Marin Conservation League Walk Into (Conservation) History # 16 THE STORY OF SAVING ALTO BOWL AND HORSE HILL Saturday, November 8, 2014

Robert Eichstaedt

Walk Leader Nona Dennis, Director, Marin Conservation League Assisted by: Dick Spotswood, Former Mayor, City of Mill Valley Protecting Marin Since 1934 Janis Bosenko and Tim Leveque, Save Horse Hill Campaign

175 N. Redwood Dr., Ste. 135, San Rafael, CA 94903 415.485.6257 marinconservationleague.org Marin Conservation League was founded in 1934 to preserve, protect and enhance the natural assets of Marin County. The route of today’s 1.5 mile walk is shown in red. An out-and-back on the Bob Middagh Trail (top left) is optional. Today’s Walk The initially steep Horse Hill Trail been there for decades. On closer takes us to the top of the ridge look, it was much more: the out- Our walking route begins in the just below Meadowcrest in Corte pouring of support by a community lower parking lot of the Scott Madera. Horse Hill Trail then pro- that loved its natural surroundings, Valley Swimming and Tennis Club. ceeds south-east along the ridge to who, with grassroots leadership, We will begin with an introduction meet the Horse Hill Fire Road. We dogged persistence, a receptive by former Mill Valley Mayor Dick continue west along the crest of the City Council, supportive staff, a Spotswood and MCL Walk Leader hill to eventually descend through few lawyers, and money —lots of Nona Dennis. Joining our walk are the woods to our point of origin— it—managed to save the Hill for Janis Bosenko, who chaired the approximately a mile and a half. the horses! The horses (twelve at Save Horse Hill campaign for three Along the way we will find a school present) that grazed on the hill- years, and Tim Leveque, cam- volunteer crew pulling broom under side overlooking Highway 101 paign treasurer. the leadership of Marin County and Southern Marin —known as We will proceed up Coach Road Parks Volunteer Coordinator Greg Horse Hill—were oblivious to the to the junction with Alto Bowl Fire Reza and some of the owners of battles in City Hall that went on for Road and the Bob Middagh Trail, horses that call the Hill their home. years. They were, and are still, do- an option for those who wish to Introduction ing what their predecessors have extend their hike. This cul-de-sac done on the hillside for several is one of the trail entries to the Some say “it was the horses that decades—roaming at will to seek Alto Bowl Open Space Preserve. saved Horse Hill.” Everyone could out the best grass or the best local relate to horses, and they had climate. If the horses are not imme- 2 ley was a dairy—and even the ALTO BOWL, CAMINO ALTO, Depression years when the Hill was AND HORSE HILL occupied by trailer squatters, a COUNTY OF MARIN real “Hooverville.” OPEN SPACE PRESERVES The Setting

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Featured Open Space Multiuse Fire Road P Parking Lot Major Road Preserve (Hikers, Bicyclists & Equestrians) homes on Corte Madera’s Multiuse Trail T Transit Local Road County Parks (Hikers, Bicyclists & Equestrians) T West Marin Stage County Trail Easements Meadowcrest ridge form the Adjacent Open Space Trail (Hikers & Equestrians) Preserve Gate Hiking-only Trail County Multiuse Pathways northeastern boundary of the Other Public Land School Bike Path County Managed Trail area. That there remains any open marincountyparks.org space on the Hill at all is due in large part to the diligence of local diately visible to the thousands of nearby marshes. According to Betty residents, supported by thousands commuters who stream by daily on Goerke, author of Chief Marin and intent on saving every acre they 101, they may be on the northern local expert on , could. side of the hill, seeking shade on a numerous archaeological sites dot Horse Hill occupies the south- hot day. the area of Alto Bowl—under homes in Alto-Sutton neighborhood facing portion of the 87-acre Alto The complete story of Horse Hill and Scott Valley, and even under Bowl Open Space Preserve, (see would have to begin with the Coast the Edna McGuire School. The map)which was acquired by Marin Miwok, who also found the Hill complete story would also include County Open Space District (now inviting and camped there while the many decades when Scott Val- Marin County Parks) in 1993. One gathering shellfish and tubers from of the smaller of the County’s 34 3 Left—Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) Right—Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana) Below— A resting coyote (Canis latrans)

