Conservation Objectives for the San Francisco Bay Estuary
As Outlined in Planning documents of
North America’s Major Bird Conservation Initiatives 

A Guiding Document for Revisions to ‘Restoring the Estuary’ —
the Implementation Strategy of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture

Click here to download a pdf version of the “Guiding Document”

Since the writing of Restoring the Estuary, Executive Order 13186 (see Chapter 5) was enacted to provide a mandate for integrating the bird conservation principles from the four migratory bird conservation initiatives.  These guiding principles are contained within numerous regional and national bird conservation plans including the 2nd edition of the United States Shorebird Conservation Plan (Brown et al. 2001), the Southern Pacific Shorebird Conservation Plan (Hickey et al. 2003), the North American Waterbird Plan (Kushlan et al. 2002), the California Current System Marine Bird Conservation Plan (in review), the North American Landbird Conservation Plan (Rich et al. 2004), and several California Partners in Flight habitat-based bird conservation plans (CalPIF 2002, CalPIF 2004, RHJV 2004).  These plans contain bird conservation goals, priorities, recommendations, and other information directly relevant to the San Francisco Bay region.  Although the SFBJV Implementation Strategy outlines habitat goals for all birds using the estuary, it focuses primarily on waterfowl population objectives and goals established under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.  The SFBJV contracted with PRBO Conservation Science to work with partners in drafting a guiding document to summarize the information within the other bird conservation plans relevant to the San Francisco Bay region. This document should inform a comprehensive review and revision of the SFBJV’s Restoring the Estuary, while helping guide its implementation.

Implementation Strategy

Restoring the Estuary: An Implementation Strategy for the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture A Strategic Vision for the Restoration of Wetlands and Wildlife in the SF Bay Area (January 2001) Click here to download the Strategy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

An Estuary of International Significance

The San Francisco Bay Estuary is the nation's second largest and perhaps the most biologically significant estuary on the Pacific Coast. It has also suffered the most extensive degradation of any estuary in the nation. Many years of filling, pollution, and alien species invasions have taken a great toll on the ecosystem. Despite these losses, however - or perhaps because of them - the San Francisco Bay Estuary is now a major center for a vibrant habitat restoration movement. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made to protect what remains and to begin restoring as much as possible of what was lost.

Restoration work on the Bay Estuary is being undertaken by many diverse entities, including public agencies, conservation groups, landowners, corporate interests, local businesses, and citizen volunteers in the nine Bay counties. Working through a variety of partnerships during the past two decades, they have protected and enhanced thousands of acres of wetland and stream habitat.

By 1995, however, it became clear to those involved that this movement's growth was being impeded by a lack of continuity, coordination, and common vision. In response, the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV) was formed. The SFBJV is a partnership, one of 14 habitat joint ventures in the United States, each bringing together public and private agencies, conservation groups, development interests, and others seeking to collaborate in restoring wetlands and wildlife habitat within its geographic region.

The recent pace of wetland renewal in the San Francisco Bay Estuary is a testament to the power of the emerging partnerships. fowl stop by during their annual migrations between Alaska and South America. Many overwinter here. San Francisco Bay is the only site along the Pacific Flyway. Over the past few years, the Joint Venture partners have completed 22 wetland protection, restoration, or enhancement projects involving over 11,100 acres, with another 31,400 acres in progress.

San Francisco Estuary Wetlands Today

The Bay Estuary's ecological value lies mainly in the wetlands along its edge, and in the riparian habitats of streams and rivers feeding into it. These habitats are essential to the health of the myriad fish and wildlife populations of the region. Millions of shorebirds and waterfowl stop by during their annual migrations between Alaska and South America. Many overwinter here. San Francisco Bay is the only site along the Pacific Flyway where close to a million shorebirds have been counted in a single day. It hosts more shorebirds than all other coastal California estuaries combined. Up to half the populations of migrating West Coast waterfowl, particularly canvasback and sea ducks, winter in the Bay Estuary. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network has designated the San Francisco Bay Estuary as a site of "Hemispheric Importance" (its highest ranking), and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan has listed it as one of 34 waterfowl habitats of major concern in North America.

