East Bay Regional Park District’s annual Community Survey is open until May 31. Please take 10 minutes to make your voice heard. These surveys guide park district policies and programs throughout the year. Dogs are generally allowed on-leash on paved trails and off-leash on unpaved trails. We’d like to see more of both. While the EBRPD has grown and the population has grown, trail building has lagged. Unfortunately, when the park district tries to build a new trail, some group often blocks it. Please check “Other” and write in that you’d like more UNPAVED trails. (Check the box for more paved trails, too). Where it asks which groups the park district should work closely with, please add “dog walking advocates.” We want to be represented at important discussions.

EBRPD Community Survey link.

A plaque nestled on a monument at the bridge across Hoffman Channel tells the intriguing story of how the Santa Fe Railroad built a rail spur in 1968 and then abandoned it before ever being used. That eventually became the Bay Trail, and today we walk along this magnificent section near Point Isabel following the same route and using the same timber trestle bridges that extend to Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline (4.7 miles). Milestones of land use at Point Isabel, beginning in 1861 until the trail was purchased by the EBRPD in 1992, are illustrated on the plaque. It also honors three trailblazing women, Kay Kerr, Sylvia McLaughlin and Ester Gulick, who, in 1961, organized the Save the San Francisco Bay Association that led to the agency that now regulates land uses in Bay Area wetlands.

A copy of the plaque can been viewed here.

New PIDO-branded apparel, including shades of purple and yellow, has arrived just in time for spring. And you’re now able to order merchandise with PIDO’s new logo. Our broad catalog has something for the entire family: youth tees & hoodies, ladies' tees, unisex cotton tees, baseball shirts, fleece vests, masks, beanies, caps, pullover hoodies, long sleeve hoodies, and crewneck sweatshirts, in many sizes and colors. PIDO's e-store is collaborating with DGH Outfitters of Berkeley. DGH uses a hand-printing process; each item is made individually, as orders come in. Every purchase helps support PIDO's work to keep Point Isabel clean, safe, and open for off-leash recreational dog walking. Check out our Merch page.