PhilippeVieux-Jeanton, Flickr Creative Commons Philip Bouchard, Flickr Creative Commons Open Space Preserves, Alto Bowl The open space lands of Alto Preserve separates Mill Valley Bowl Preserve are situated so close from Corte Madera and offers to residences—some areas liter- trail connections to other preserves ally squeezed between parcels of as well as to lands of Golden Gate private property below and along National Recreation Area in South- the crest of the preserve— that ern Marin. The Bob Middagh Trail one finds considerable non-native provides access (across Camino plant life mixed in with natives. Coast live-oak and bay woodland Alto Grade) to “Northridge,” the Len Blumin, Flickr Creative Commons heart of today’s Camino Alto, becomes a thicket of natives, like Baltimore Canyon, and Baltimore also seriously damaged a home. toyon and coyote brush, mixed Canyon Preserves, and the water- When the 2,183 ft. tunnel was with escaped ornamentals like shed lands of Mt. Tam beyond. The opened in 1884, it was considered red-berried cotoneaster and the Mill Valley-Sausalito Multi-use Path a landmark in Marin transporta- ever-present broom. In winter and at the base of Horse Hill follows tion. By directly linking Mill Valley spring, one can expect abundant the alignment of the former North with Corte Madera, it replaced a wildflowers such as hound’s tongue Pacific Coast railroad past the Mill previous track that had to climb the in the woodlands, and poppy, Valley waterfront toward Sausalito crest of Collins Summit, the route blue-eyed grass, iris, lupine, among and the . The of today’s 101. Unlike most of the other grassland species. Coyote, top of Horse Hill affords almost North Pacific Coast Railroad, which bobcat, fox, raccoon, and deer are 360-degree views of Mt. Tamal- was double-tracked, the tunnel was frequently sighted here. American pais, Tiburon Peninsula and the too narrow and forever remained kestrels, red-tailed hawks and larger Bay region. single-tracked. It was a highpoint Northern harriers hunt for rodents for thousands of teenagers rid- and reptiles on the open grassy Camino Alto (Corte Madera ing the “School Special” from Ross hillsides. Grade) skirts the west side of the Valley to and from Tamalpais High preserve, linking Corte Madera School after Tam High opened in Horse Hill and Marin and Mill Valley. At one time, the 1908 (Barry Spitz, Marin, A His- communities were also linked by Politics in the 1960s tory). The Tunnel was sealed and North Pacific Coast railroad via the abandoned in 1979, and then re- The first efforts to save Horse Hill Alto Tunnel, whose south portal is plugged after the collapse. One- started in 1961 when local resi- several hundred yards west of the third of the tunnel’s length is now dent Aline McClain learned that Scott Valley Swimming and Ten- filled in with concrete and gravel, Marin Capital Company proposed nis Club at the curve of Underhill. and the remaining internal struc- to build 900 homes on the land, Overgrown and difficult to reach ture (wood) has likely deteriorated which was zoned for residential on foot, the entry is now blocked from moisture and lack of oxygen development. From 1948, when by steel, concrete, sand and gravel, (John Palmer, An Alto Tunnel Primer). McClain and her husband moved following a collapse in 1981 that 4 to Mill Valley, she had spent much eventually prevail in county politics. velopment on the Hill until the new of her time working to protect McClain’s actions to initiate the sav- Plan could address basic questions open space. She went to Southern ing of Horse Hill at the beginning concerning the appropriate number Marin’s Supervisor J. Walter Blair of that decade would contribute to of homes on the Hill. At the end to see what could be done and that shift, but saving the Hill itself of the moratorium in early 1988, was told, in effect, “not to worry would take almost three decades, and after endless back and forth her pretty head.” McClain formed sustained by neighborhood leader- between City and developer and the Alto-Sutton Manor District As- ship and, by the end of the 1980s, threats of legal action on questions sociation and launched the first thousands of contributors. of density and access, Von der successful recall of a county super- Werth’s original proposal for up to visor in California. She then helped Development Threats 100 homes had been trimmed to to get Peter Behr elected to the From 1961, the standoff between about half, allowing home devel- Board of Supervisors to replace developers and neighbors in Alto- opment clustered in two nodes Blair in 1962. Blair’s ouster was a Sutton Manor ebbed and flowed at the base of the Hill on about catalyst for a more “liberal shift” over the years as three large par- one-third of the property – leaving on the Board toward protecting the cels and one small one—roughly the remaining land as open space. environment during a decade that 140 acres—that made up the Hill The basic leverage that allowed would bring the threat of Marince- exchanged hands several times. the City to reduce development so llo, resort development in Bolinas Fast-forward to the early 1980s. markedly had been the issue of Lagoon, the West Marin Plan for In 1982, the