayed at the entrance of the park, East Bay Regional Parks District, official Middle Harbor Shoreline Park website Map, 37°48′21″N 122°19′27″W
