Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Community-based Restoration gettin' cred with community

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate


We think our Community-based Restoration program is pretty awesome, but it's always nice to hear that the community thinks so too. Just in the last week, two separate videos hit the web touting the benefits of teaming up with Save The Bay to restore vital wetland habitat around our great natural treasure.

Last Thursday, a group of students from Fremont's Kennedy High School Green Tech Academy came out with us to plant marsh gumplant into the wetlands surrounding a recently-breached salt pond at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve along the Hayward Shoreline. The group was lucky enough to be joined by a CBS 5 reporter who taped a news segment for that evening's broadcast. Check out the web clip of the segment here.

And on Monday, a video was posted about employees from Pure Digital -- makers of "The Flip" digital camcorder -- and their experience planting native seedlings along the MLK Jr. shoreline in Oakland. Check it out.

Participating in Save The Bay's Community-based Restoration programs gives your employee, community or student group the opportunity to restore and explore the Bay. Over 100 businesses and community groups participate in our restoration projects each year and we are currently looking for more groups to schedule private weekday programs, which provide fun and engaging ways to bring your team together.

Interested in scheduling a program for your group? Contact Natalie LaVan, Restoration Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, at natalie@savesfbay.org or (510) 452.9261 x109. To learn more about our private programs, visit www.saveSFbay.org/community.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Fish out of water

By Chiara Swartout, Canoes In Sloughs Field Educator

It’s mid-afternoon at Bothin Marsh and we are approaching the turnaround point of our canoe adventure. It is at this moment that I realize I should have checked the tides more carefully, because I have no memory of this marsh ever coming even close to draining as I am seeing it now. We watch gull fights from the island newly exposed in the middle of the marsh as we head back, pushing our paddles off the mud rather than through the water to move back to the launch site.



It is a day where I particularly relish being in the lead boat with students, because the two girls in my canoe need no introduction or motivation to being fascinated by the natural environment, which includes serenading pelicans and a peregrine falcon fighting a crow overhead -- clearly, today is an epic bird day. We are met by two boats of kids who, undaunted by the sluggish task of paddling through mud, have taken it upon themselves to tie their boats together in the form of a raft to increase their power. “Row, row, row your boat!” they shout as they power back home.

I am thoroughly impressed by these kids as they are neither frustrated nor tired at the end of a thorough day of paddling. As we approach the beach, the shoreline jumps alive with what appear to be perch that have been driven onto shore by our boats! The two girls from my boat step out of our canoe and instantly jump over to the squirming fish, excitedly, but gently throwing them back into water, which is quickly filling up with an ever-increasing number of canoes of sixth-graders negotiating the narrowing channel.

I realize I am clearly not going to motivate anyone to carry a boat up to shore when they can be chucking perch back into water, running along the shoreline towards their yelling classmates, who are spotting perch from the water. So I watch and wait, taking in this beautiful demonstration of care in ensuring that these fish are thrown back to the water, shallow though it may be.

It was a teachable moment that required no explanation from the teacher. I know the students were just as struck as I was by the show of a vibrant ecosystem thriving in the wetlands in their backyard, and they demonstrated this understanding in their eagerness to discuss ways to protect it as we debriefed the day.

It is these days that motivate me to continue teaching day after day in the ecosystems about which we educate our youth. This setting creates unexpected and unrepeatable experiences for youth – who are often fish out of water themselves – to witness and enjoy, turning the San Francisco Bay from a mass of greenish brown waves and mud into an ecosystem to celebrate and protect.

Click here to learn more about our Canoes In Sloughs program.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A slew in the slough

By Trisha Allen, Education Coordinator

Have you ever wondered what 1,137 middle and high school students navigating the San Francisco Bay sloughs in canoes look like? It looks like gaggles of excited and nervous kids clad in Save The Bay’s finest PFDs, outfitted with paddles, and all geared up for a sensory exploration of the estuary in their own backyard.



