Voters approved about $250 million to the Coastal Conservancy in Proposition 12, the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000. By late August, the Conservancy had allocated a substantial amount of these funds to projects along the coast and on San Francisco Bay. Described below are some of the projects approved in June and August. Many, though not all, will be funded thanks to voter approval of Proposition 12.

Big Future for Big River

The effort to preserve 7,300 acres of the highly scenic Big River watershed in Mendocino County moved a big step forward when the Conservancy awarded a $1.3 million challenge grant to the Mendocino Land Trust. The Land Trust is working with the Trust for Wildland Communities, a private foundation, to acquire the entire 8.3-mile-long Big River estuary—Northern California’s longest unprotected estuary—and associated redwood forestlands.

Extending from the Highway 1 bridge at the Town of Mendocino eastward, and linking Mendocino Headlands State Park, Jackson State Demonstration Forest, and Mendocino Woodlands, the property provides critical rearing habitat for steelhead and coho salmon, as well as for a multitude of waterfowl and other wildlife.

The purchase will also provide valuable recreational opportunities. Kayaking and canoeing on the river are popular activities, but because the shoreline is privately owned, the banks have been off-limits to boaters. It is expected that the Big River acquisition will be added to the State Park system. Of almost $20 million needed for this purchase, about half has been secured thus far.

Coastal Trail Bill Signed

Governor Gray Davis has signed SB 908, a bill by North Coast Senator Wesley Chesbro, which formally establishes the Coastal Trail and requires the Coastal Conservancy, in cooperation with the Coastal Commission, State Parks Department, and California Conservation Corps, to develop a plan and cost estimates for its completion. This trail is to run over 1,000 miles along the shore between Oregon and Mexico, linking to inland trails. It will have alternative routes to accommodate various users and to ensure protection of sensitive resources. The governor previously approved over $7 million from Proposition 12 funds for the Coastal Trail and to buy rights-of-way.

Taking out Fish Barriers

The Conservancy awarded $105,000 from Proposition 12 funds to Humboldt County for removal of stream barriers that block passage of coho salmon, steelhead, and coastal cutthroat trout to historic spawning and rearing areas in seven coastal streams. The barriers—typically old, corrugated metal culverts—will be removed, the original stream channels restored by excavation, and federally approved natural-bottom culverts installed. The project will increase anadromous fish habitat by at least 7.5 miles.

High flow velocities and excessive heights between culvert outlets and discharge pools now limit or prevent fish passage. Fish congregate in the discharge pools, where they often fall prey to predators or poachers. The culverts all lie within county-owned rights-of-way at road crossings along Sullivan Gulch, Lindsay Creek, North Fork Anker Creek, South Fork Anker Creek, Ryan Slough, Stansberry Creek, and Clear Creek.

The sites were chosen with the help of the Five Counties Salmon Conservation Effort, a consortium of the state’s five northwestern counties. The work is expected to take place this summer.

Almost $600,000 will come from the Department of Fish and Game, and $35,000 from the county. The Conservancy’s grant will remedy a county budget shortfall that has delayed start of the work.

New Public Access at Fort Bragg

Because virtually all shoreline land in and around Fort Bragg is privately owned, the public has had little access to the shore. That is about to change. The City of Fort Bragg is buying 19 acres of bluff land just south of Noyo Harbor with $2 million approved by the Conservancy this year. The City, which will manage the property, expects to complete the purchase in October.

Of the total, $1.5 million is from the federal Transportation Enhancement Activities Program administered by Caltrans; the rest is from Proposition 12. The Conservancy approved almost $1.5 million for the purchase of 15 acres in June; an additional $550,000 for four acres was granted in April. The purchase will also allow for a new link in the California Coastal Trail.

Adding to a Mendocino Beach

The Conservancy awarded $180,000 of Proposition 12 funds to the Coastal Land Trust for the purchase of 6.5 acres adjacent to Seaside Beach, about ten miles north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County.

The property, owned by Lowell and Barbara Smith, has a coastal stream, seasonal wetlands, and grasslands east of Highway 1, and a sliver west of the highway next to a wide sandy beach. This addition could be used
for expanded parking, permanent restrooms, a nature trail, and scenic viewpoints. A wide variety of plants and animals are found in and around the stream.

The County suspended review of a development proposal pending the proposed sale to the Land Trust, which expects to complete the purchase before the end of the year. The Conservancy gave the Land Trust $26,000 for management of Seaside Beach in 1998.

