Environmental Impact Statement - Sonoma Land Trust

California Department of Fish and Game
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Chapter 1. Introduction, Purpose, and Need
Bay Trail Plan and Sonoma Bay Trail Corridor Plan
ABAG developed the Bay Trail Plan (Association of Bay Area Governments
1989) as a framework for the implementation of the Bay Trail, a continuous
multi-use shoreline trail that would encircle San Francisco Bay. In Sonoma
County, the alignments that were chosen by ABAG at the time the Plan was
prepared in 1989 primarily followed State Highways 121, 116, and 37, which
raised concerns about safety for future trail users. In 2000, Sonoma County
Regional Parks was awarded a planning grant from ABAG to analyze the
feasibility of new trail alignments given the changes in land ownership, use,
population and other factors that have occurred since completion of the 1989 Bay
Trail Plan. The resulting Regional Park study, called the Sonoma County Bay
Trail Corridor Plan, consists of seven separate sections of multi-use trail from
Port Sonoma in the west to the Napa County line in the east (Sonoma County
Regional Parks 2003). Among the alignments considered in the study is “Section
II—Reclamation Road to Tolay Creek,” which crosses the Sears Point property
via the SMART alignment right-of-way, and connects to the Bay Trail segments
currently terminating at Sonoma Baylands to the west and Tubbs Island to the
east. The proposed project would comply with the Bay Trail Plan and Sonoma
Bay Trail Corridor Plan through the extension of the San Francisco Bay Trail.
Public Involvement
Restoration Plan Development
Since 2004, SLT conducted extensive, on-site data collection in support of a
multi-stakeholder driven wetlands and watershed restoration plan, culminating in
the Project. The Project builds upon and refines information presented in the
previously released Conceptual Restoration Plan, Draft Preliminary Restoration
Plan (DPRP), Final Preliminary Restoration Plan (FPRP)—prepared by Wetlands
and Water Resources (2005a, 2006, and 2007)—and several other related
planning efforts.
Beginning in 2004, SLT held the first of several public stakeholder meetings to
review and discuss wetland and watershed restoration scenarios being considered
for the Sears Point property. SLT developed preliminary restoration plans and
presented them to a stakeholder advisory group of over 50 organizations and
individuals, including staff from public agencies, foundations, and conservation
organizations, as well as those who live, work, and recreate in the Sears Point
area. SLT conducted public meetings in September 2004, May 2005, and March
2006. At and following each meeting, SLT received feedback on restoration
scenarios that was then used to refine wetland and watershed restoration
alternatives. SLT also convened a panel of technical experts, referred to as the
Technical Advisory Committee, in December 2005. That panel critiqued project
designs and offered suggestions to improve ecosystem functions in the restored
wetlands and watershed
Sears Point Wetland and Watershed Restoration
Project Final Environmental Impact
Report/Environmental Impact Statement
1-13
April 2012