This year nearly 70 Bay Area middle and high school classes participated in Save The Bay's Canoes In Sloughs program for a perfect blend of ecology, fun, and teamwork. For most students these canoe trips involve many firsts: first time out on the Bay, first time working together with classmates to steer a canoe, first time nibbling on the popular marsh plant pickleweed, first time handling slimy Bay creatures. And if we’ve done our job right, the canoe trip will make clear to the students the need to celebrate, protect and restore the Bay; thus transforming this handful of firsts into life-long stewardship of our great natural resource.



So why canoes? Well, travel by canoe has its advantages. This slow and sleek vessel allows students to intimately explore the Bay. They are able to venture into the narrow sloughs and cozy up next to egrets poised to spear lunch and black-crowned night herons resting quietly in the vegetation. These wetlands support an abundance of wildlife, and through observation and hands-on investigation, students discover this unique ecosystem and the billions of organisms living within it.



Using San Francisco Bay as a classroom and laboratory, Save The Bay’s field trips teach and inspire environmental stewardship and community leadership in today’s youth, who often spend most of their time inside and disconnected from the natural world. Through the Canoes In Sloughs program, students are allowed to experience the beauty and wonder of the outdoors, increasing their environmental science knowledge and inspiring a sincere appreciation for the Bay.

But don't take our word for it. See what teachers are saying:

"If you are looking for team-building, connecting with the Bay, and fun…this is the trip to go on."
Fadwa Musleh, Granada Islamic School, Palo Alto

"It’s a great way to experience local ecology through active learning, collaboration and the Save The Bay staff is excellent."
Julian August, Alameda Community Learning Center, Alameda

"It was an awesome way to get into the sloughs by touching, tasting, hearing, seeing and smelling the Bay.”
Vandy Shrader, Explore! Camp, East Palo Alto

"Save the Bay is an excellent organization that makes a significant impact on our Bay, enhancing young people’s understanding of the important Bay issues."
Patricia Williamson, Alameda Community Learning Center, Alameda

Learn more at www.saveSFbay.org/education.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Global Warming Plan (A)dapation and Plan (B)ackup

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

A series of recent articles published in the San Francisco Chronicle detail the urgency in California – and perhaps more directly, the Bay Area – to address the very real issue of sea level rise as a result of global warming.

On Wednesday, the Chron reported Governor Schwarzenegger's call for a backup plan on global warming; and just yesterday readers were left to ponder this: "adapt to climate change or die."

According to recent reports, sea level may rise as much as 18 inches in the next 40 years and over four feet by 2100. Experts are recommending that local governments adapt to the effects of global warming, which includes developing backup plans to "prepare for the worst."

Much of Save The Bay's work gets to the core of these recommendations, which include restricting development in areas vulnerable to climate change impacts and considering higher water levels in planning transportation. We are currently fighting to save over 1,400 acres of retired salt ponds in Redwood City, where agri-business giant Cargill plans to build a mini-city with up to 12,000 housing units. With the site currently sitting right at sea level, any development on these ponds directly opposes the recommendations.

Further, experts are advocating for better flood control systems to mitigate the effects of sea level rise. That's why Save The Bay is working diligently to re-establish 100,000 acres of healthy wetlands around the Bay, since wetlands work like sponges, absorbing runoff and acting as buffers as water levels grow ever higher. Restoring more wetlands sooner will help Bay Area cities combat the effects of climate change and protect our communities.

To learn more about Save The Bay's work, visit www.saveSFbay.org.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Local youth take on trash

By Sigrid Mueller, Education Director

As you may know, Save The Bay works hard to curb the steady onslaught of plastic bags and trash on our local waterways and the Bay. And now the Education Department is joining the fight with a new partnership with StopWaste.org, integrating watershed with waste reduction education for students and teachers in Alameda County.

Save The Bay and StopWaste share a common goal: to reduce the harmful impact of trash, waste and pollutants on the Bay and our community. And we share a common approach: using hands-on, experiential environmental education and service-learning to support young people with developing the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to adopt a sustainable life-style.



