To speed up Bair Island's restoration, the Redwood City Council adopted a plan last night to protect the urban wildlife refuge and authorize the mayor and city manager to urge federal agencies to also come on board.
In addition to habitat protection and developing a refuge for two endangered species, the California Clapper Rail and Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, the city's main goal is to open the refuge and the Redwood Shores levee system to the public for recreational use, including dogs on leash.
The council's resolution has the support of several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Save the Bay and the Audubon Society.
Currently Bair Island is accessed by Whipple Avenue but the city's proposal is to close off Whipple so predators such as cats won't have access to the refuge.
"We'd like to make it an island again," Councilwoman Rosanne Foust said.
Foust, Mayor Jeff Ira and Vice Mayor Barbara Pierce spent several months on the restoration plan and the city hired consultant W.H. Fawcett to prepare materials for presentation to the National Wildlife Refuge System and National Fish and Wildlife Service. There is already a federally-backed plan in place to restore the island but Redwood City's action pushes for restoration efforts to begin right away with some slight modifications.
The city is fast-tracking the renewal in an attempt to take advantage of dredge spoils from the Port of Redwood City. The port must be adequately dredged to accommodate container ships and having the port dump its dredged material nearby will benefit the it, while allowing the city to add land to Bair Island for restoration.
Former Redwood City Planning Commissioner Ralph Nobles, who has recently chastised the city for pushing the Marina Shores high-rise development, came out in full support of the Bair Island plan.
"I am pleased to see cooperation. I give the city my blessing in this undertaking. When the levees come down and the tides come back, the city will have a true asset," Nobles said.
The island is a valuable local resource, said Melissa Hippard, director of the Loma Prieta chapter of the Sierra Club.
"We want maximum habitat for endangered species. The island suffered from salt production and neglect," Hippard said.
Bair Island's 323 acres of open space was given to the Peninsula Open Space Trust before being deeded to the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. Its refuge status leaves any restoration up to the federal government. In 1999 and 2002, the Army Corps of Engineers increased levee heights on the island and cut off pedestrian use. The city wants any renovation plan to include a way for residents to enjoy the island and the surrounding San Francisco Bay.
Despite the multiple agencies involved in maintaining the island, the overall objective is "to preserve and protect what can possibly become the largest, urban wildlife refuge in the western United States," Ira wrote to Judge H. Craig Manson, the assistant secretary of the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Service.
Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail at silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.
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