The plateau is owned by the East Bay Regional Park District, an agency that plans to convert the land into a park someday.
Young people are hard at work as clouds break above.
Members of the East Bay Conservation Corps, the young workers do what they are toldthey clear away coyote brush and other plants and shrubs on the northern section of the plateau. The foot-like stems of each plant face due south like cadavers awaiting burial in a mass grave. It's tail standing at attention as it approaches, the cat issues a friendly greeting that is ignored. Beside the white pick-up truck of the EBCC, supervisor Edwina Robinson pauses for a moment, removes her hardhat and wipes sweat from her checks and brow. We have to do this because the police have to get in here and be able to see at night, and during the day, what kind of activity is going on.