Huang Brothers access. By 1989, that development a community of 150,000 people, brought to the Mill Valley Plan- was under construction. Project H, and a cross-county freeway. ning Commission a 61-unit plan for on the other hand, was not des- McClain opposed Marincello and the 34.4 acres they had recently tined to go that route. According purchased on the east side of the to the new General Plan, Project H Hill (“Project H”). Project H was could have built 13 homes at the opposed by residents of the Alto base of the Hill, but the Alto-Sutton area primarily due to the project’s Manor District Association was not impact on traffic, drainage, and interested in any further develop- slope stability. ment. They were gearing up to save the rest of Horse Hill! In the same period a second proposal was under consideration Saving Horse Hill for the west side of the Hill—the To initiate the acquisition of Proj- “Cal-Fong” proposal by Al Von der ect H as open space, the Associa- Werth to develop the Hill above tion established the “Save Horse the Scott Valley neighborhood. If Hill” Fund in December 1988, with both proposals were approved, up $2,000 from the Association’s own to 162 homes could be built on the general fund. Aline McClain was hill where the horses were graz- one of the first to contribute seed Aline McClain ing, oblivious to the threat. Both money. The Association sought proposals had development histo- political support from both City of ries spanning two decades. One was active in the 1969 “Save Our Mill Valley (the entire Hill is within neighbor said: “If I had a nickel Seashore” campaign to purchase the City limits) and Supervisor Al for every hour I’ve spent at meet- the lands that make up Pt. Reyes Arambaru from the Southern Marin ings about Alto Hill since 1961, my National Seashore. She was a district. His advice: “The commu- husband could retire!” member of Marin County Parks nity must show Marin County Open and Recreation Commission and a Mill Valley was also updating its Space District you are serious by long-standing member of Marin General Plan in the 1980s, and in demonstrating broad community Conservation League. 1986 decided to impose a two- support.” With no non-profit agent A slow-growth sentiment would year moratorium on any new de- to enable tax deductions, the As- 5 sociation nonetheless was able to owners refused to entertain pur- forthcoming, the city could sell off gather $100,000 from an initial chase offers, and in May 1989, one and a half acres to reimburse mailing just to Southern Marin the City Council decided to obtain their Prop. 70 fund. residents. The Association then the land through eminent domain Thus, on a grassy hillside on aligned itself with a local non- proceedings against the absentee Sunday, Memorial Day in 1991, a profit “Health and Habitat,” which landowners. crowd gathered with Mayor Dick thereafter served as a repository At trial, the jury set the price of Spotswood, to celebrate acquisi- for “Save Horse Hill” funds. the land at $2.4 million, $530,000 tion of the land. Two years later Coincidently, State Proposition 70 more than the City had offered but Mill Valley donated the land to the (Wildlife, Coastal, and Park Land $900,000 less than the property Marin County Open Space District, Conservation Bond Act of 1988) owners’ apprais- had passed that year, designat- al. The city set ing $776 million dollars for a wide aside $1 million range of preservation projects from its Prop. 70 throughout the state. Due to effec- windfall, and the tive local lobbying, the Bond had County offered designated $21 million for Marin $.8 million from County, and $1.6 million for Mill the same source. Valley, the only city to receive a The balance special designation. would be up to Public response to the prelimi- the community. nary fund-raising effort prompted The Save Horse the County of Marin Open Space Hill committee District to make this land acquisi- generated tre- tion a priority. In December 1988, mendous com- the Mill Valley City Council, led by munity support in raising funds. who permanently preserved it as Mayor Dick Spotswood, with staff Somewhere between 5,000 and open space. In the meantime, the support from City Manager Doug 7,000 individuals contributed, in- Save Horse Hill campaign car- Dawson and Planning Director Don cluding local residents with children ried on, with new leadership, and Dickenson, also made preserva- who loved seeing the horsies on the eventually, bolstered by a chal- tion of Horse Hill a priority and hill, and the campaign ultimately lenge grant from Marin Community approached the landowners with raised almost $600,000. But as the Foundation and additional help offers to purchase the land. The deadline of October 26, 1990, from the Board of Supervisors, approached, it completed its commitment. was evident that As an ironic post-script to the the community’s event, surveyors from the Marin contribution Municipal Water District appeared would be about almost the next day, in their search $240,000 short. for a site to construct a one-million- The City agreed gallon water tank directly adjacent to “borrow” the to the newly-minted open space needed balance preserve. “It may be Horse Hill to out of the