In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Manfred "Manny" Lindner of the Contra Costa Park Council helped lead efforts to establish a new regional preserve in Morgan Territory within the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). To illustrate the proposal, he built a large, three-dimensional model of the main ridge and headwaters of Marsh Creek, which were the most prized areas. Hulet Hornbeck, Chief of Acquisitions for the EBRPD, collaborated with Lindner to persuade the District Board of Directors to create the Preserve. But many residents of the area had demonstrated little public interest or need of such a plan.
