Bay Trail blockaded Bay Trail blockaded (July 18, 2003)

Paths won't be linked in near future

By Michael Miller

The Bay Trail, a massive project that aims to link 400 miles of hiking and biking paths around the perimeter of San Francisco Bay, runs right through Mountain View, although not many residents realize it.

Both the Stevens Creek and Shoreline trails are part of this system, but a major section of the Bay Trail in Mountain View -- the one that would connect Moffett Field to Sunnyvale -- is missing. And it does not look like the trail will be complete any time soon.

Though sections of the Bay Trail run through Shoreline Park and Sunnyvale, issues involving munitions storage, a military runway, and post-9/11 security concerns have derailed efforts to connect the pathway through Moffett.

A year ago, NASA and the group in charge of the Bay Trail signed an agreement that a stretch of the trail -- which will link more than a hundred parks in the Bay Area -- could run through NASA property. But implementing that agreement has proven difficult.

At the same time, a second option for the trail -- running it along the levees of the former Cargill salt ponds -- presented itself last year when the federal government purchased the land from Cargill.

But the levees have been fenced off since 1999 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to keep it that way for at least five years, until a plan to restore the ponds is in place.

Since the agreement with NASA, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the group in charge of the Bay Trail, has met repeatedly with NASA officials to find a thoroughfare for the trail along the edge of the NASA-owned former Navy base. The agencies have agreed on many issues, but the runway, which is still used by the Air National Guard, is the ultimate sticking point.

ABAG wants NASA to move the runway's fence in by ten feet to accommodate the trail, but NASA says federal regulations require the fence block off a certain amount of space at the end of the runway.

NASA instead wants ABAG to build a boardwalk in the wetlands around the runway. But for a group with limited resources and an environmentally friendly image -- advocates argue that the trail will promote good environmental stewardship by raising awareness of the Bay -- this is not a preferred option.

"It's actually a way for the Bay to save itself," said Jim Stallman, president of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. "It's a way for area residents to realize the Bay is out there. ... Otherwise it can get trashed."

A 10-year history

Moffett has been an obstacle to the Bay Trail since its initial plan was proposed in 1991. The first map shows numerous hazards, from "magnetic fields" to "toxic waste pistol range." But initial planners still figured it was easier to negotiate with the federal government rather than try to run a trail by the privately owned salt ponds bordering the Bay.

Some of the obstacles disappeared when the Navy abandoned Moffett in the mid-1990s, but a few remained. An active munitions bunker sits between the Bay and the Moffett golf course, right next to where the trail would be placed. Used by the Air National Guard, the bunker was considered too dangerous to sit next to publicly accessible land. But activists point out that even now the bunker is not exactly secluded, sitting next to a golf course. Within the last year, the Air Guard conceded and said it was willing to move the weapons, probably off the base, if the trail was built.

At the same time, though, new Sept. 11 security measures went into effect which cut down on a number of trail options. The trail could no longer run through any part of NASA property, as many earlier plans had suggested, because all the property had to be within one fenced perimeter.

Both sides say they are still working together, and want the trail built.

"The expectation from our side was that if it could be done, we'd support it," said Laura Lewis, who works in the NASA development office.

But even if both sides can agree on a path, ABAG would have to fund a feasibility study that would cover security and environmental issues, which they do not plan on pursuing soon.

"Bay Trail basically told us they had other more feasible or easier projects," said Lewis.

Another option

NASA's property does not directly border the Bay, and while history may keep the Bay Trail near Moffett, local activists say the salt pond levees may be the way to go.

Bicycling enthusiast Denis Newman said Cargill's levies were publicly accessible until fences went up in 1999. Before then, bicyclists used the levees as a path around Moffett.

"This turned into an issue when Cargill closed all those areas," he said.

Still, opening up the areas is not as easy as opening the fence, officials at the Coastal Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service say.

Cargill is currently phasing out salt production. Then Fish and Wildlife will take over and implement a Conservancy plan to restore most of the ponds to natural wetlands. In the process, some of the area may be closed off to human access, but much will be open.

"Hopefully we'll be able to secure many objectives," said Amy Hutzel at the Conservancy, pointing out that within 15,000 acres there is room for both habitat restoration and public access.

None of that process will begin before spring 2008. Until then, enthusiasts will have to settle for docent-led tours of the salt ponds.

Laura Thompson, a Bay Trail spokesperson, held out hope that both approaches to the Bay Trail could work, maybe even with two alignments. But neither plan, everyone agreed, will happen soon.

E-mail Michael Miller at intern@mv-voice.com