An array of diverse coastal projects moved forward in every coastal county between May and August 2000 as the Coastal Conservancy worked with many partners to resolve land use conflicts, improve public access, preserve open space and farmland, protect shorelines from eroding, safeguard habitat for plants and animals, and improve urban waterfronts for the public’s use and enjoyment. Here are a few of the many active projects:

San Diego County

The City of San Diego is working to acquire 10 acres of undisturbed coastal mesa on Carmel Mountain with the help of $4.5 million authorized by the Conservancy in June. The City has already invested $10 million toward land acquisitions meant to secure a wildlife corridor between Los Peñasquitos Canyon and Torrey Pines State Reserve/Los Peñasquitos Lagoon. The San Diego coast horned lizard and other sensitive species survive in this habitat. Also contributing toward the land acquisitions are the Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Crestridge Mitigation Bank.

Orange County

The Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Report for the Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration Project was released in late July for a 45-day period of public comment. This document is the result of more than three years of consultations with stakeholders, engineering and design of seven alternative restoration plans, plus six months of additional environmental review. For information on how to see a copy, call Dwight Sanders at the State Lands Commission: (916) 574-1880, or see the Commission’s web site: www.slc.ca.gov.

Los Angeles County

The City of Long Beach is restoring the deteriorating Belmont Pier and improving the neighboring plaza with the help of $525,000 approved by the Conservancy in June. The $7.8 million project includes the installation of a wheelchair-accessible ramp from the parking lot to the pier and other improvements. Contributions from other agencies and funding sources are expected. The 1,620-foot-long concrete pier is at the eastern end of the ocean bluff that extends over two miles east from the mouth of the Los Angeles River.

Ventura County

The City of Buenaventura will place cobble material on Surfer’s Point at Seaside Park, at the Ventura River mouth, to increase the size of the beach and protect the shoreline bike path and adjacent parking lot. The Conservancy approved $250,000 in August for the project, which will be monitored for 18 months to gauge its usefulness in stabilizing the shoreline. In the 1980s and 1990s, storms severely damaged the beach and the shoreline between the river mouth and the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The bike path leads to the Ventura Pier, which reopened in April after a $2.2 million renovation that will help it withstand powerful ocean waves that have repeatedly damaged it. A 1995 storm destroyed 400 feet of the pier and carried pilings out to sea.

Santa Barbara County

The Santa Barbara Flood Control District will undertake erosion-control work that will also restore and protect 28 acres of wildlife habitat along Santa Rosa Creek, a tributary of the Santa Ynez River, using $500,000 in Conservancy funds plus an expected $500,000 in other state grants. Over the past two decades, severe streambank erosion has destroyed nearly all the riparian habitat along a mile-long reach of the creek between Highway 246 and Santos Road. Several erosion-control structures and drains will be built and a habitat restoration program will be undertaken.

Monterey County

The Institute for Fisheries Resources will evaluate alternatives for modifying the San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River, including the feasibility of removing all or part of it to improve fish passage and wildlife habitat. In August the Coastal Conservancy approved $50,000 to the Institute for the study, which is expected to be completed within four months. The Carmel River drains a 255-square-mile watershed in the Santa Lucia Mountains and is the principal water supply for the Monterey Peninsula. The San Clemente Dam, built in 1921 about 15 miles above the river mouth, has lost more than 90 percent of its storage capacity to sediment buildup. Because of the weight of sediment now behind it, the state Division of Safety of Dams has declared this dam unsafe. To get past the dam, the river’s endangered run of steelhead must first ascend the longest fish ladder in the country, then pass through the very shallow sediment field behind it. Passage is becoming increasingly difficult because of the lack of a clearly defined channel. Fish that make it as far as the Los Padres Dam, ten miles farther upstream, are captured in a holding tank and transported to upstream spawning areas.

San Mateo County

A 4,000-foot stretch of wheelchair-accessible Coastal Trail will be built between Rockaway Beach and Pacifica State Beach in the City of Pacifica. The Conservancy approved $300,000 for the $680,000 project, which will also use federal and city funds. The new trail will replace a network of informal paths that cross bluffs and dunes.

Sonoma County

Near Occidental, the nonprofit LandPaths got a $500,000 assist from the Conservancy in its effort to buy an ancient 28-acre redwood grove for $2 million. The grove is atop a 1,200-foot-high ridge on Fitzpatrick Lane, west of Occidental. The owners have an approved timber harvest plan and intend to start logging if the sale does not occur. LandPaths has raised over $100,000 in private donations, Save the Redwoods League has agreed to provide $150,000, and the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District has provided $1.25 million to complete the funding package. The acquisition is expected to be completed in September.

The Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District will undertake studies related to flood control and environmental restoration of Sonoma Creek in the Schellville area with $160,000 in Conservancy funds approved in May.

Mendocino County

The City of Ukiah will improve Gobbi Street Riverside Park on the Russian River with $120,000 approved by the Coastal Conservancy in May. Ten acres of the 42-acre park will be restored as wildlife habitat and will serve as a buffer between the park and vineyards. Native vegetation will be planted along the river and concrete debris that has been dumped on the site will be removed.

