And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: provided by Martha ET..thanks..:) This name sounds very familiar..is this the site that had a 30,000 year old fire pit mentioned sometime ago? A New Age Approaches for Vasco Caves East Bay agencies work to open mystical site to public tours Paul McHugh, Chronicle Outdoors Writer Thursday, May 6, 1999 �1999 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/0 5/06/SP46139.DTL It's easy to acquire a sense of lift at Vasco Caves. Here, hulking knobs of sandstone on hills north of Livermore are often blasted by gales. Wind has sculpted the rock into flowing, artistic shapes. Coastal and Central Valley native Americans once met regularly for councils and trading sessions near this distinctive site. They left their own art in rock paintings called ``pictoglyphs.'' Most depict eagles, condors or other raptors, soaring on potent updrafts. For decades, these eerie outcrops and the secrets they hold have been fenced off from the public. Even after they were acquired -- in an uneasy partnership between the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) and the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) -- wrangles over management of this sensitive area kept the gates firmly locked. Now, the ban seems about to end. ``We've always had strong interest in Vasco,'' said Ted Radke, a Contra Costa County Community College political science teacher who has served on the EBPRD board for two decades. ``When the Altamont Pass windmill farms were going in 15 years ago, we intervened to keep 106 towers from being erected right at the caves. ``Then, when we heard the water district was purchasing nearby land as part of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir project, we asked them to buy this historic area with us, and bring it into public ownership.'' Radke says a draft plan for public access should be ready for review by mid-to-late summer. Bette Boatmun of the CCWD (as senior board member, she is Radke's counterpart in the water district) regards this time line as optimistic, yet possible. ``Whatever form it takes, access will always be limited,'' Boatmun said. ``We're not just going to swing open gates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and let hordes troop through.'' Radke says the park district envisions a schedule of naturalist-guided tours to the site. >From a distance, the Vasco Caves crest, and a sister hill to the south, Brushy Peak (also being set up as a preserve), present a verdant look. Aged valley oaks and buckeyes dot grassy slopes. At close range, the ecological value remains striking. Rare native plants fill the vales between outcrops painted by colored lichen. Vernal pools and tenajas (natural water tanks) atop the rocks provide homes for fairy shrimp and red-legged frogs. The antelope, tule elk, grizzlies and condors once common here are gone now, but red-tailed hawks, barn owls and cliff swallows still perch in wind-carved alcoves. Park personnel are ecstatic about the area's two golden eagle nests, as well as news that a pair of bobcats have just taken up residence. Airborne raptor numbers aren't what they should be, due to the swarm of windmill turbines on adjacent ridges. The 5,400 fans of the Altamont Pass Wind Farm generate enough clean power to serve a million Bay Area residents. But they also chop the air with blades moving at 100 mph. These are blamed for clubbing 165 golden eagles and 447 red-tailed hawks from the sky in the past seven years. A plan is afoot to replace 1,270 of the most critical units with 187 larger types that have slower-moving blades. The high-tech turbines, whining nearby, offer surreal counterpoint to the aura of ancient history at Vasco Caves. Archaeologists from Sonoma State University say the caves have been used for upwards of 8,000 years -- about as long as human beings have been in California. ``The caves are where three different linguistic groups converged,'' said Bev Ortiz, an ethnographer who assisted the Sonoma State study. ``These were Central Valley Yokuts, Miwok from the Delta, and the Ohlone who lived around Mount Diablo. ``The tribes would likely gather for what Europeans called a `Big Time,' with trading, religious observances, dances and gambling -- to redistribute wealth. My sense is most of the popular doings were in a nearby spot like Round Valley. But the cave area was probably regarded as sacred, and saved for visits by `doctors' or spiritual leaders, for special prayers, fasts and rituals.'' One way we mark a spot as special today is by setting it aside as a park or preserve. The park district acquired the cave site to preserve its environmental and cultural values, as well as its recreation potential. The water district's motivation was rooted in a legal obligation to mitigate for lands inundated by its new Los Vaqueros Reservoir, a 1,400- acre lake built to help store water for the CCWD's 400,000 customers. They agreed on the purchase, but public access to the Vasco Caves has been held up by a variety of problems: -- One dispute concerned recreation options at nearby Los Vaqueros. CCWD wished to restrict trails to 55 miles and limit boating; EBRPD fought for additional opportunities it said had been promised. -- Another conflict stalled the final split of the Caves' $3.2 million dollar cost. The matter had to be resolved by arbitration. -- A still-simmering discussion reveals a gap separating the goals of each agency. In order to guarantee water quality, CCWD wants to stop public swimming at Contra Loma Reservoir, an 80-acre lake near Antioch that's the jewel of a 776-acre EBRPD park. The park district counters that this reservoir was built as a dual-purpose lake, and has a 30-year tradition of swimming. (Contra Loma sees 100,000 recreation users during months when the East Bay heats up.) The water district's proposed solution is to build a lagoon there, and confine swimming to it. The Vasco Caves calmly float high above this wrangling, still looking much as they did when tribal peoples gathered to celebrate what they had in common. Asked if it would be feasible to hold meetings with water district personnel up here, and try to improve communications, Ted Radke of the EBRPD said it might. ``It would be a nice location to use to re-adjust our perspective,'' he said. ``We should do it in spring, when things are in bloom, and there's a sense of harmony and renewal.'' Bette Boatmun from the CCWD agreed. ``We could revive the tradition of the past to improve the future,'' she said. ``You know, our missions are different. But our overall purpose has to be to serve the public. We should remember that's the ultimate goal.'' �1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page D10 Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
