California Coast & Ocean

Wildlake Ranch, 3,045 acres in the mountains of Napa County east of Calistoga, extends from near the floor of the north end of Napa Valley to the summit of Three Peaks, 2,800 feet above sea level. It has been used mainly for deer hunting for the last 30 years, but has great biological diversity and contains more than a dozen types of vegetation communities.

In April, the Conservancy approved $2 million to the Land Trust of Napa County to contribute toward the purchase price of nearly $19 million. The balance was to come from a grant from the Betty and Gordon Moore Foundation, a loan from the Packard Foundation, and donations from individuals. The Nature Conservancy has declared the property a "core conservation area." The land trust requested that the Coastal Conservancy divert its funds to this purchase from another project that became infeasible. The land trust hopes to transfer title and management to State Parks.

Wildlake Ranch has five perennial springs, three major creeks, and high-quality obsidian outcrops that were once used by indigenous people. Parts of the property were logged or used for cattle grazing, but not since the 1970s. The land has great potential for trails, and if adjacent "school lands" (property held in trust by the State for the benefit of public schools) managed by the State Lands Commission can be included in the land trust's plans, the property could be linked to Robert Louis Stevenson State Park to the north. A ten-year lease of the school lands to the Department of Fish and Game expired in 2002, and the land trust is trying to make sure those lands remain protected and accessible to the public.

The Conservancy approved $1 million in Proposition 50 funds to the Sonoma Land Trust for various studies and plans for the Sears Point Restoration Project. The 2,327-acre Sears Point property lies between the mouth of the Petaluma River and Tolay Creek on the north shore of San Pablo Bay, and includes about 1,400 acres of diked agricultural lands and alluvial fans, and about 900 acres of uplands sloping to elevations of 400 feet. This portion of the once-vast tidal baylands was diked off for hay farms in the late 19th century, but has recently been recognized as a key area for restoration of historic wetlands. The Sears Point property is an essential stopover for migratory birds, and is home to many rare and endangered species, including burrowing owls, golden eagles, and the San Pablo Bay song sparrow.

The funds approved by the Conservancy in April will enable the land trust to prepare restoration plans, environmental reviews, designs and specifications, and to apply for all permits needed for the project. For a brief time recently these baylands seemed destined to be developed for a casino. Faced with strong opposition, the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria instead donated their $4 million purchase option to the land trust which, with help from the Conservancy and other organizations, foundations, and private donors, was able to acquire the property in 2004.

This summer, the Solano Land Trust will be able to start building a new nature and education center at Rush Ranch in Solano County with the help of $500,000 in Proposition 50 funds approved by the Conservancy. Construction is expected to be completed by year's end.

The 2,070-acre Rush Ranch, located along Grizzly Island Road just south of Fairfield and Suisun City, contains one of the best remaining examples of brackish (slightly salty) marsh in the United States. This marsh supports several endangered and threatened plants and animals, including the California clapper rail and salt marsh harvest mouse.

The nature center will stand within a complex of historic ranch buildings, including a working blacksmith shop, a 1932 Sears kit house, a barn, water tower, and working windmill. From the ranch complex, trails run through fields and along the edges of the marsh.

The center will have a classroom with multimedia capability, and a new parking lot and ADA-compliant restrooms will make it easier for visitors with limited mobility to take part in horse-drawn carriage tours of the ranch. Rush Ranch is not connected to the power grid; solar and wind power will supply most of the center's needs. The new building will include a field lab, office, and quarters for visiting scientists working on projects with the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, as well as accommodations for a caretaker.

In 1988, the Conservancy provided $1.5 million to the land trust toward its purchase of the ranch, and over $400,000 for improvements. The funds approved in April will be supplemented by $500,000 from the Estuarine Research Reserve and $250,000 from an anonymous donor. The Solano Land Trust, founded in 1986, is a pioneering collaboration among farmers, environmentalists, developers, and local government to preserve the agricultural legacy and natural landscapes of Solano County. Using innovative, nonconfrontational techniques, the organization has permanently protected over 16,000 acres of natural areas and farmland. Rush Ranch is the land trust's largest and oldest open space preserve.

