The avid cyclist who with the late Mary Bowerman founded Save Mount Diablo in 1971 to focus attention on developmental encroachment on California’s largest state park and the Bay Area’s tallest peak and who lived to see the group become a powerful force in preserving East Bay parklands, died July 14 at his home in Concord. His death was reported today in the Contra Costa Times.The 3,849-foot mountain encompassed some 6,788 acres when he and Bowerman, a botanist, formed Save Mount Diablo. Since then, the group has been instrumental in preserving 110,000 acres as open space in more than 40 parks in the East Bay. From the Contra Costa Times:
"He was a person who very early on saw Mount Diablo bigger than just a state park," said Robert Doyle, general manager for East Bay Regional Parks and a founding board member of Save Mount Diablo. "He saw all the foothills around as part of the mountain physically, and he didn't care who had them, he wanted them protected."Image of Art Bonwell in 2006: Bob Pepping/Contra Costa Times