During almost all of our Canoes In Sloughs field trips, students find trash floating around the wetlands and they often wonder where it comes from. It is then that a proverbial light bulb goes off. An 11th grader from Berkeley High School had this to say:

“To tell you the truth, I littered even after our teacher has done all that recycling work with us. But when you took us out to the sloughs I saw for myself how the litter from my community washes down to the Bay and I was appalled by it. Since then,I have stopped littering.”

Analogous to “a picture is worth a thousand words” students leave our field trips deeply touched and motivated to change their attitudes and behaviors.

And this is where StopWaste comes in. They provide students with the perfect opportunity to turn their motivation into action through a year-round, on-campus program called Service-Learning Waste Reduction Project (better known as SLWRP). SLWRP trains and supports teachers to educate students about waste and to engage them in waste reduction projects in their schools and communities. This school year, Save The Bay is partnering with five SLWRP schools closing the loop for many students by helping them understand how the Bay is connected to their campus and why it matters that they’re doing their part to keep trash off the ground.




One of our partner schools has already kicked into gear! A teacher at Wood Middle School started to notice the rapid increase of candy wrappers in her own neighborhood and at school weeks before Halloween. She brought this issue to the attention of her 8th graders, who quickly recognized those candy wrappers are not just an eye sore but are potentially harmful pieces of trash. The students decided to take action by writing letters to the editor of their local newspaper, demanding more public awareness around the threats of litter to wildlife, the Bay and the ocean. Here’s how one 8th grader put it:

“Every year I realize that happy, candy-loving children throw plastic candy wrappers on the ground. Well, for one thing piles of non-degradable plastic go into the drains and right into the ocean. The fish in the sea think the plastic is food. And the seagulls -- who eat ANYTHING -- eat the wrappers and the fish. The plastic blocks the throat and the stomach and kill the animal! We throw the trash on the ground and don’t bother to pick it up because a) no one is watching; b) it’s now stepped on; and c) you’re just not going to bother. If we could just remind parents and children to not litter, there is less work for the environment and less work for the trash collectors. Please help us save Alameda and the world. The world lies in our hands.”

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Help Save The Bay win a grant to stop Cargill – VOTE TODAY!

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Cast your vote to help Save The Bay win a grant to help mobilize Bay lovers to stop Cargill’s plan to build a city in the Bay.

For the past six years, Free Range Studios – the firm that created "The Bay vs. The Bag" campaign – has awarded one non-profit their YouTopia Grant, and this year they are asking the public to vote on the winner. Save The Bay applied to win funds to create an online video and website for our campaign to stop Cargill from paving over our natural treasure.

Help Save The Bay remind Cargill and others that the era of paving paradise to put up parking lots is OVER! We need your vote today!

Be sure to act quickly – voting ends December 1st. And remember to spread the word – tell your friends to vote for Save The Bay too!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bay Trail-blazin'

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Good news for Bay Trail users in Richmond! Chevron has agreed to donate 1.5 miles of Bay Trail easements on the western side of the Point San Pablo Peninsula to the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). And last week, the EBRPD Board of Directors voted to accept Chevron's generous donation and appropriated $100,000 for trail alignment engineering, surveying and title costs.

More public access and trail expansion in this area is a welcome addition. With 32 miles of shoreline and 26 miles of Bay Trail now in place, Richmond has more shoreline and more Bay Trail built than any other Bay city – some of it quite stunning and much of it unexplored.

Save The Bay was founded in part to increase public access to the Bay shoreline and nearly 50 years later, we enjoy watching the vision of our founders come to fruition. When complete, the Bay Trail will be a continuous 400-mile recreational corridor that will encircle the entire Bay Area, linking together a necklace of shoreline parks. To date, 240 miles of the Bay Trail, or more than half its ultimate length, have been developed.