The nonprofit Urban Ecology, which works to promote ecological health and social vitality in communities around San Francisco Bay, will prepare a conceptual plan for a 30-mile greenway in the Bay Area Rapid Transit corridor between Fremont and 15th Avenue in Oakland, on land that is now mostly unused and unsightly. The Conservancy approved $100,000 in Proposition 40 funds for the conceptual plan in April. The greenway as now envisioned would resemble the Ohlone Greenway, a multi-use trail built 25 years ago between Berkeley and El Cerrito that continues to be highly popular.

This opportunity to build a new greenway arises because BART is about to begin an extensive seismic retrofitting project that will take more than ten years to complete. Like the Ohlone Greenway, the proposed new greenway would include pedestrian and bicycle trails linked to the Bay and Ridge Trails, and also playgrounds and open space.

In keeping with the ongoing effort to remove barriers that keep salmon and steelhead from their spawning grounds, the Conservancy approved $971,800 for projects in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Counties in April. Two historically important steelhead trout runs along California's central coast will get a boost from the Coastal Conservancy grants.

The Cachuma Conservation Release Board will use its $371,800 to build a new bridge over Quiota Creek, a main tributary of the lower Santa Ynez River that is considered to be critical habitat for the watershed's remnant population of endangered southern steelhead trout, and to restore the stream channel to natural conditions. The Santa Ynez River, which drains the mountains north of Santa Barbara and enters the Pacific near Lompoc, once supported one of the largest runs of steelhead trout in southern California.

Construction of the Bradbury Dam in the 1950s closed off spawning habitat in the river's upper watershed, forcing steelhead to rely on tributaries in the lower watershed, such as Quiota Creek. The new bridge will replace a road crossing that is the most significant barrier keeping the fish from the creek's upper reach. The conservation release board plans to remove or modify the remaining eight barriers by 2010.

Santa Cruz County will use its $600,000 from the Conservancy to reconstruct a failed fish ladder and retrofit a culvert on Valencia Creek, opening the way to about five miles of steelhead spawning habitat. Valencia Creek is the principal tributary to Aptos Creek, which enters Monterey Bay about five miles east of the city of Santa Cruz.

These two projects are among 24 environmental restoration projects being conducted this year through the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program for Santa Cruz County, aimed at improving wildlife habitat and water quality by means of a voluntary, non-regulatory approach. The Conservancy helped develop the program and provided $4.5 million to get it started in 2003.

The Conservancy approved $100,000 to the nonprofit Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper for monitoring water quality in the Lower Ventura River watershed and conducting studies needed to prepare a comprehensive restoration strategy.

Volunteers from Ventura Stream Team, a partnership between Channelkeeper and the Ventura Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, have been monitoring water quality in the watershed for the last five years, providing baseline information for the stream studies to be undertaken using Conservancy funds. The project will also identify and prioritize potential restoration sites such as barriers to southern California steelhead passage, eroded stream banks, invasive vegetation, trash dumps, and pollution sources.

The biggest change in the watershed in many decades will come with the projected removal of Matilija Dam (see Coast & Ocean, Winter 2005-06), which will allow steelhead to return to their historic spawning grounds and will also restore sediment transport to the lower reaches of the river and to beaches. Much of the river corridor retains intact riparian woodlands, and the watershed supports great biological diversity, including more than 300 species of vertebrates, at least 26 of special status, including steelhead, tidewater goby, California red-legged frog, least Bell's vireo, peregrine falcon, black-shouldered kite, and California condor.

Heal the Bay will build new exhibits at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, upgrade deteriorating equipment, and analyze a possible expansion with the help of $650,000 approved by the Conservancy. The City of Santa Monica and Heal the Bay will contribute $150,000.

The new exhibits will focus on coastal conservation, watershed protection, and environmental stewardship, and will encourage hands-on learning experiences. They will emphasize local natural history, the Santa Monica Bay watershed, and marine environmental issues.

All the species on exhibit at the aquarium are found in or near Santa Monica Bay, and almost all the plants and animals have been collected by hand. Visitors can now see displays of animals that live under the pier, a kelp forest, touch tanks with animals of the rocky shoreline, and tanks with sharks, rays, octopuses, and other creatures.

