By Mark Prado,
Marin Independent Journal
Friday, August 19, 2005
OAKLAND - Let the mud flow.
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission yesterday voted 19-0 in favor of a plan to bring dredged mud from the Port of Oakland and plop it on the runway at the old Hamilton Field in Novato to restore the area to wetlands. A dike then will be breached to let bay water back in.
Backers say the restoration will help sustain endangered species and restore the area of the bay to what it once was. Work on the restoration will start this fall and take up to eight years to complete.
The entire Hamilton Wetlands Restoration Project will provide for the restoration of 1,000 acres of tidal and seasonal wetlands at the airfield and adjacent taxi areas. The potential addition of an adjoining Bel Marin Keys parcel could expand the wetlands to 2,500 acres, making it the largest restoration in the Bay Area.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity to restore a large area back to habitat," said Marin County Supervisor Charles McGlashan, a commission member.
Ball fields, a polo field and even a skate park were bandied about as potential uses for the site over the years. But a cadre of environmental groups and state agencies were determined to return the area to what it once was: a sprawling wetlands filled with a diverse array of plants and animals, including migrating waterfowl.
At one time there were 196,000 acres of wetlands across the length of San Francisco Bay, but that was reduced to 36,000 acres as land was diked for farming and development.
Along with it, legions of fish, California clapper rail, brown pelicans, California black rail and salt marsh harvest mice, red-legged frogs, snowy egrets and great blue herons were lost.
After farmers used the land, the military took over the property and used it until 1994, when the base closed.
Commissioner Geoffrey Gibbs recalled hearing planes thundering down the Hamilton runway as a child and applauded the wetlands project.
The project will cost more than $100 million, with the federal government paying 75 percent and the state 25 percent, officials said.
A portion of the Bay Trail - a trail that rings the Bay Area - will travel along the edge of the restored wetlands, allowing the public to observe the wetlands and animal life, planners said.
"It's a terrific achievement," said Sean Randolph, chairman of the commission, who resides in Marin.