Regional Oral History Off ice University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California California Land-Use Planning Series SAVE SAN FRANCISCO BAY ASSOCIATION, 1961-1986 with an Introduction by Harold Gilliam and an Afterword by Me1 Scott Interviews with Barry Bunshoft Esther Gulick Catherine Kerr Sylvia McLaughlin Interviews conducted by Malca Chall 1985 and 1986 Copyright @ 1987 by The Regents of the University of California This manuscript is made available for research purposes. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the Univer- sity of California at Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: To cite the volume: Save San Francisco Bay Association, 1961-1986, an oral history conducted in 1985 and 1986 by Malca Chall, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft ~ibrar~, University bf calif ornia, Berkeley, 1987. To cite individual interview: Barry Bunshoft, "Save San Francisco Bay Association and the Courts," an oral history conducted in 1986 by Malca.Chal1, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1987. Copy No. DEDICATION THE SAVE SAN FRANCISCO BAY ASSOCIATION DEDICATES THIS ORAL HISTORY TO THE MEMORY OF DOROTHY AND MORSE ERSKINE IN APPRECIATION OF THEIR MANY YEARS OF WISE COUNSEL AND SUPPORT. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION PREFACE INTRODUCTION by Harold Gilliam INTERVIEWS WITH ESTHER GULICK, KAY BRR, SYLVIA McLAUGHLIN BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES viii BAY OR RIVER? ESTHER GULICK, KAY KERR, SYLVIA McLAUGHLIN DECIDE TO SAVE THE BAY IN 1961 University Friends Are Helpful First Targets: Berkeley and Albany Creating Save The Bay Association Expansion of Membership Organizational Structure Setting the Goals; Dividing the Tasks The Berkeley Plan is Defeated First Experiences With the State Legislature RECALLING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WITH THE STATE LEGISLATURE The Many Attempts to Halt Bay Fill Assemblyman Nicholas Petris's Interest Senator Eugene McAteer Sponsors the Bay Study Commission Legislation, SB 14, 1964 Help From the Media Working with Conservationists Around the Bay The San Francisco Bay Study Commission Gets to Work The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission: The McAteer-Petris Act, 1965-1969 BCDC Becomes a Permanent Agency, 1969 Hard Work and Drama Save San Francisco Bay Association Develops its Public Education Program Bay Farm Island, Alameda: "One We Lost ," 1965 The Corps Turns over Bay Fill Authority to the State I11 THE ASSOCIATION IS INVOLVED WITH REGION-WIDE BAY ACTIVITIES The Bay Conservation and Development Commission The Importance of the McAteer-Petris Act The BCDC Staff The BCDC Chairman Save The Bay: Consistent and Long-Term Participation Formulating the Bay Plan The Special Area Plan Committee The Plan for the Sea Ports Opposition to Placing BCDC within a Regional Government The Recurring Issue of the Public Trust on Navigable Waters The One Hundred-Foot Shoreline Band Jurisdiction Over Wetlands Behind Dikes The Role of the Federal Government in the Bay The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The Albany Dump: The Bulkhead Lines The Corps' Jurisdiction Over Wetlands The Wetlands Coalition The U.S. Navy The U.S. Coast Guard The Environmental Protection Agency Dredging Policies: The Baldwin Ship Channel The Bay Model of the Army Corps of Engineers IV SAVE THE BAY ASSOCIATION ADAPTS ITS PROCEDURES, GOALS, AND ORGANIZATION TO CHANGING NEEDS The Board How Kerr, Gulick, and McLaughlin Fit into the Scheme The Staff The Off ices Handling Court Cases: The Legal Committee Working with Other Organizations on Common Goals Present Problems and Expectations Current Knowledge Changes the Association's Expectations The Biennial Conferences Concerns About the Future The Commitment of BCDC The Founders Look Toward The Future Effectiveness of the Save San Francisco Bay Association INTERVIEii WITH BARRY L. BUNSHOFT 106 INTERVIEW HISTORY 108 BRIEF BIOGRAPHY 109 I SAVE SAN FRANCISCO BAY ASSOCIATION AND THE COURTS 110 Barry Bunshoft: Background on his Relationship with Save 110 San Francisco Bay Association The Legal Committee and the Courts The Westbay Case: Save the Bay Association Intervenes Other Court Cases: The Process of Deciding to Become Involved Santa Fe and Murphy v. Berkeley The Legal Committee and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission The Port of San Francisco Revising the BCDC Plan Relationships with Other Conservation Organizations Reviewing Some of the Problems and Failures in the Battles to Save the Bay AFTERWORD by Me1 Scott TAPE GUIDE APPENDIX Background for Interviews Prepared by Esther Gulick, Kay Kerr, and Sylvia McLaughlin Sampling of Communications to Members, 1961-1986 Saving the Bay Inspires Poet Josephine Miles; Folksingers Malvina Reynolds and Pete Seeger; Cartoonist Robert Bastian Awards : Sol Feinstone Environmental Award, 1981 Robert C. Kirkwood Award, 1986 The Program