Dear Friends of Tesla Park:

State Parks has released an online “visioning survey” survey for the Tesla Classification process. 

We request your help to complete the visioning survey and ask your membership and contact circle to complete the survey by the end of October as the first important step in this process.

We know we will need a strong response to this survey and throughout this classification process to have Tesla classified as a Reserve. We have provided suggested survey responses that will help support classification of Tesla as a Reserve.

A State Reserve Classification Protects Resources and Allows Access.

Our goal is to have Tesla classified as a State Reserve under PRC 5019.65. Reserve classification will provide a higher level of protection for Tesla’s sensitive plants, wildlife, habitats, scenic qualities, geological features and cultural resources that have statewide significance.

Public access is allowed for day use within reserves with the focus on preservation, enjoyment and education. Development of facilities, resource manipulation and more active or intrusive activities are not generally allowed.

A Tesla Reserve can include hiking, wildlife viewing, birdwatching, nature appreciation, self-guided interpretive trails, guided tours, trail signs and educational exhibits and picnicking. Reserves can support education and research for k-12 schools, college students and scientists. A Tesla Reserve can also serve the Native American community for traditional and ceremonial purposes. It would be the only State Park Reserve in the region.

Given the terrain, landscape and intact ecosystem in Tesla, mountain biking and e-bikes, multi-use trails, drones, rock collection, geocaching, hunting, and camping, which State Parks has presented as options in the survey, would disrupt and degrade the sensitive resources that cover the entire Tesla site.

These activities are available in other parks in the region. And, importantly, State Parks has other adjacent property that is already impacted, including Carnegie SVRA, where these more impactful active recreation activities can be located, thereby protecting Tesla as a Reserve.

You can learn more about our vision for Tesla at http://www.teslapark.org

To begin the classification process, State Parks is asking members of the public to complete an online survey about how the Alameda-Tesla property, or Tesla Park, should be managed. The survey is divided into three parts and contains a total of 11 questions. It doesn’t take long to complete.

As you fill out the survey, the survey responses that are most likely to lead State Parks to conclude that you want the land designated as a State Reserve are:

Prioritize:

• protecting wildlife, plants, natural resources and ecological.
• processes,
• providing trails for hiking,
• protecting Native American and historical cultural landscapes,
• encouraging education and research;

AND do not allow:

• mountain and e-biking, multi-use trails, camping, drones, geocaching, rock collecting and hunting
  
  

Thank you very much for your help to complete the visioning survey for the Tesla Classification as a Reserve.