The Golden Gate National Recreation Area could expand by nearly 900 acres under a bill introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
The bill would authorize the National Park Service to purchase the Scarper Ridge property in San Mateo County that is adjacent to Rancho Corral De Tierra, which is nearly 3,900 acres of open space.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is an 80,000-acre collection of properties spanning Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. Established in 1972, the GGNRA contains over half of the bird species in North America and a third of California’s native plant species, according to the National Park Service.
The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
It previously passed the U.S. Senate unanimously in December, according to Padilla’s office. It was reintroduced for a vote by the new Congress.
“The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one of the most popular urban parks in the world, flush with rich biodiversity, extensive military artifacts, and stunning recreational opportunities,” Padilla said.
He said the purchase of the Scarper Ridge property will facilitate the protection of critically endangered plants and wildlife and connect hiking trails to public land.
The land is currently owned by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, known as POST, which acquired it in 2014, according to POST’s president Gordon Clark.
“Because of its unique habitats, species of wildlife, and opportunities for public trails, we have long hoped it would be incorporated into the Rancho Corral de Tierra landscape,” Clark said in a press release.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area includes monuments like Alcatraz Island and the Presidio and contains a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which is a learning space for sustainable development recognized by the United Nations. Roughly 17 million people visit yearly.
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