of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Association, December 6, 1986 Bibliography: A Partial List Compiled by the Staff of Save San Francisco Bay Association, 1962-1987 INDEX PREFACE They are a legend in their own time, the three women who in 1961, sounded the alarm to "Save San Francisco Bay." In large measure Catherine Kerr, Esther Gulick, and Sylvia McLaughlin achieved their goal. Without their concerted skills as leaders, organizers, researchers, writers, public speakers, fund raisers, and arm twisters there would be no Save San Francisco Bay Association, no Bay Conservation and Development Commission as we know it, few court cases on behalf of the public trust--in short there would be a diminished bay, diminished public access, and diminished public awareness of the value of San Francisco Bay as a resource for ecological balance, public recreation, and for simply enjoying its natural beauty. Their oral history, framed by an introduction by Harold Gilliam, and an afterword by Me1 Scott, documents how these talented and dedicated women began to change public perception and hence public policy toward the Bay even before the advent of the environmental movement. In 1981 the Regional Oral History Office began efforts to develop an oral history of the Save the Bay Association as part of a series on the history of land-use in California. In November, 1982 the Board of the Association decided to honor the memories of long-time environmentalists Dorothy and Morse Erskine with an oral history of the Association based primarily on the experiences of its three founding members. On November 23, 1982, I met with Kay Kerr and Esther Gulick to discuss the oral history process and possible scope of the interviews. They reported that the three women who had worked closely as a team throughout the previous twenty-five years expected to be interviewed together as a team. Group inter- views have always been considered an ill-advised oral history technique. But they were right. The joint interviews brought the history of the Association and the importance of their working relationship into sharp focus. Interviewing was delayed until mid-summer 1985. Association duties kept them occupied. Furthermore, Mrs. Kerr traveled frequently with her husband, Clark Kerr, former president of the University of California, and Mrs. Gulick and Mrs. McLaughlin were caring for their husbands, Professor of Economics Emeritus Charles Gulick, and professor, dean, and former president of the University of California Board of Regents Donald McLaughlin, both of whom died in 1984. By August 13, 1985 the women were ready to tackle the memoir. They had prepared for the oral history as carefully as they had prepared for all of their work on behalf of the Bay. Months earlier they had met to consider the scope of the interview and had developed ten excellent questions and a page of general background on various personal, political, and other factors that had motivated their efforts." These formed the core of the outlines prepared for.each of the three two-hour interview sessions that followed between October and December, 1985. * See Appendix, p.133. We worked in the small family dining room of the Kerr home in El Cerrito overlooking the expanse of garden and the Bay, sitting around the glass-topped table set with cups for hot tea and a pitcher of lemon juice. This had been their working procedure through the years. Now, the only difference was the addition of the tape recorder on the table among the notes, newsclippings, and other relevant material. These women are strong willed, well educated, and intelligent. Each has found her special niche within the organization. Kay Kerr does the writing and research; Sylvia McLaughlin works in organizations through which she can promote interest in and education about the Bay and the environment. She is often the Association's spokesperson. Esther Gulick handles the Association's financial and organizational details and has been tagged the "glue" that has held the team together. To gather background I spent some days in the Association's office reading minutes of Board meetings, newsletters and alerts, annual and biennial meeting materials. All provided rich knowledge of the Association's concerns and activities. Most of this excellent collection has been deposited in The Bancroft Library, where all the Save the Bay papers will ultimately be deposited. Association staff members Janice Kittredge and Nancy Goetzl helped locate some of the rare historical material for the appendix. Transcribing the tapes posed some problems until the typist learned to distinquish the four voices and to hear them over the sounds of pouring tea, the clatter of cups, fast cross talk, and the laughter that punctuated the discussion when the women recalled something amusing. The typist, a student majoring in environmental studies, claimed that she was having more fun with this project than any others she had encountered in the office.