California Coast & Ocean

Access, Wetland Restoration on Yosemite Slough
San Francisco’s southeastern waterfront, long dominated by industrial and military uses and used as a dumping ground for toxic wastes, is slowly being cleaned up, restored, and opened to the public. In October, the Conservancy helped speed up that work by granting $3.3 million to the California State Parks Foundation to begin constructing some of the extensive improvements planned for Yosemite Slough in the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. The funds are available through Proposition 50, a resources bond act approved by the state’s voters in 2002, and were provided to the Conservancy by the Wildlife Conservation Board.

Yosemite Slough is a small tidal inlet between Hunters Point and Candlestick Point that was once part of a biologically diverse wetlands ecosystem. The slough was gradually filled for industrial and residential uses, and is now only a remnant channel surrounded by tidal mudflats, salt marsh, weedy vacant lots, and a parking lot, with broken rubble along much of the shoreline. The area’s soil and water have been contaminated by several sources, including toxic materials used as landfill and decades of dumping by local industries. In addition, three combined stormwater/sewage outfalls discharge overflows, including partially treated sewage, into the slough during heavy rains.

There is currently no public access to the slough, but despite its degraded condition, thousands of birds can be seen there on any given day. A wildlife survey conducted from January 2003 through April 2004 counted 118 species of birds at the site.

The funds approved by the Conservancy, to be matched by more than $8 million from other sources, will enable the parks foundation to excavate and remove contaminated fill from 11.5 acres of degraded wetlands on the northern and western shores of the slough, restore these wetlands, and build an isolated nesting island for birds. A visitor center and public parking will be constructed near the slough, and an open, grassy public recreation area will be created.

Using additional, previously approved Conservancy funding, the San Francisco Bay Trail Project will build almost a quarter-mile of trail along the shoreline, connecting Candlestick Point SRA to the Hunters Point neighborhood.

The Yosemite Slough project site covers a total of 34 acres. The northern 24 acres will be improved during this first phase of the project--seven will be restored to tidal wetlands and 17 to transitional and upland areas. Plans for future phases include almost a mile of new trails, a second bird island, and 2.5 acres of new parkland along the slough with lighting, fencing, benches, and other visitor amenities. Twenty acres of wetlands will provide nursery habitat for fish.

The first phase of improvements, which includes the work partly funded by the Conservancy, is expected to cost almost $12 million, about half of the estimated cost for the entire project.

Trinidad Pier to Be Rebuilt
A $375,000 grant approved by the Conservancy in October will allow the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria to move ahead with the reconstruction of the deteriorating Trinidad Pier, the northernmost oceanfront pier in California. The pier, in Trinidad Harbor, is one of the primary commercial and sport-fishing launch facilities along the North Coast, as well as a scenic destination for tourists. Its loss could significantly harm the region’s economy.

Built in 1946, the wooden pier is no longer safe for heavy use, and runoff into the bay from washing down the pier--and from the fish-cleaning and boat haul-out facilities associated with it--is contaminating nearby kelp beds. The Rancheria owns the pier and plans to replace it with a new structure built of non-contaminating materials. The new pier will have current plumbing and wash-down systems to eliminate existing water-quality problems. The Rancheria will use its Conservancy funds to develop engineering designs, complete the environmental documentation, and prepare permit applications for the reconstruction. This work must be completed before the Rancheria can compete for construction grants from the California Department of Boating and Waterways and other sources.