 | | | Photo provided | | | | | | Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who represents Lamorinda in the California Assembly and resides in Orinda, was recognized by the East Bay Regional Park District and the Regional Parks Foundation on March 3, and granted the 2022 Radke Championing Advocacy Award at a ceremony at Inspiration Point in Tilden Regional Park.
Bauer-Kahan was acknowledged as having been instrumental in securing $4 million in the 2019-20 state budget for the restoration at McCosker Creek in Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in Orinda and an additional $3.5 million in the 2021-22 state budget for wildfire protection equipment. The $3.5 million secured for wildfire protection equipment helped the Park District replace its aging helicopter, which is relied upon to drop water on fires burning in inaccessible terrain.
Park District General Manager Sabrina Landreth said that "funding up-to-date firefighting equipment is vital to stopping wildfires quickly, limiting the destruction of property, and, most of all, protecting lives."
Bauer-Kahan serves as the chair of the Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife. She has championed environmental legislation and investments during her time in office.
The Radke Championing Advocacy award is named for late Park District Board Member Ted Radke, who advanced state and federal support for park funding and strengthened the Park District's ties in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Radke served 36 years on the Park District Board of Directors and was the longest-serving board member in its 88-year history.
The East Bay Regional Park District is the largest regional park system in the nation, comprising 73 parks, 55 miles of shoreline, and over 1,300 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and environmental education. The Park District receives more than 25 million visits annually throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA