A Ramble Around Pacheco Marsh

Pacheco Marsh Grand Opening, Photo credit: Ana Homonnay

Stepping onto the spanking new Pacheco Marsh trail near Martinez for the first time on May 1, I was struck by the contrast between nature and human industry all around.  What might normally seem ugly to look at — the Marathon Oil refinery, a Contra Costa sewage plant, freeways, bridges, cargo ships — didn’t exactly look pretty but did look interesting, set off as they all were by the verdant marshes and golden flowers at my feet.

The occasion was a ribbon cutting for the new Pacheco Marsh park shepherded into being over many years by the local John Muir Land Trust, which one person I interviewed that day called a “lean, mean, conservation machine.” We were to walk or ride a golf cart to the site of the ceremony, sample a breakfast buffet of muffins and chicken salad on rolls, hear speeches from supervisors and partners and NGOs and donors, watch as officials wielded oversized, photo-worthy scissors to cut the green tape, and then be set free to explore the beautiful new trail through the marsh.  Continued >>