Volunteers spend hours removing trash from Eden Landing shoreline
Non-native plants also cleared; further cleanups set for July
By Michelle Beaver, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Sunday, June 25, 2006
In only three hours, volunteers removed a lot of trash at Eden Landing, a portion of shoreline that is in Hayward and Union City.But Saturday's cleanup is just the beginning, said Marilyn Latta, director of habitat restoration with Save the Bay. Her organization co-sponsored the event with the California Department of Fish and Game.
"These are all small steps that are part of a really big project," Latta said. "We're excited that we're getting the public out there and teaching people about the changes that are coming."
A group of almost 20 volunteers removed trash and non-native plants. They also collected salt grass seeds and clippings. The seeds and clippings will be taken to a botanical nursery in Oakland where they will grow to be replanted at Eden Landing.
Salt grass is native along the shore and contributes to a healthy habitat by preventing soil erosion. This fall, one of many levees in the Eden Landing area will be breached to restore 600acres of wetlands. Housing developments and salt ponds have been gobbling up Bay Area wetlands for years, a situation that environmental groups are trying to reverse.
The entire Eden Landing area is about 6,000acres. The land and water is beautiful but is plagued by trash that flows in from various streams.
A great deal of the Hayward shoreline, which is near Eden Landing, has seen trouble lately. A storm on New Year's Eve damaged levees, access roads and trails, and caused severe erosion, said Mark Taylor of the East Bay Regional Park District. The damaged levees are allowing debris to infiltrate the area.
"It was a bad day," Taylor said of the storm. Workers from Save the Bay and the California Department of Fish and Game are working with FEMA to secure restoration funds. Eden Landing, for the most part, was unscathed.
Future volunteer cleanups at Eden Landing will be from 9 a.m. to noon July 8 and 29. For more information on the project, visit http://www.saveSFbay.org or call (510) 452-9261, ext. 109.
Michelle Beaver is a general assignment reporter who also covers police and San Lorenzo. She can be reached at (510) 293-2463.