Help for Marin’s Walker Creek

Walker Creek once supported strong runs of both coho salmon and steelhead trout, but now both are rare. The 76-square-mile watershed lies almost entirely in Marin County and drains into the northern end of Tomales Bay. In 1998 it was listed as an impaired water body by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board due to the presence of sediment, excessive nutrients, and high levels of fecal coliform bacteria.

In June the Conservancy voted to provide $300,000 to the Marin County Resource Conservation District (RCD) to reduce erosion and to improve fisheries and wildlife habitat. Gullies will be repaired, native plants will be put in along the banks of the creek, and fences will be installed and repaired to keep cattle out of the streambed.

In a related action, the Conservancy, working with the Tomales Bay Watershed Council to assess the ecological status of the bay and the effects of human actions, awarded $62,000 to the RCD. This assessment will consolidate the results of previous studies and recommend policies and actions.

Protection for Historic Ranch

The Solano County Farmlands and Open Space Foundation will buy a conservation easement on about 367 acres of the 408-acre Hoskins Ranch in Pleasants Valley, northwest of Vacaville. The Conservancy approved over $700,000 toward the purchase. The ranch serves as a wildlife corridor between the English Hills and Blue Ridge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found that at least 60 different animals, including golden eagles and western pond turtles use habitat there. Members of the Pleasants family, the original homesteaders, have owned the ranch since the late 1850s. The foundation expects to buy the easement before the year’s end, and to reimburse the Conservancy almost half of the purchase cost within a year. The landowners will reserve 41 acres not covered by the easement for a second homesite.

Funds for San Francisco Bay Trail

The proposed 400-mile shoreline trail around San Francisco and San Pablo Bays moved $1.5 million closer to completion when the Conservancy approved Proposition 12 funds for 14 projects. The San Francisco Bay Trail Project and the Conservancy selected the grantees and projects from 50 applications.

City of Sausalito—$299,000 for bike lanes along Bridgeway Blvd.; Unity Council: $500,000 to build a 1,450-foot waterfront trail through the site of Union Point Park, on the Oakland Estuary; Golden Gate National Recreation Area—$80,000 to plan and improve trail access to the Golden Gate Bridge through the San Francisco Presidio; San Mateo County—$42,000 to plan improvements to about a mile of trail through Coyote Point Park.

City of Menlo Park—$40,000 to prepare a study for a 0.6-mile connection from the Dumbarton Bridge and Ravenswood Open Space Preserve; Alameda County—$45,000 to plan a BART to Bay Trail connection between the Coliseum BART Station and the Bay Trail, with connections to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline; City of El Cerrito—$100,000 to complete design of a one-mile trail along Cerrito Creek; City of Richmond and the National Park Service—$70,000 to plan a link from the trail to Shipyard III, part of Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.

City of San Pablo—$17,000 to design an 800-foot trail along Wildcat Creek, connecting segments of the Bay Trail between 23rd Street and Davis Park.

East Bay Regional Park District (three projects)—$40,000 to study a potential 0.5-mile trail linking the Wildcat Creek Trail along the West County Landfill and along the south side of San Pablo Creek to the Richmond Parkway; $85,000 to study trail gaps between the Richmond Parkway portion of the trail and Point Pinole Regional Shoreline in Richmond; $75,000 to study a potential 0.5-mile segment along the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way from Point Pinole to Point Wilson; Contra Costa County—$75,000 to study a potential two-mile segment of the trail along Carquinez Scenic Drive in the Carquinez Regional Shoreline; Sonoma County Regional Parks—$35,000 to evaluate alternative alignments for the trail in southern Sonoma County.

The San Francisco Bay Trail Project will seek Conservancy approval for another $5.9 million, mostly for construction, in the near future.

Ponds for Napa-Sonoma Marsh

Ducks Unlimited, Inc., will receive $315,000 from the Conservancy to construct eight freshwater wildlife ponds on 120 acres of former hayland in the Napa-Sonoma Marsh Wildlife Area along San Pablo Bay and to repair levees. The ponds will be filled by seasonal runoff, streams, and in the case of one pond, a well. The levee repairs will protect the saltwater habitats of two ponds along Highway 37, which are popular with birders.

Most conservation efforts on San Pablo Bay have focused on improving salt- and brackish-water habitats, so the new ponds will add to habitat diversity. Work on the project is expected to begin late this year and be completed by spring 2003.

In a related action, the Conservancy approved the payment of $1.2 million to continue its partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the second phase of a restoration feasibility study, analyzing alternatives for restoration of almost 10,000 acres of wetlands and associated habitats within the former Cargill salt pond complex within the Napa-Sonoma Marsh.