The aquarium, which is below the Santa Monica Pier Carousel, had more than 65,000 visitors last year, including 13,000 students on group tours.

Efforts to restore Santa Monica Bay got a double boost in April when the Conservancy authorized $1 million to the City of Malibu for improving treatment of stormwater runoff into Malibu Creek and Lagoon, and also approved $350,000 to Santa Monica Baykeeper to continue restoring kelp habitat.

Malibu Creek, the principal source of water for Malibu Lagoon, has been plagued by pollution. The City will install equipment to divert runoff into the creek from storm drains at Cross Creek Road, Malibu Road, and Civic Center Way. The water will be screened for trash at each drain, then pumped to a treatment facility where it will be filtered and disinfected before it is released back into the creek. The City is also looking at ways to reuse the treated water other than returning it to the creek.

Malibu's Surfrider Beach, which adjoins the lagoon, has regularly received "F" grades on Heal the Bay's Beach Report Card, particularly during rainy season when the berm across the lagoon's mouth is breached and the lagoon is open to the ocean. Pollution has made beachgoers wary of going into the water.

The bay's health will also benefit from Santa Monica Baykeeper's kelp restoration along its northern shoreline. The giant kelp beds off the southern California coast have been reduced by more than 70 percent in the last 100 years by the impacts of coastal development, pollution, El Niño events, and an explosion of sea urchin populations.

Both projects are part of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, adopted by the State and the EPA in 1995 to improve water quality and restore habitat in the bay and its watersheds.

The Conservancy allotted $100,000 from the Environmental License Plate Fund to help the Maritime Museum of San Diego plan Tall Ship Exposition festivals for summer 2008 at California ports, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Historic tall ships and working craft will visit each port for up to five days. Multicultural educational and recreational activities to promote interest in urban waterfronts will be offered on board and on shore.

