JULY 11, 2005

A Better Lake Berryessa

Re: "Resistance to Berryessa plans," Forum, June 12: The Bureau of Reclamation appreciates Peter Kilkus' interest in public access to Lake Berryessa, but the bureau's views on what constitutes appropriate access to federal property differ dramatically.

For 45 years, as many as 1,700 private trailers have been on rented sites at the lake's concessions. Today, 1,300 trailers occupy the prime developed shoreline on federal property available for recreation. But the issue isn't the amount of land the trailers occupy. A 1972 General Accounting Office report states: "Mobile-home development has been carried on almost to the exclusion of other types of recreational facilities, both in land-area use and in responsiveness to the public need."

Our Draft Environmental Impact Statement received 3,487 comment letters, of which nearly two-thirds support changes at the lake to include trailer removal and equal public access.

The concessions' contracts expire in 2007-2009 and by law may not be renewed. It's time to address public access to public property. Despite rumors, Berryessa will not be shut down.

Reclamation will make a final decision this fall. Regardless of the decision, Berryessa will continue offering the same types of recreation that visitors have enjoyed for nearly 50 years.

Jeffrey S. McCracken, Public Affairs Director

Mid-Pacific Region, Bureau of Reclamation.

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