Contra Costa Open Space

A $13.5 million fundraising effort took off when the Conservancy awarded $3 million of Proposition 12 money to the Trust for Public Land (TPL) toward the purchase of almost 3,900 acres of the 4,441-acre Cowell Ranch.

The ranch borders Brentwood, one of the state’s fastest-growing cities; it also adjoins the Los Vaqueros Reservoir watershed, owned by the Contra Costa Water District, and Round Valley Park, owned by the East Bay Regional Park District. It is expected to link an assembly of wildlife habitats that has been built up over the last 20 years. Not included in the purchase are 473 acres for a Brentwood housing development, 30 acres for a future community college, and 70 acres for a Highway 4 bypass.

A 1993 survey identified 157 plant species and 54 different animals on the ranch, including several listed by state and federal agencies as threatened or of special concern.

TPL obtained a two-year option to purchase the ranch land from the S. H. Cowell Foundation a year ago and is working with the Conservancy and others to secure the rest of the required funds. Who will hold title to the property and manage it will be decided after discussions among TPL, partner organizations, and the public.

Funding is also expected from California State Parks, Wildlife Conservation Board, and Caltrans. State Parks owns the John Marsh homestead, a 14-acre inholding on the ranch, and will contribute $3 million for land that may eventually allow the creation of a historic park.

Funds for Oakland Park

The Conservancy has been working for three years with the City and Port of Oakland, the Unity Council, and the Trust for Public Land to create the nine-acre Union Point Park on the Oakland Estuary shoreline, at the edge of Oakland’s Fruitvale and San Antonio neighborhoods. These densely populated districts have the lowest proportion of parks and open space per resident.

In June, the Conservancy approved $1.17 million to enable the City of Oakland to begin the construction, tranforming a former industrial site into a unique green space and recreational asset. The City has committed $1.4 million for the project, which will include a link in the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Carousel Restoration

The East Bay Regional Park District will be able to restore the deteriorating machinery of the popular Tilden Park carousel thanks to a $197,000 Proposition 12 grant from the Conservancy. This carousel is listed in the National Historic Register. Its hand-carved figures and the larger of its two band organs, which play perforated paper roll music, are regarded as among the finest built in the U.S. It was built in 1911 by New York’s Herschell-Spillman company and was installed in Tilden Regional Park in 1948. It was privately owned unti 1976, when an extensive grassroots campaign led to its purchase by the Park District.

New Public Pier in San Francisco

The Port of San Francisco will receive $400,000 in Proposition 12 funds from the Conservancy toward the construction of a public pier at the foot of Mission Street, just south of the Downtown Ferry Terminal. The fully accessible 600-foot pier will extend from the Embarcadero Promenade into San Francisco Bay atop a 515-foot offshore breakwater constructed earlier this year to protect ferries from winter storm surges. An 85-foot trestle will span the open water between the breakwater and the shore. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2002 and to be completed within a year. Estimated total cost is $1,206,000. The Port is expected to chip in $300,000, the Association of Bay Area Governments $200,000, Caltrans $200,000, and the Resources Agency $106,000.

Glen Canyon Park Improvements

Most of San Francisco’s streams have been buried by development, but the North Fork of Islais Creek still flows openly near its headwaters in Glen Canyon Park. Along the creekside trail, overgrown with blackberries and willows, there are places where you can imagine yourself in the wild. At the lower edge of the park the creek disappears under pavement, then resurfaces before emptying into San Francisco Bay near Hunters Point. A small park at Third Street has opened the creek’s estuary to public enjoyment. Now the upper watershed is about to get some attention.

The Conservancy voted in June to provide $250,000 in Proposition 12 funds to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department for erosion control and habitat restoration along 3,300 feet of Islais Creek, and for trail improvement, all in Glen Canyon Park.

The work will be done by young people employed by the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, the San Francisco Conservation Corps, and Shelterbelt. Working with volunteers and the park department, they will replace invasive alien plants with native species, and install willow cuttings and other erosion control measures.

The City will match the Conservancy’s grant with $250,000 from Measure A, San Francisco’s Neighborhood Parks Bond, approved by the city’s voters last year.

San Pedro Creek Enhancement

The Conservancy approved $1.1 million in June to enable the Pacifica Land Trust to buy 1.1 acres at the mouth of San Pedro Creek next to Pacifica State Beach for habitat restoration, recreation, and flood control. The Land Trust will transfer the property to the City of Pacifica, which owns an adjacent 0.4 acre and will undertake the improvements as part of its flood prevention effort.