	Ebb & Flow *Coastal Conservancy News*
	Helping to Buy Wildlake Ranch Wildlake Ranch, 3,045 acres in the mountains of Napa County east of Calistoga, extends from near the floor of the north end of Napa Valley to the summit of Three Peaks, 2,800 feet above sea level. It has been used mainly for deer hunting for the last 30 years, but has great biological diversity and contains more than a dozen types of vegetation communities. In April, the Conservancy approved $2 million to the Land Trust of Napa County to contribute toward the purchase price of nearly $19 million. The balance was to come from a grant from the Betty and Gordon Moore Foundation, a loan from the Packard Foundation, and donations from individuals. The Nature Conservancy has declared the property a "core conservation area." The land trust requested that the Coastal Conservancy divert its funds to this purchase from another project that became infeasible. The land trust hopes to transfer title and management to State Parks. Wildlake Ranch has five perennial springs, three major creeks, and high-quality obsidian outcrops that were once used by indigenous people. Parts of the property were logged or used for cattle grazing, but not since the 1970s. The land has great potential for trails, and if adjacent "school lands" (property held in trust by the State for the benefit of public schools) managed by the State Lands Commission can be included in the land trust's plans, the property could be linked to Robert Louis Stevenson State Park to the north. A ten-year lease of the school lands to the Department of Fish and Game expired in 2002, and the land trust is trying to make sure those lands remain protected and accessible to the public. Sears Point Restoration Plans The Conservancy approved $1 million in Proposition 50 funds to the Sonoma Land Trust for various studies and plans for the Sears Point Restoration Project. The 2,327-acre Sears Point property lies between the mouth of the Petaluma River and Tolay Creek on the north shore of San Pablo Bay, and includes about 1,400 acres of diked agricultural lands and alluvial fans, and about 900 acres of uplands sloping to elevations of 400 feet. This portion of the once-vast tidal baylands was diked off for hay farms in the late 19th century, but has recently been recognized as a key area for restoration of historic wetlands. The Sears Point property is an essential stopover for migratory birds, and is home to many rare and endangered species, including burrowing owls, golden eagles, and the San Pablo Bay song sparrow. The funds approved by the Conservancy in April will enable the land trust to prepare restoration plans, environmental reviews, designs and specifications, and to apply for all permits needed for the project. For a brief time recently these baylands seemed destined to be developed for a casino. Faced with strong opposition, the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria instead donated their $4 million purchase option to the land trust which, with help from the Conservancy and other organizations, foundations, and private donors, was able to acquire the property in 2004. State Kicks in for Rush Ranch Nature Center This summer, the Solano Land Trust will be able to start building a new nature and education center at Rush Ranch in Solano County with the help of $500,000 in Proposition 50 funds approved by the Conservancy. Construction is expected to be completed by year's end. The 2,070-acre Rush Ranch, located along Grizzly Island Road just south of Fairfield and Suisun City, contains one of the best remaining examples of brackish (slightly salty) marsh in the United States. This marsh supports several endangered and threatened plants and animals, including the California clapper rail and salt marsh harvest mouse. The nature center will stand within a complex of historic ranch buildings, including a working blacksmith shop, a 1932 Sears kit house, a barn, water tower, and working windmill. From the ranch complex, trails run through fields and along the edges of the marsh. The center will have a classroom with multimedia capability, and a new parking lot and ADA-compliant restrooms will make it easier for visitors with limited mobility to take part in horse-drawn carriage tours of the ranch. Rush Ranch is not connected to the power grid; solar and wind power will supply most of the center's needs. The new building will include a field lab, office, and quarters for visiting scientists working on projects with the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, as well as accommodations for a caretaker. In 1988, the Conservancy provided $1.5 million to the land trust toward its purchase of the ranch, and over $400,000 for improvements. The funds approved in April will be supplemented by $500,000 from the Estuarine Research Reserve and $250,000 from an anonymous donor. The Solano Land Trust, founded in 1986, is a pioneering collaboration among farmers, environmentalists, developers, and local government to preserve the agricultural legacy and natural landscapes of Solano County. Using innovative, nonconfrontational techniques, the organization has permanently protected over 16,000 acres of natural areas and farmland. Rush Ranch is the land trust's largest and oldest open space preserve. New Greenway in BART Corridor The nonprofit Urban Ecology, which works to promote ecological health and social vitality in communities around San Francisco Bay, will prepare a conceptual plan for a 30-mile greenway in the Bay Area Rapid Transit corridor between Fremont and 15th Avenue in Oakland, on land that is now mostly unused and unsightly. The Conservancy approved $100,000 in Proposition 40 funds for the conceptual plan in April. The greenway as now envisioned would resemble the Ohlone Greenway, a multi-use trail built 25 years ago between Berkeley and El Cerrito that continues to be highly popular. This opportunity to build a new greenway arises because BART is about to begin an extensive seismic retrofitting project that will take more than ten years to complete. Like the Ohlone Greenway, the proposed new greenway would include pedestrian and bicycle trails linked to the Bay and Ridge Trails, and also playgrounds and open space. Help for Steelhead Trout In keeping with the ongoing effort to remove barriers that keep salmon and steelhead from their spawning grounds, the Conservancy approved $971,800 for projects in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Counties in April. Two historically important steelhead trout runs along California's central coast will get a boost from the Coastal Conservancy grants. The Cachuma Conservation Release Board will use its $371,800 to build a new bridge over Quiota Creek, a main tributary of the lower Santa Ynez River that is considered to be critical habitat for the watershed's remnant population of endangered southern steelhead trout, and to restore the stream channel to natural conditions. The Santa Ynez River, which drains the mountains north of Santa Barbara and enters the Pacific near Lompoc, once supported one of the largest runs of steelhead trout in southern California. Construction of the Bradbury Dam in the 1950s closed off spawning habitat in the river's upper watershed, forcing steelhead to rely on tributaries in the lower watershed, such as Quiota Creek. The new bridge will replace a road crossing that is the most significant barrier keeping the fish from the creek's upper reach. The conservation release board plans to remove or modify the remaining eight barriers by 2010. Santa Cruz County will use its $600,000 from the Conservancy to reconstruct a failed fish ladder and retrofit a culvert on Valencia Creek, opening the way to about five miles of steelhead spawning habitat. Valencia Creek is the principal tributary to Aptos Creek, which enters Monterey Bay about five miles east of the city of Santa Cruz. These two projects are among 24 environmental restoration projects being conducted this year through the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program for Santa Cruz County, aimed at improving wildlife habitat and water quality by means of a voluntary, non-regulatory approach. The Conservancy helped develop the program and provided $4.5 million to get it started in 2003. Lower Ventura River Habitat Study The Conservancy approved $100,000 to the nonprofit Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper for monitoring water quality in the Lower Ventura River watershed and conducting studies needed to prepare a comprehensive restoration strategy. Volunteers from Ventura Stream Team, a partnership between Channelkeeper and the Ventura Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, have been monitoring water quality in the watershed for the last five years, providing baseline information for the stream studies to be undertaken using Conservancy funds. The project will also identify and prioritize potential restoration sites such as barriers to southern California steelhead passage, eroded stream banks, invasive vegetation, trash dumps, and pollution sources. The biggest change in the watershed in many decades will come with the projected removal of Matilija Dam (see Coast & Ocean, Winter 2005-06), which will allow steelhead to return to their historic spawning grounds and will also restore sediment transport to the lower reaches of the river and to beaches. Much of the river corridor retains intact riparian woodlands, and the watershed supports great biological diversity, including more than 300 species of vertebrates, at least 26 of special status, including steelhead, tidewater goby, California red-legged frog, least Bell's vireo, peregrine falcon, black-shouldered kite, and California condor. Freshening up Santa Monica Pier Aquarium Heal the Bay will build new exhibits at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, upgrade deteriorating equipment, and analyze a possible expansion with the help of $650,000 approved by the Conservancy. The City of Santa Monica and Heal the Bay will contribute $150,000. The new exhibits will focus on coastal conservation, watershed protection, and environmental stewardship, and will encourage hands-on learning experiences. They will emphasize local natural history, the Santa Monica Bay watershed, and marine environmental issues. All the species on exhibit at the aquarium are found in or near Santa Monica Bay, and almost all the plants and animals have been collected by hand. Visitors can now see displays of animals that live under the pier, a kelp forest, touch tanks with animals of the rocky shoreline, and tanks with sharks, rays, octopuses, and other creatures. The aquarium, which is below the Santa Monica Pier Carousel, had more than 65,000 visitors last year, including 13,000 students on group tours. For a Healthier Santa Monica Bay Efforts to restore Santa Monica Bay got a double boost in April when the Conservancy authorized $1 million to the City of Malibu for improving treatment of stormwater runoff into Malibu Creek and Lagoon, and also approved $350,000 to Santa Monica Baykeeper to continue restoring kelp habitat. Malibu Creek, the principal source of water for Malibu Lagoon, has been plagued by pollution. The City will install equipment to divert runoff into the creek from storm drains at Cross Creek Road, Malibu Road, and Civic Center Way. The water will be screened for trash at each drain, then pumped to a treatment facility where it will be filtered and disinfected before it is released back into the creek. The City is also looking at ways to reuse the treated water other than returning it to the creek. Malibu's Surfrider Beach, which adjoins the lagoon, has regularly received "F" grades on Heal the Bay's Beach Report Card, particularly during rainy season when the berm across the lagoon's mouth is breached and the lagoon is open to the ocean. Pollution has made beachgoers wary of going into the water. The bay's health will also benefit from Santa Monica Baykeeper's kelp restoration along its northern shoreline. The giant kelp beds off the southern California coast have been reduced by more than 70 percent in the last 100 years by the impacts of coastal development, pollution, El Niño events, and an explosion of sea urchin populations. Both projects are part of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, adopted by the State and the EPA in 1995 to improve water quality and restore habitat in the bay and its watersheds. Tall Ships Festival The Conservancy allotted $100,000 from the Environmental License Plate Fund to help the Maritime Museum of San Diego plan Tall Ship Exposition festivals for summer 2008 at California ports, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Historic tall ships and working craft will visit each port for up to five days. Multicultural educational and recreational activities to promote interest in urban waterfronts will be offered on board and on shore.