When we, the people of California, voted to approve bonds for
the purchase of land for state parks, were we voting to preserve
our vanishing wildlands, or were we choosing to buy corridors for
high speed transit systems?
When we, the people of California, voted to approve bonds for the purchase of land for state parks, were we voting to preserve our vanishing wildlands, or were we choosing to buy corridors for high speed transit systems? Stupid question? Yes, it is. But it is just such a senseless thing that is possible, maybe even probable, in the Orestimba Wilderness of Henry Coe State Park.
Within the 87,000 acres that comprise Coe Park is Orestimba Wilderness Area, a 23,300-acre pristine wilderness. It was set aside in 1985 under the California Wilderness Act that was created for the “preservation and protection of lands in their natural condition.”
Enter the California High Speed Rail Project. This project will connect northern and southern California with a 220 mph train. Two of the four proposed routes that connect the Central Valley with the Bay Area run directly though Coe Park’s Orestimba Wilderness. This project is not some pie-in-the-sky proposal. It will be built. Where it will be built is the only question.
There are those who will say that few people see this beautiful and remote place, and a 220-mph train every 10 minutes will expose its beauty to thousands. These are the lost and soulless ones who see nature only as a postcard. hey believe that beautiful scenery should be made accessible to all, no matter what is lost. Not everyone can walk to the top of Half Dome, they might say, so let’s put in a tram to the top and build a snack bar and a gift shop.
Estimates are that by 2030, 65 percent more land in the Bay Area will be developed to accommodate the millions more that will be here then. We need open space and wild land to recharge the soul. Where will we go when it is all gone? Where will we find sanctuary?
One of the proposed routes is largely under ground. That’s all right, isn’t it? No. Roads for maintenance vehicles would need to be built along the tunnel’s route to reach access points. Overpasses, fences and roads would severely scar the Orestimba Wilderness even if the underground route were chosen.
The Orestimba Wilderness represents 25 percent of entire wilderness set aside by the state of California. I have said before that, after visiting Nepal, Tibet, the Sierra Nevada and the Rockies, I have never been anywhere wilder than the Orestimba Wilderness and it is a mere 20-minute flight for a red-tailed hawk from downtown San Jose. We are so lucky to have it.
It is futile to try and change the minds of those who think the benefit of the train outweighs the loss of pristine country. We who know better must preserve and protect the few truly wild places we still have as the California Wilderness Act provides. If preservation and protection mean, “until something ‘better’ comes along,” then wilderness designation is an empty purposeless gesture. Preservation and protection must be forever.
Don’t let the bureaucrats take it away. There are other ways to get to the Central Valley from the Bay Area.
Please, get mad. It’s only a democracy if we holler at them. Start by visiting www.coeadvocates.org and view the slide show and witness what is at stake. You’ll see views of the Orestimba Wilderness and the planned train routes through it. There is a link on the slide show’s introductory page that gives you addresses to write the governor and the California High-Speed Rail Authority. That page links to a source that will give you the name and address of your state senator and state assemblyman.
Your voice is critical. Please take the time and make the effort to write Sacramento and thwart this ill-conceived plan.
Ron Erskine has lived and worked as a builder and brewery owner in South Valley for 20 years. He lives in Morgan Hill with his wife and two children.