The City plans to remove a house that has repeatedly suffered flood damage, plant native wetland vegetation, and widen the creek channel and its floodplain. This will allow the creek to meander before it enters the Pacific Ocean, allowing higher floodwater flows and slower flood currents. The City expects to complete the restoration by October, and to monitor the results of its efforts for five years to make sure that new plantings survive and thrive.

San Pedro Creek is habitat for belted kingfishers, black-crowned night herons, green-backed herons, snowy egrets, and three endangered or threatened species: steelhead trout, San Francisco garter snakes, and California red-legged frogs.

The project will particularly benefit steelhead, which adjust from seawater to freshwater in the lagoon at the creek’s mouth before they migrate upstream. The San Pedro Creek Coalition has counted thousands of juveniles and nearly 300 adult steelhead there during the spring run. Fisheries biologists are intrigued by the return of so many fish to this creek year after year, despite numerous obstacles.

The upper watershed of San Pedro Creek is relatively undisturbed. The project will provide a continuous habitat corridor to the ocean for steelhead, birds, and other wildlife.

The City will reimburse the Conservancy $300,000 from its next budget, and will provide $500,000, matched by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Conservancy has been involved with San Pedro Creek since the early 1990s. Part of its current contribution comes from Proposition 12.

Coyote-Alamitos Canal Trail

With the help of $394,000 approved by the Conservancy in June, the City of San Jose will develop a master plan for the 4.5-mile Coyote-Alamitos Canal Trail, which will link Almaden Lake City Park and Santa Teresa County Park to the Coyote Park Chain. The trail will eventually serve a large urban population of joggers, walkers, skaters, bicyclists, and equestrians; will improve access to parks; and will connect to the planned 100-mile trail network in urban San Jose. In a related action, the Conservancy approved $200,000 for the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council to improve a 30-year-old Ridge Trail section along Coyote Creek.

Gaviota Coast Purchase

The Coastal Conservancy voted to provide the Trust for Public Land (TPL) with $1.6 million to acquire 2,500 acres of El Capitan Ranch on Santa Barbara County’s Gaviota coast.

This project will complete the Conservancy’s use of a $5 million appropriation provided in the 1999–2000 state budget for acquisitions (in fee and easement) along the 70-mile Gaviota coast, one of the last stretches of undeveloped and unprotected coastline in southern California, lying between Coal Oil Point and Point Sal. A total of 3,960 acres has been protected with these funds. $2 million in Proposition 12 funds for the Gaviota coast are still available.

El Capitan Ranch extends from El Capitan State Beach, nine miles west of Goleta, to Los Padres National Forest. The purchase will protect diverse natural habitats on the 3,100-acre property and will allow trails to be built from the beach to the mountains. A campground and an equestrian center will remain in private ownership. TPL intends to transfer the land to California State Parks, which is expected to contribute $5 million for the purchase.

Santa Monica Bay Restoration

The Conservancy approved $3.9 million in Proposition 12 money for 16 projects to improve the water quality and natural environment of Santa Monica Bay. These projects are all part of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, selected by the Santa Monica Bay Watershed Council, working with Conservancy staff, from 63 applications.

To restore riparian habitat in Solstice Canyon, $55,500; to study feasibility of removal of Rindge Dam, $200,000; for kelp restoration and maintenance along the Malibu coast, and creation of a mariculture system at the Ocean Discovery Center at the Santa Monica Pier, $50,000; to remove invasive, non-native plants along the lower reach of Malibu Creek, $189,000.

To study pond turtle population and movement in middle reach of Zuniga Creek, $63,800; to install catch basin debris devices at 20 storm drains on Sunset and Santa Monica Blvds, $30,000; to install a separation device to trap solids and remove oil and grease at a storm drain along Ballona Creek, and to sample and monitor water quality, $168,500; to install catch basin trash inserts and separation systems to capture, analyze, and characterize nature of trash from different land uses, $600,000.

To assess impacts of human activities in the nearshore environment on changes in fish populations, and create a database of historical trends, $100,000; to develop and implement curricula and field trips focusing on Santa Monica Bay habitats, $284,430; to evaluate restoration techniques for rocky intertidal communities, $88,421; to create a high-resolution base map classifying nearshore habitats and to assess data to determine availability and potential for restoration of kelp and rockfish habitat, $423,335; to map pollution sources, characterize problems, and generate and compile water-quality monitoring data, $350,600.

To develop a model for assessing risks posed by septic systems in the Malibu Creek/Civic Center area, and to develop a groundwater monitoring program, $667,000; to develop a Santa Monica geographical information system (GIS) and data-management system able to automatically retrieve monitoring data and imagery, $347,600; to develop a restoration plan for Topanga Creek Lagoon and wetlands, $298,760.