In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Manfred "Manny" Lindner of the Contra Costa Park Council helped lead efforts to establish a new preserve in Morgan Territory. 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 East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD), collaborated with Lindner to persuade the District Board of Directors to create the Preserve. But residents of the area had demonstrated little public interest or need of such a plan. The population of the nearby Tri-Valley increased dramatically later, and expansion of technology firms in the Silicon Valley raised land prices throughout the area.