Two former Save The Bay board members – Bruce Beyaert and Nancy Strauch – are on the Trails for Richmond Action Committee and have worked tirelessly to advance Bay Trail projects in Richmond and around the Bay. This committee, in addition to Chevron and EBRPD, deserves great kudos for this major step toward completing the San Francisco Bay Trail on the Point San Pablo Peninsula.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Friday's Oil Spill Fouls Bay

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Nearly two years to the day after the Cosco Busan oil spill devastated shorelines and killed countless birds and wildlife, San Francisco Bay has again fallen victim to a damaging oil spill. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that on Friday, October 30, at approximately 6:50 a.m., heavy bunker fuel was released into the Bay during a fuel transfer operation between an oil tanker, the Dubai Star, and a fuel barge. At this time, it is estimated that 400 to 800 gallons of oil was spilled into the Bay. The cause of the spill is still being investigated.

Upon being notified, The Coast Guard, the Marine Spill Response Corp., and the National Response Corp., deployed booms and skimming vessels to contain and clean up the oil Emergency crews are currently focused on the Alameda shoreline, where rescue workers are trying to save oiled birds and remove balls of sticky tar.

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) has several teams working to rescue oiled birds and wildlife. No public or volunteer assistance is needed, and OWCN asks that the public refrain from entering the affected beaches because this activity severely stresses the wildlife. Oiled wildlife should be reported to 877-823-6926.

Beaches along the Alameda County shoreline, from the Bay Bridge to the San Mateo Bridge, are closed in order to help clean-up crews, protect the public and provide peaceful and safe areas for birds to land. Further, fishing and shellfish harvesting are suspended in the same areas.

Save The Bay is working with the appropriate agencies to monitor the situation and will continue to post updates as more information becomes available.

Want to help? Here is what you can do:

--> Make a donation to our BAY EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND. This fund enables us to provide rapid response in a crisis, gather and distribute critical information quickly, educate the local community, and advise key decision makers on actions that require immediate attention.

--> Volunteer to restore wetlands to strengthen the health of the Bay and to provide wildlife with increased habitat for greater survival during such emergencies.

--> Sign up for our Bay Savers Email Action Alert to help us advocate for stronger oil spill legislation and other policies the Bay needs to stay healthy.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Cargill facing growing opposition on Peninsula

By Stephen Knight, Political Director

There is a growing rebellion against Cargill's plan to build a city in San Francisco Bay.

In an important opinion piece in the Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto City Council member Yoriko Kishimoto calls out Cargill's plan as a grave threat to the Peninsula's future: "A proposed development in Redwood City so breathtaking in its size and misguided in its scope that nothing of its kind has been seen in half a century." She points out that "this is not an infill site and this is not the place for housing."

And the Redwood City Daily News recently reported that the Menlo Park City Council is moving to declare the project an environmental hazard to the region. Menlo Park Council Members Kelly Fergusson and Andrew Cohen agree that "the current Cargill/DMB development proposal seeks to reverse long-standing regional and local policies to protect the Bay and its wetlands."

Meanwhile, in an opinion piece published in the Redwood City Daily News, Redwood City resident Marsha Cohen expressed concern that the city "is stonewalling requests for public records." She points out that the mayor works for business lobbyist SAMCEDA, a strong public supporter of the Cargill development. Ms. Cohen wants to know what advice was given to the mayor about the conflict of interest.

Currently, the Redwood City Council is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to determine whether Cargill’s application should move forward. Clearly, many leaders on the Peninsula have found a much cheaper answer: It should be dead on arrival.

Go to www.savesfbay.org/redwoodcity for more information and to sign our petition, and stay tuned for more interesting updates.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

SF Water Board puts trash in its place

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate


Fish and wildlife may finally get some relief from pervasive trash pollution.

Yesterday, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to approve historic and long-overdue requirements for cities to make significant, measurable reductions in trash flowing to the Bay.

This is great news for the Bay! Even the San Francisco Chronicle thinks so.

