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Bulletin Board
Nine California Plants Listed
Nine "really rare" plants associated with upland wet spots, seeps and warm springs in California got federally listed as endangered on October 22, 1997, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife's Jan Knight. The plants, many of which inhabit the North Bay region and seven of which are already state-listed, include Clara Hunt's milkvetch, white sedge, Sonoma alopecurus, Vine Hill clarkia, Pitkin Marsh lily, Kenwood Marsh checkerbloom, Calistoga allocarya, Napa bluegrass, and showy indian clover. Most of them occur only on private land, says Knight, and thus no federal "take" (loss) limits can be established for the plants under current law. Indeed there is "no federal nexus" for the kind of protection enjoyed by other species under wetland development or levee maintenance permits, for example, according to Knight. The Service is currently working on a recovery plan. According to environmental groups in lawsuits with the Service, the nine plants are among 95 species nationwide and 160 in California that the Service has allowed to dwindle toward extinction by stalling on final listings. Contact: Jan Knight (916)979-2710
Greener Oakland Businesses
Abbey Press and 23rd Street Auto Repair recently received official certification as "green" businesses through a program run by a partnership of elected officials, environmental regulators, utility companies and business groups. To be certified, a business must be in compliance with environmental protection requirements and also conserve energy, water and other resources. Businesses that meet the standards get a window decal and logo to show off to their customers. Abbey has reduced paper waste and eliminated chemicals from as many printing processes as possible, even advocating paperless business transactions. The auto repair store carefully manages hazardous materials and water. "My customers know that I run a clean, environmentally friendly garage because local compliance agencies and utilities have been here to verify it," says the shop's Andres Herrera. Contact: Pam Evans (510)567-6770
Warm Ocean Lures Bass
Scientists recently began exploring the possibility that the long-term decline in the Estuary's striped bass population may have been initiated by a 1976-1977 global climate shift, rather than by low freshwater flows and high exports over the years. New findings suggest that the shift in global climate produced frequent periods of warmer ocean temperatures that stimulated migration to the ocean by many older striped bass. This resulted in a sharp decline in the abundance of older fish, which subsequently contributed to the declining recruitment of 3-year-olds in the Estuary. Although Atlantic striped bass have traditionally migrated and wandered in the near-shore ocean, the sudden and frequent reversions to such behavior by this popular introduced sport fish in California initiated a decline in the Estuary. Contact: Bill Bennett wabennett@ucdavis.edu (Largely excerpted from the Autumn 1997 IEP Newsletter).
Water Wars Bubble
Virtually all parties to negotiations over the allocation of 800,000 acre feet of water set aside for fish restoration by the CVPIA are unhappy with a compromise plan announced by the Department of the Interior in late November. The plan seeks to meet the CVPIA's fish restoration goals though a combination of eight measures, including water releases on the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. "We're very disappointed with Interior's actions," says Save the Bay's Barry Nelson, "They have weakened protection for fish in dry years." Farmers are also displeased: one day after the plan was announced the San Luis & Delta Mendota Authority, which represents large agricultural water users, filed suit in federal court to have it thrown out.
New Habitat Bill on the Hill
Republican John Chaffe of Rhode Island introduced a new bill this October that would create a national estuarine habitat program designed to restore a million acres of wetlands across America by the year 2010. Supporters say Senate bill S1222 has 21 co-sponsors on all sides of the political debate. Rather than drawing money from U.S. EPA and competing with the existing National Estuary Program, the bill seeks $100 million a year from sources such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Save the Bay's Barry Nelson says there are lots of worthy restoration projects in S.F. Bay that might never get a chance of being funded without it.
Treasure Island Treatment Marsh?
Environmentalists and public trust groups are proposing that Treasure Island's base clean-up and redevelopment include creation of a 10-20 acre water treatment wetland on the island's eastern flank. A new 55-page feasibility report explores opportunities for building a wetland to treat stormwater before it enters the Bay. The island was constructed on Bay fill at high cost to the estuarine environment, so it seems fitting that it now contribute to a cleaner Bay, say report authors. The proposed wetland could be constructed in an area that already needs to be excavated to remove contaminated soil. Project proponents - Arc Ecology, Golden Gate Audubon, Public Trust Group and Urban Ecology - have been shopping the proposal around and recently succeeded in getting it into one of the redevelopment's EIS/EIR options. The environmental impact report is due by January. Contact: Eve Bach (415)495-1786
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