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News and Updates

Here we present timely articles from mass media, and other items of currency and relevance to Knowland Park and our mission to protect the open space in it. We are interested in items from all sources, and if you know of one that you think belongs here, email us through this link, and we'll try to include it.

We urge you to learn more about the efforts of The Friends of Knowland Park, keep abreast of developments, and take action!

May 5, 2011: BayNature online article: The Subtleties of Knowland Park - Zoo Expansion Spotlights Little-known Park
	When Jim Hanson looks at Knowland Park, he sees some of the Oakland that came before downtown, before the port, before freeways, before houses climbing the hills. "This is the natural soul of Oakland," says Hanson, a landscape architect and member of the board of the California Native Grasslands Association (CNGA). Click here to read the Article...

May 4, 2011: East Bay Express online article: Neighbors and Environmentalists to Appeal Zoo Approval

Last week, after a prolonged and often heated discussion about the future of the Oakland Zoo and the details of its expansion into upper Knowland Park, the City Planning Commission gave the zoo's amended plan the rubber stamp. But critics of the plan, who say that the full environmental impacts of the 56-acre expansion have not been properly studied, aren't ready to give up yet.

Click here to read the Article...

Apr. 27, 2011: Oakland Planning Commission voted Apr. 27 in favor of expansion; appeal filed; hearing before City Council scheduled for 6:30, June 21
	The Friends of Knowland Park, as part of the Knowland Park Coalition, filed an appeal of the Planning Commission's approval of the Zoo's amended master plan and allowing no EIR to be filed. A hearing on the appeal before the City Council is scheduled for June 21, at 6:30 PM. Click here to see the agenda... Click here to see the Clerk's summary and attachments...

Apr. 21, 2011: KQED Radio's Forum, Hosted by Michael Krasny, Discusses the Knowland Park - Oakland Zoo Controversy

On April 21, San Francisco Public Radion station KQED presented a discussion on their nationally recognized Forum program of the Knowland Park - Oakland Zoo controversy. Host Michael Krasny interviewed FOKP Co-chair, Prof. Ruth Malone, and Oakland Zoo Director, Dr. Joel Parrott, as well as others, and took listener comments in email and on their website on the air. This one hour program delved deep into the issues and opinions on both sides, and is well worth listening to.

Click here to listen to the Program...

Apr. 20, 2011: San Francisco Chronicle Article: Oakland CA Zoo Plan - Environmentalists See Irony
	On April 20, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article by Matthi Juruvila, describing Knowland Park, the Oakland Zoo's expansion plans, and the response to them by environmental groups in the region. Click here to read the Article...

Apr. 15, 2011: City Releases Responses to Citizen Comments
	On April 15, the Planning Department released a Staff Report addendum to the agenda for the April 20 Planning Commission meeting that contained official responses to the Citizen Comments submitted in March on the SMND/A. The April 20 meeting was moved to April 27, where the Planning Commission will release their comments and vote on the matter. Click here to read the Staff Report...

Apr. 13, 2011: East Bay Express Article: The Cruel Irony of the Oakland Zoo Expansion
	On April 13, the East Bay Express published an article by Nate Seltenrich describing Knowland Park, the Zoo's expansion plans, and the irony seen in them by the citizens and supporters of the Park. Click here to read the Article...

Mar. 16, 2011: City Releases Staff Report on SMND/A
	On March 16, the Planning Department released a Staff Report addendum to the agenda for the March 20 Planning Commission meeting that contained official commentary on the SMND/A document, along with recommendations for Planning Commision approval. Click here to read the Staff Report...

Mar. 14, 2011: Callifornia Native Plant Society Comments on SMND/A
	The California Native Plant Society, provided strongly supported comments on the Zoo's expansion plans by sending a letter with attachments to the City Planning Dept. during the open comment period for the SMND/A. Click here to read the Native Plant Society's Remarks...

Mar. 14, 2011: Sierra Club Comments on SMND/A
	The Sierra Club, Northern Alameda County Group, took a stand on the Zoo's expansion plans, by sending a letter to the City Planning Dept. during the open comment period for the SMND/A. Click here to read the Sierra Club's Remarks...

