On January 30,2026, neighbors near Lake Temescal witnessed a heartbreaking sight: a Great Horned Owl suspended by her wing at the top of a tall redwood tree, tangled in monofilament fishing line. For four hours, she struggled while the Fire Department and Wildlife Volunteers —unequipped for such a rescue—could only watch. It took a private arborist, paid for by concerned citizens, to save her. She is currently being treated for her injuries at Lindsay Wildlife Hospital.

This is not an isolated incident.

Lake Temescal is a small, high-traffic urban lake. It has become notorious for fishing-related injuries. Discarded hooks and "ghost lines" are death traps for:

• Birds:  they are often entangled or hooked, resulting in serious injuries such as amputations.

• Dogs:  walking the trails have ingested hooks and required expensive emergency care.

EBRPD stocks the lake, and encourages  fishing, but it falls to volunteers and the public to carry out, and pay for, the rescues of the resulting injured animals.  Wildlife Rehabilitation facilities and Wildlife Hospitals shoulder close to 100% of the medical costs.

The Solution:

We love our parks, and Lake Temescal is too small to safely accommodate both sensitive wildlife and recreational fishing. We call on the East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors to reclassify Lake Temescal as a Wildlife Sanctuary and permanent non-fishing zone.