Anthony Chabot Regional Park is the wrong place for a gun range

The sound of gunfire from gun range located in the heart of Anthony Chabot Regional Park, a wilderness park in the Oakland hills, is destructive to the park experience for this park’s many users and neighbors. The East Bay Regional Park District’s contract with the Chabot Gun Club expires in 2014. We urge the elected Board of Directors of the East Bay Regional Park District not to renew this contract for the following reasons: 1. The noise from the gun range destroys the peace and serenity that park users seek in coming to a wilderness park. Gunfire is audible in at least half of this 5,000 acre park, on its numerous hiking and equestrian trails, the adjacent family campground, and to the boaters and fishing enthusiasts at Lake Chabot. 2. The sound of gunfire is audible in many neighborhoods in the Oakland and Castro Valley hills. 3. In 2012 and 2013 two bald eagles built a nest and successfully fledged young eaglets. Their nest is just over a mile from the gun range. Contamination from the lead bullets is a threat to these eagles and to other wildlife in the park. 4. The gun range is in an area that drains directly into Lake Chabot, which is an emergency drinking water supply for the East Bay. At the behest of the East Bay Municipal Utility District, the Park District has been collecting data for some time on how much of the lead from the bullets used at the gun range reaches the lake. 5. Anthony Chabot Regional Park is a particularly vital part of Oakland because it is the primary access to the Oakland hills wilderness area for the citizens of underserved neighborhoods in nearby Oakland troubled all too often by the sound of gunfire in their daily lives. By choosing to put the only gun range in its entire system in Anthony Chabot Park the East Bay Regional Park District is being insensitive to the rights and needs of the members of these communities.