Mar. 14, 2011: FOKP Legal Advisors Comment on Zoo's SMND/A
	On Monday, March 14, the legal firm retained by the Friends of Knowland Park, Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger, a well known environmental practice based in the Bay Area, submitted a letter with brief legal opinions on the City's SMND/A document. Click here to read the law firm's comment letter...

Mar. 14, 2011: Friends of Knowland Park publishes citizen comments on Zoo's SMND/A

On Monday, March 14, the Friends of Knowland Park provided to the City a compilation of comments from concerned citizens and local, state, and national organizations. The SMND/A was nearly 1300 pages long, and many people studied it and compared it to other, past documents, as well as city and state laws, to produce 60 pages of comments. Photographic documentation was included questioning dump sites the brought into question the Zoo's stewardship of the Park.

Click here to read the comment document...

Feb. 11, 2011: Oakland Planning Releases Zoo Expansion Plan Justification
	On Friday, Feb. 11, the City released the long-awaited report on the proposed Zoo expansion project, the Subsequent Mitigated Negative Declaration/Addendum to the Zoo Master Plan. By releasing this document, the City essentially claims that the project will NO appreciable impact on the environment. Click here to read the SMND/A... Click here to read the Appendices...

Nov. 27, 2010: Sierra Club Advises Planning about Environmental Study
	In a November 27 Letter to the Oakland Planning Commission, Kent Lewandowski, Chair of the Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Group, expresses the Club's belief that the scope of changes in the Zoo's proposed expansion, along with the length of time since the expansion was first proposed, necessitates a full Environmental Impact Review. Click here to read the Sierra Club's letter...

Sept. 2010: Sierra Club's Northern California Publication Warns about Zoo's Proposed Expansion
	In the September-October issue of the Yodeler, the newsletter of the Northern California Chapter of the Sierra Club, members are urged to take action regarding the Zoo's expansion plans. Click here to read the Sierra Club's article...

May 16, 2010: Sierra Club Raises Serious Concerns About Zoo Expansion

In a May 16 Letter to the Oakland Planning Commission and City Councilmembers, Kent Lewandowski, Chair of the Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Group, expresses the Club's concerns about the Zoo's plans to expand onto the western Knowland Park Highlands, build an aerial gondola ride, and fence off acreage while claiming to provide access to open space.

The NAC Group calls for an entirely new and complete environmental review of the entire project, and further recommends that the Zoo, to be a "responsible environmental institution," should commit itself to further enhancing its facilities and programs within its current boundaries. These are arguments the Friends of Knowland Park have repeatedy expressed, and which the Zoo has repeatedly ignored.

Click here to read the Sierra Club's letter...

Op-Ed Piece and Letters to the Editor, San Francisco Chronicle, April 14, 2010

An Opinion-edititorial piece by Ruth Malone, of Friends of Knowland Park, appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, April 14.

Letters to the editor from other supporters of Knowland Park Oakland Tribune appeared in the April 19 edition.

Click here to read more...

April 21, 2010 Oakland City Planning Commission Meeting Announcement

Oakland Planning Commission Meeting Announcement -
A Public Briefing and Comment Session
6:00 PM, Hearing Room 1, City Hall, One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

Persons wishing to address the commission on any item on the agenda, should fill out a speaker card and give it to the secretay.

Speakers are generally limited to two minutes at the discretion of the chair. Applicants and appellants are generally limited to five minutes.

Click here to read more...

April 1, 2010 Zoo Document Filing

On April 1, 2010, the Zoo submitted new plans in support of its application for the major conditional use permit. The application for the major conditional use permit was originally submitted in April 2009.

Click here to read more...

Report on the March 25, 2010 Zoo Public Meeting

There was a full house at the Zoo's meeting, and the vast majority of community members spoke out strongly against the Zoo's "California!" theme park exhibit, raising questions about loss of existing wildlife habitat, traffic, noise, visual blight, and most particularly about the loss of access to the heart of our parkland open space. Thanks to all who turned out and spoke out!

Click here to read more...

Sierra Club Commentary - Tear Down the Fences - January 17, 2010

John Muir had it easy. His America had enormous swaths of unfragmented wildlands. If protected from grazing, logging, and mining, Muir's beloved forests and their creatures were pretty much guaranteed to flourish. All he had to do was persuade Teddy Roosevelt to create some national parks.

Now, as the stable climate that sustains both our civilization and our wild heritage begins to unravel, things are much tougher. Yellowstone's grizzlies, for example, feast on whitebark pine nuts. When the nuts...

Click here to read more...

Oakland Man Single-Handedly Cleans Parkland of Hundreds of Pounds of Litter
Inside Bay Area, Dec. 28, 2009

OAKLAND - John LaFleche shows off an enormous mound of discarded junk, about the size of a school bus, as someone else might flaunt a new living room set.

"There are tires from the Eisenhower administration here - whitewalls," he said.

"Here's an old Texaco gas can."

Click here to read more...

Friends of Knowland Park Meet with Zoo Management - October 19, 2009

Friends of Knowland Park (FOKP) representatives met with Zoo management and city planning staff at a 3-hour city hall meeting facilitated by City Councilmember Larry Reid. Reid offered to arrange meetings between the community and the Zoo after FOKP met with Reid to express its concerns that the Zoo was treating the community dismissively, changes to the project were not in conformity with previous plans and with Oakland open space planning guidelines, and community opposition was growing.

Click here to read more...

Two-Alarm Grass Fire in Oakland Hills Contained - October 6, 2009

By Harry Harris - Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND - Firefighters have contained a two-alarm grass fire that broke out in the Oakland hills just before noon today, fire officials said.
Fire crews from Oakland, East Bay Regional Park District and Cal Fire quickly pounced on the flames which crackled through about an acre of dry grass near Golf Links Road and Elysian Fields Drive, not far from Knowland Park.
The fire was contained about 12:45 p.m., and...

Click here to read More...

New Veterinary Hospital Being Planned - March 18, 2009

The Oakland Tribune (March 18, 2009) suggests the relocated 17,000 square foot, $11.4 million vet building will be under construction in the next year. Recent Zoological accreditation was based on its completion soon and will be a priority of the Zoo. Dr. Parrott is quoted as saying complete design plans for the veterinary hospital should be filed with the city in late March, then becoming public record. The new veterinary building is said to be planned for the bottom of the small canyon just...

Click here to read More...

"Walk the Talk" Tour Planned - March 8, 2008

This Sunday, Friends of Knowland Park will host a tour of Knowland Park to give concerned citizens a sense of the scope and context of the proposed Zoo expansion. We will be providing the information we have gleaned for the Zoo, their plans as presented to us, as well as various documents surrounding the history of the Zoo, Knowland Park, and the proposed expansion.

We recommend that attendees wear adequate shoes for walking in tall grass, dirt trails, and moist wetland fringe areas.

Click here to read More...

Oakland Zoo's Plans Ruffle Feathers - March 8, 2008

Oakland Tribune - By Momo Chang, STAFF WRITER

Oakland -- The Oakland Zoo is planning its first major expansion in nearly 50 years, hoping to push into 45 acres of Knowland Park, boost its annual visitors by 100,000 and add new animal exhibits, a veterinary hospital and a gondola ride.

The new exhibits are part of "California!," which will showcase the state's native plants and animals such as the grizzly bear, mountain lion, jaguar, wolf, eagle and California condor. But some zoo neighbors aren't...

Click here to read more...

Oakland Zoo's Renovation Grows, Draws Opposition - March 7, 2008

East Bay Business Times - by Mavis Scanlon

The last big component of the Oakland Zoo's plan to expand into a major East Bay attraction has grown more elaborate - and more costly - than envisioned in a master plan completed more than a decade ago, and has as a result generated new opposition. The zoo is embarking on the final, $42 million element of its expansion, which will transform an undeveloped piece of the city's Knowland Park into a California animal exhibit and support facilities for the...

Click here to read more...

Sierra Club Letter to the City Council - March 6, 2008

Proposed Oakland Zoo Development in Knowland Open Space

Dear Oakland City Council Members and Mayor Dellums,

The Sierra Club recently heard presentations by Oakland Zoo Director Dr. Joel Parrott and by neighbors living next to Knowland Open Space regarding plans by the Zoo to build a new exhibit featuring native animals called "California in Constant Change" on land previously zoned as open space in Knowland Park. (Note: since 1998, a special use permit for the Zoo has been in force).

Click here to read more...

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