Under the new municipal regional permit, cities and other permittees must reduce trash getting into the Bay by 40 percent in the next four years, and achieve zero trash discharge from stormwater within 12 years.

Intense public interest and involvement and years of sustained advocacy have finally produced a permit approach that can begin to reduce Bay trash. In fact, 20 state and federal legislators, nearly 40 community organizations and environmental groups and thousands of Save The Bay supporters have joined us in advocating that trash must be reduced like mercury and other urban runoff pollutants.

What to do now? Save The Bay is urging the Water Board to work diligently to ensure full compliance with these groundbreaking regulations; and through the Clean Bay Project, we are working with cities to help them achieve these important trash reductions.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Battin' Cleanup

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Last week Save The Bay launched its 4th annual list of Bay Trash Hot Spots in anticipation of Coastal Cleanup Day to raise awareness about the trash problem in the Bay and to recruit volunteers to Coastal Cleanup events throughout the region.



This year, we put the spotlight on plastic bags; and even used last year's Coastal Cleanup Day data to help us determine the ten locations around the Bay where volunteers removed the most plastic bags. Not only are these ten spots choked with bag pollution, but they are indicative of a larger problem in the Bay. Plastic bags are ubiquitous -- literally, they are everywhere. And since they are so light and flimsy, they are easily picked up by the wind and blown into our storm drains and creeks, and eventually to our Bay and ocean where they harm wildlife, degrade habitat and spoil our quality of life.



Each year Save The Bay hosts several cleanup events and this year was no exception. We had teams out at three sites: Candlestick Park in San Francisco (one of our hot spots), Coyote Creek in Milpitas (also a hot spot) and Eden Landing in Hayward. Volunteers came out in droves -- 200 in total -- to help clean up the Bay. They were rewarded with an absolutely amazingly beautiful day and the gratification of a good, hard days work.



Here are the numbers:

Candlestick Park - 109 volunteers; 2,000 lbs of trash and recyclables
Eden Landing - 45 volunteers; a 20 yard dumpster and two truck beds of trash and recyclables
Coyote Creek - 46 volunteers; 450 lbs of trash and recyclables

And the latest from the California Coastal Commission, which oversees all Coastal Cleanup Day events for the entire state, is this: With 65% of the cleanup sites reporting, the statewide count stands at 66,550 volunteers, which should approach the event goal of 70,000 volunteers. Those volunteers picked up 819,394 pounds of trash and an additional 89,899 pounds of recyclable materials, for a total of 909,294 pounds. They expect to exceed 1,000,000 pounds of trash when all the totals are in. Not too shabby for three hours worth of work.



Save The Bay wants to thank all the volunteers in the Bay Area and statewide who donated their time to cleaning up our waterways, protecting habitat and wildlife.

If you are interested in protecting and restoring the shoreline year round, visit www.saveSFbay.org/restore.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

VM Ware "runs" up the total

By Natalie La Van, Restoration Volunteer Coordinator

The fog is setting in and I’m absolutely freezing while standing next to San Francisco’s most iconic landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m not alone. There are over 100 other people here with me from around the globe -- I know this by the myriad accents and languages I hear floating through the atmosphere. And these people are ready.

I have never been a runner myself, so I’m just sitting back watching the largest number of fabulously fit forty-somethings in almost obscenely short shorts with pure glee! They are poised on the edge of their starting line waiting for that moment when they are set loose and the pure rush of adrenaline is theirs to do with as they please. Oh yeah and did I mention that these righteous runners are practically throwing money at me from the bottom of their sweet Nike’d soles? Heaven!!!



This is not just any run, my friends; this is the VM World Fun Run. Every year, the virtualization mogul VM Ware holds a conference for their international and local markets called VM World. This year they decided to give some thing back. When Craig Williams -- the leader of this effort -- started receiving emails from participants interested in going for a run on the world renowned Golden Gate Bridge and wanting him to suggest a trail, he saw this small request as an opportunity for those weary conference-goers to get out, stretch their legs and see the sights our lovely Bay has to offer. Being a champion of the environment himself, and knowing the commitment Palo Alto-based VM Ware has to the local ecosystem and the care their clientele has for the entire planet, Craig decided to bring this event full circle by donating the entry fees to a local charity.



