A solitary gull floats in front of the old Seabird/John Beery Sailing Center on the east shore of Aquatic Park.

The Berkeley High School Women's Crew Team was ready to sign a lease with the City to use and renovate part of the site, but it was blocked by lobbying from CESP, Sierra Club and Audubon. The claim is that a full EIR is needed to establish the impact of two hours of daily crew practice on migratory bird populations.

This despite the fact that Aquatic Park was originally built to support water-related recreation and has been used for many decades for rowing, paddling, sailing and even water skiing.

Letters by Norman LaForce and Susan Shwartz, representative of the two sides of the issue, can be found at www.well.com/user/pk/waterfront/AquaticPark

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