re- you,” said the engineers in re- maining Proposi- sponse to cries of outrage from the tion 70 funds, community, the city and the county, with the under- “but to us it is simply the right standing that, elevation for a much-needed new if additional water tank for Southern Marin”! The community held a variety of fund-raisers, such as community contri- That prompted another lengthy this 1990 art show, to raise money for Horse Hill. butions were not 6 saga that eventually was resolved George Goheen, who let Howe manure bunker, fences and other in favor of an alternate site for the keep his horse Mr. Jiggs on the horse-related improvements. ABHA tank. land in exchange for taking care volunteers also work with County of the property. The pasturing of Parks, school groups, and other The Horses of Horse Hill other horses evolved from “Valley volunteers in waging an ongoing It might not be apparent now Riders,” young equestrians who battle against French broom and were part of other invasive, exotic plants and the Mill Val- restoring the preserve’s habitats. ley 4H Club. The “manure bunker,” visible from According to Highway 101, is especially popu- Howe, “a few lar with local organic gardeners of us promised and is available to anyone with to take care a shovel and bucket or truck July of the Hill . . . through January. Water for the It was a non- horses is a current issue, however. profit deal Because two historic natural springs for kids who on the hill have dried up, ABHA couldn’t afford had to pay a neighbor to use his to have a horse water. The group recently engaged otherwise.” in a campaign – "Buy A Horse A Robert Eichstaedt Mr. Jiggs died Drink"—to raise funds for a pipe- in 1982 at the line to bring in municipal water. It that Mill Valley was once a center age of 35 or 36, and land owner- was a great success, and now the for equestrian activity in Southern ship changed three times in almost horses have an assured supply in Marin. In the late 1950s the Mill 30 years, while Howe continued all seasons! Valley 4-H Club leased the marsh- to manage the horses —feed- According to Robert Eichstaedt, land near the site of the present ing, fixing fences, digging springs, President of the ABHA, people Mill Valley Community Center and giving shots, handling insurance. It and dogs are welcomed on Horse built a show ring. The Southern was (and continues to be) one of Hill with little interference from Marin Horsemen’s Association was the most popular and affordable the horses. “The horses simply ask formed and held weekly horse places in Southern Marin to keep a that the dogs stay with their human shows, special events and rides horse. In the early days, there was companions, either on leash or by until the local 4H club disbanded in always a waiting list, often up to voice control.” 1971, and the SMHA disbanded in four or five years. 1979 to evolve into the Alto Bowl Horseowners’ Association (ABHA). Alto Bowl Not an MCL member? Join Throughout the 1960s, 70s, and Horseowners Association Marin’s most effective advocate 80s, the nearby Hill was known Following the acquisition of Horse for Marin’s natural places and as Howe’s Hill for Jim Howe, who Hill by the MCOSD, it was only receive advance notice of Walks managed 18 horses (or more) natural that horses would remain Into (Conservation) History, re- there. Howe, now deceased, grew on Horse Hill. Thanks to a 1993 ar- duced prices on our Business-En- up in Mill Valley, left as a young rangement between Marin County vironment Breakfasts, invitations man for a few years on the rodeo Parks and ABHA, fourteen horses to our summer picnic and holiday circuit, and returned to become a are able to graze on 55 acres— party, our bi-monthly Newsletter long-time employee of Mill Valley continuing the decades-long use on and advance notice and analysis of Market. His real life was caring the property. ABHA is responsible pending issues that affect Marin for the equine inhabitants of the for costs and management of the County. Join at marinconserva- Hill, however. The arrangement herd and all equestrian facili- tionleague.org. Memberships start began in the early 1960s under ties – shelters, corrals, hitch rails, at only $35 per year. an agreement with then-landowner 7 MCL Walks into Conservation History Permanent protection of land does not happen easily; every piece of parkland and open space that the public can now enjoy in Marin came at a price in human effort and persistence as well as in funds from many different sources. To commemorate its 75th Anniversary in 2009, Marin Conservation League initiated a series of Walks into the park and open space lands that have come to define almost 50 percent of Marin’s landscape. This year is MCL’s 80th Anniversary, and we continue to commemorate the visionaries who recognized many decades ago that Marin’s significant natural lands and waters and cultural heritage would not survive for future generations unless they were permanently protected. Since its founding in 1934, MCL, working with many other organizations and thousands of individuals, has played a significant role in many of these stories. The Walks have been generously funded by the following, who donated to MCL’s History Book Fund in 2009:

