This story ran with a picture in the print edition.
Former Congressman Pete and Helen McCloskey of Portola Valley stand in front of the McCloskey Preserve at Skylawn Memorial Park. Lifemark, which owns several cemeteries around the Bay Area, has dedicated 100 acres surrounding its new Lifemark Center and the graves on its 505-acre property as permanent open space in honor of Mr. McCloskey.
Mr. and Ms. McCloskey were leading a hike — auctioned by the Committee for Green Foothills — along the Ridge Trail through the Skylawn property, just north of Highway 92. The Bay Area Ridge Trail will ultimately circle the Bay for 300 miles along its ridge lines.
The Ridge Trail will be re-routed through the McCloskey preserve so that users will pass over a hill with a panoramic view before connecting with Highway 92 near the ridge. At present, Ridge Trail users must hike or ride up a steep hill from an old quarry near Crystal Springs Lake to get to the Ridge Trail section that takes them through the San Francisco Watershed.
The McCloskey Preserve was dedicated on Earth Day 2007 to honor the congressman who co-founded Earth Day in 1970, and helped pass the Endangered Species Act and other seminal environmental laws.
— Marion Softky