Two Mendocino County headlands are to be acquired by local land trusts to protect them for everyone’s use and enjoyment. In May, the Conservancy approved $1.5 million to the Mendocino Land Trust toward the purchase and management of 71 acres in Caspar, including the Caspar Headlands and land north of Caspar Creek. In August, the Conservancy approved another $500,000 to match a Conservation LandsShare TEA grant of $1.5 million. An option to purchase the property for $3.5 million was obtained by the Trust for Public Land in November 1999 and expires in October. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The Conservancy also approved $727,000 to the Westport Village Society to acquire and manage about nine acres of oceanfront property known as the Westport Headlands, about 15 miles north of Fort Bragg.

Humboldt County

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District will prepare a comprehensive natural resource management plan for Humboldt Bay with the help of $100,000 approved by the Conservancy in May. Over $400,000 has already been contributed by federal, state, and local agencies toward this effort to consider upcoming issues and opportunities on the Bay, the largest estuary and port between Coos Bay, Oregon, and San Francisco Bay.

Del Norte County

The snow geese that come to Lake Earl each spring prefer the lush young grasses on lands grazed by cattle to the more natural public lands in the area. Dairy ranchers find that the grass does not fully recover after the geese leave. The goose population has grown in recent years, and the farmers have been increasingly distressed. So lately the State Parks Department has been mowing some meadows and allowing cattle to graze in them for the benefit of the snow geese. This has alleviated the ranchers’ problem for now. A longterm management plan is being crafted by the Coastal Conservancy, the Department of Fish and Game, State Parks, and other agencies in partnerships with ranchers and the county.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY
CONSERVANCY NEWS

The Port of San Francisco will use $100,000 from the Conservancy, approved in August, to design Brannan Street Wharf, a 1.8-acre public plaza on the waterfront between the Bay Bridge and Pacific Bell Park. Piers 34 and 36 are to be removed to make way for the plaza, which will extend from Pier 32 to Pier 38. Piers 30 and 32, now used for parking, will be used for the Port’s new cruise terminal.

In Oakland, Alameda County, Union Point Park is being created on the Oakland Estuary, on the border of Oakland’s Fruitvale and San Antonio neighborhoods, which have the greatest population density in the city and the lowest proportion of park space per resident. In May the Conservancy approved $415,000 to the Port of Oakland to acquire two-thirds of an acre on the waterfront, plus $330,000 to the nonprofit Spanish Speaking Unity Council to complete construction drawings for the park.

More than 1,000 local residents and 50 community organizations participated in the design, which will feature a waterfront promenade that will add to the Bay Trail, a large open field for informal play and public events, picnic areas, a public dock and pier, a restaurant with outdoor seating, a new youth center, and an interpretive area for public education about the estuary. A site for water taxi service is also included. The Unity Council will manage planning and construction of the new nine-acre park. The City will maintain the park after it has been built.

In Richmond, Contra Costa County, the Urban Creeks Council is restoring 800 feet of Baxter Creek in Booker T. Anderson Jr. Park with the help of $45,000 approved in June by the Conservancy. The creek’s channel is being reshaped to restore pools, riffles, and meanders. Boulders and riprap will be removed and the banks rebuilt with native plants. Native trees and shrubs will be planted to prevent bank erosion and provide shade, habitat, and forage for wildlife. The vegetation will also filter pollution that would otherwise enter the creek and run into San Francisco Bay. The park offers play areas, several athletic fields, and a community center.

Land along the lower reach of the Napa River will be acquired for improved wildlife habitat and flood management, with the Conservancy contributing up to $1.7 million, approved in June. The Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District will contribute over $5 million of the funds needed to acquire up to 417 acres at a total cost of $6.75 million. The Napa River/Napa Creek Flood Protection Project, developed through several years of community efforts, has become a model for planners, engineers, and communities elsewhere. Its total cost is estimated at $180 million.

COOL WEB SITES

A new web site, www.eNature.com, offers free regional guides to wildlife throughout the United States. By entering a zip code, you can look at birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians of that region, as pictured in the National Audubon Society Field Guides. The site also has national field guides to butterflies, insects, spiders, fishes, seashells, seashore creatures, trees, and wildflowers, as well as habitat guides. This is by far the most comprehensive and user-friendly site we’ve found for wildlife identification. The photographs are outstanding and easily enlarged, and complemented by thorough, informative text. The site was launched in February by a partnership that includes Chanticleer Books, publisher of the Field Guides. The free services are supported in part by advertising and an on-line store. Additional services are available through membership.

If you haven’t checked out Tim Anderson’s site, www.birdingbyboat.org, as recommended in our Winter 1999–2000 issue, give it a try when you need to put a smile on your face. He’s added a series of delightful videos made in the “wilds” of the Los Angeles–Orange County border.

—HMH