The 6.69-acre Krane Pond property on the slopes of Mount Diablo’s North Peak in the spring n an undated photo. Save Mount Diablo has acquired the land on Dec. 20, 2023. (Sean Burke/Save Mount Diablo via Bay City News)
(BCN) — Save Mount Diablo this week closed escrow on the 6.69-acre Krane Pond property on the slopes of Mount Diablo, permanently protecting it from development.
The conservation group said in a statement Wednesday that the property is part of the “missing mile,” a square mile of partly unprotected land on Mount Diablo’s north peak.
The group said the property has been one of its priorities since its founding in 1971, partially because of its large pond, one of the largest on Mount Diablo’s north side, and its position directly adjacent to Mount Diablo State Park.
“Krane Pond is a vital water source for Mount Diablo’s wildlife, one that contains water throughout most summers, unlike many of the creeks and other ponds found on Mount Diablo.
The ecological significance of Krane Pond far eclipses its size,” the group said.
Save Mount Diablo secured the option agreement to purchase Krane Pond in the fall of 2022, with a year to raise the necessary $500,000 to complete the purchase.
The group said it received 257 donations totaling $61,361 from the readers of Joan Morris’s column in the East Bay Times and San Jose Mercury News, close to the fundraising deadline, “when it was a race against time to acquire the remaining funds to complete the purchase.”
“A development lies along one of the property’s borders, a very real reminder of how the land could have been graded and paved over had Save Mount Diablo not acquired it,” the group said.
In 1978, Walt and Roseann Krane purchased 6.69 acres of land on the outskirts of Clayton, bordered by Mount Diablo State Park and the meridian on the west side, Mount Diablo Creek on the north side, and property held by ranchers to the east.
The Krane family initially had plans to build a house on the property, but later decided to preserve the land and eventually sold it to Save Mount Diablo.
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