MOUNTAIN LION $2500 or more Bunker & Company Ken Drexler & Sarah Leach

COOPER’S HAWK $1000— $2499 The County of Marin Marin County Parks Redwood Landfill, Inc.

ELK $500 — $999 Angel Island Association Jack Krystal Bank of Marin Marin Sanitary Service Nona Dennis Nardell Chitsaz & Associates Cordy Hill, in memory of Robert Royston

BAY LAUREL $250 — $499 Bruce Dodge & Wendy Wyse Paul Helliker Dudley & Sarah Allen Miller Barbara Ford Kathy & Rick Lowrey Dorothy & Roger Roberts Jan Hamrin & Tim Rosenfeld McPhail Fuel Co. Grace & Larry Smith

LUPINE $100—$249 Friends of Susan Adams Barbara George Ellen & Peter Obstler Janet Allen Jana Haehl Ira Chin & Michelle Passero Juliette Anthony League of Women Voters of Marin Edith Piltch Bartlett Tree Experts Joan Lubamersky Seagate Properties, Inc. Amy Belser Sue MacMillan, in memory of Jean Starkweather Betsy & Dan Bikle Alex MacMillan Susan & Brian Stompe Derek & Tymber Cavasian Marjorie Macris Judge Faye D’Opal & Wanden P. Treanor Phyllis Faber, in memory of Peter Behr Marin Fence Co. Julia Violich Bruce Fullerton & Antonina Markoff Barbara & Bernie Meyers Doug Wilson & Periann Wood 8