Environmental Impact Statement - Sonoma Land Trust

California Department of Fish and Game
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Section 3.6. Land Use and Public Utilities
The Project’s ecological goals are based on the recommendations of the 1999
Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Report for the San Francisco Estuary (San
Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project 1999). As described in
the Goals Report, the overall goal for the North Bay Subregion – the subregion in
which the Project is located – is “to restore large areas of tidal marsh and to
enhance seasonal wetlands.” Specifically for the Project area, the Goals Report
recommends the following unique restoration opportunities.
• Restore a continuous, wide band of tidal marsh along the bayshore from
Tolay Creek to the Petaluma River;
• Establish managed marsh or enhanced seasonal pond habitat on agricultural
baylands that are not restored to tidal marsh;
• Provide natural transitions at the marsh/upland ecotone and buffers in the
adjacent uplands;
• Encourage seasonal wetlands and managed marsh creation at Burdell Ranch
around Gnoss Airfield, and in areas constrained by infrastructure along the
Highway 37 corridor between Sears Point and the Petaluma River;
• Protect and enhance moist grassland habitats on the eastern portion of this
segment. (San Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project 1999).
McAteer–Petris Act, San Francisco Bay Plan, and
Coastal Zone Management Act
The McAteer–Petris Act, passed by the State of California in 1965, established
the BCDC as the state agency responsible for regulating development in and
around San Francisco Bay and directed BCDC to undertake the planning effort
that resulted in the development of the San Francisco Bay Plan. The Bay Plan
describes the values associated with the Bay and presents policies and planning
maps to guide future uses of the Bay and its shoreline. Under the Bay Plan the
priorities for suitable uses of the shoreline are ports, water-related industry,
airports, wildlife refuges, and water-related recreation. The project site is
designated for wildlife priority use. The Bay Plan also proposes to add land to the
Bay refuge system; encourages public access via marinas, waterfront parks, and
beaches; and requires the provision of maximum access along the Bay
shorelines—except where public uses conflict with other significant uses or
where public use is inappropriate because of safety concerns.
The federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 encourages states to
voluntarily develop CMPs to preserve and protect the unique features of each
coastal area. BCDC is the state coastal management agency for the San Francisco
Bay segment of the coastal zone, and its laws and policies constitute the federally
approved state coastal management program for the Bay.
Sears Point Wetland and Watershed Restoration
Project Final Environmental Impact
Report/Environmental Impact Statement
3.6-5
April 2012