Sonoma Baylands photo courtesy of Sonoma Land Trust and photographer Stephen Joseph

Nevertheless, these wetlands are but a remnant of what existed a century ago: some 200,000 acres of tidal marshes, 100,000 acres of seasonal wetlands, vernal pools, creeks, and streams. More than 80 percent of these habitats have been lost, and much of what is left has been damaged. As a result, populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, and fish have been so stressed that 48 species are either listed under the federal Endangered Species Act or are candidates for listing. Development pressures threaten all the lands along the Bay, including wetlands, and - just as importantly - former wetlands that could be restored. Existing wetlands are jeopardized by development impacts, including a decline in water quality caused by water diversions, polluted stormwater runoff, and the loss of adjacent uplands to development. These are problems of urban growth shared by the nation's other major estuaries from Seattle to Boston.

The Emergence of Partnerships for Wetlands and Wildlife

The implications of these trends have prompted a number of organizations to form partnerships to work toward reversing the tide of wetland losses. Many of these organizations are now working in association with the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture.

The San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, like the other joint ventures, is an outgrowth of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP), an international agreement signed in 1986 by the United States and Canada and later joined by Mexico, in response to a decline in waterfowl populations during the preceding decades. Habitat joint ventures were to be formed as vehicles for accomplishing the Plan's major goal: to "maintain and enhance the habitat values of areas identified as internationally significant to waterfowl." As of early 2000, a total of 14 such collaborations had been formed in North America, 11 in the United States and three in Canada, bringing together the fiscal resources and management capabilities of a spectrum of agencies and organizations.

	Photo courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Board staff

Like the others, the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture provides a framework for sharing skills, funding, and information. Using an integrated and non-regulatory approach, it has been working through its partners to complete on-the-ground habitat projects that benefit wildlife populations by leveraging resources, developing new funding sources, and creating project-specific partnerships.

The partners of the SFBJV recognize that wetlands and riparian habitats are vital not only to wildlife, but also to flood control and water storage and quality improvements. They buffer the impact of floodwaters, cleanse pollutants from runoff, and help to recharge overdrawn water supplies. The diversity of project partnerships being created within the SFBJV suggests a growing awareness that wetlands also provide economic and other benefits, including open space and recreational opportunities. In short, wetlands help to sustain a higher quality of life for residents in the densely populated San Francisco Bay Area.

Understanding the current and potential importance of the Bay's wetlands, the 27 organizations and agencies on the SFBJV Board have agreed to pursue this primary goal: "To protect, restore, increase, and enhance all types of wetlands, riparian habitat, and associated uplands throughout the San Francisco Bay region for all types of wildlife." Within the context of this goal, restoration is viewed as the conversion of one habitat type to another (e.g., diked baylands to tidal wetlands), while enhancement is seen as an improvement in the functioning and biological diversity of an existing habitat.

To implement the Board's primary goal, SFBJV partners have defined several objectives:

• Secure, restore, and improve wetlands, riparian habitat, and associated uplands by applying incentives and using non-regulatory techniques
• Strengthen and promote new sources of funding for such efforts
• Improve habitat management on public and private lands through cooperative agreements and incentives
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of habitat restoration projects and research to improve future restoration projects.

A Blueprint for Action

The Joint Venture has adopted an Implementation Strategy to help SFBJV partners fulfill their shared habitat objectives by building on what has been accomplished and planning for the future. This Strategy is based on an ecosystem perspective that considers the biological requirements of wetlands, along with issues of public health and safety. It establishes region-wide habitat goals and subregional objectives for the restoration of the Bay Estuary using three broad categories: bay habitats, seasonal wetlands, and creeks and lakes.

Over the next two decades partners plan to protect 63,000 acres, restore 37,000 acres, and enhance another 35,000 acres of Bay habitats that include tidal flats, marshes, and lagoons. They will also work to secure habitat values of adjoining seasonal wetlands, with protection and restoration/enhancement goals of 37,000 acres and 30,000 acres respectively. In addition, Joint Venture partners intend to protect 4,000 acres of riparian corridors and restore and enhance over 1,000 miles of creeks, as shown in the table below.

Habitat Goals for the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture

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