Remember I said they were practically throwing money at me?! With only a shirt and a beer to entice them back to the finish line, each group took off into the blustery twilight to enjoy the view of the sun setting gently over the ocean with the tapping of tennies on the Golden Gate Bridge singing in their ears.

My hands were cold but my heart was warmed when, after the run, even more people who were inspired by our lovely Bay, emptied their bitsy britches of every dollar they had to support the efforts of Save The Bay. All in all, the VM World runners and TrainSignal raised about $2,300 dollars!!

Save The Bay will use their donations to continue restoring the Bay, educating many more future environmental stewards, removing trash and repopulating our shores with native plants and wildlife.

It is the simple efforts of people like Craig Williams -- taking a small request and turning it into a big event that keeps me toasty during those brisk early San Francisco evenings. And those diminutive drawers don’t hurt either!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Is there a Hot Spot near you?

Have you checked out our Bay Trash Hot Spots yet? Click on the link below to see our interactive map, watch our clever two-minute video, take action and sign up to volunteer!


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Bay blighted by bags

By Allison Chan, Policy Intern

It’s a sunny weekend morning and you decide to head out to do some hiking along the Bay shoreline. As you stroll through the brush and marshlands, you commune with nature, you enjoy the sprawling bay views… and you encounter scattered plastic bags wedged between rocks and clinging to vegetation?

Oh yes. Plastic bag pollution is a growing threat to Bay habitat and wildlife. In 2008, Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers in the Bay Area removed over 184 tons of waste from the Bay, including over 26,000 plastic bags! Plastic bags are among the most harmful, ubiquitous and preventable types of pollution. Not only does this pollution smother wetlands and harm wildlife, it negatively impacts our recreational experience in and around the Bay. Isn't it time we took a stand against plastic bag pollution?



To address this growing problem and to encourage Bay area cities and residents to find a solution, today Save The Bay launched its fourth annual list of Bay Trash Hot Spots. Using data collected by volunteers during last year’s Coastal Cleanup Day, we have listed the ten sites where the most plastic bags were removed. On just one single day, volunteers picked up anywhere from 384 bags at Ryder Park in San Mateo County to a staggering 7,497 bags at the Albany-Berkeley-Emeryville shoreline in Alameda County. But I’m sure most of us agree that one bag in the Bay is a bag too many.



It's time to really do something about plastic bag litter and pollution. For the past 15 years, California has made a concerted effort to promote plastic bag recycling, but with disappointing results. Less than five percent are actually recycled. Plastic bag recycling is cost-prohibitive because there is no market for the plastic film and it is difficult for recycling machinery to handle effectively. And, due to the amazing aerodynamics of plastic bags, even those destined for a recycling plant are easily rerouted by gusts of wind into the streets and, ultimately, into the Bay.

So, what to do? The solution is actually very simple. First and foremost, kick your bag habit! Find some snazzy reusable bags and keep them in your car, in your purse, or by the front door. Second, help round up the bags floating around right now by participating in Coastal Cleanup Day this Saturday, September 19th. I think most of us can squeeze in a few hours to help protect Bay wildlife and make our next experience on the Bay more enjoyable. Finally, speak up! Tell your mayor to support legislation to ban the distribution of free plastic and paper bags. The more cities that reduce plastic bag pollution flowing to the Bay, the healthier our natural treasure will be.

Check out our interactive website to see a map of this year's Hot Spots, photos, video and how to help.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Plastic bag industry spins and spends in Seattle

By Laura Reinhard, Policy Associate

Watch out for higher prices in your grocery bills — maybe plastic bags will end up costing stores even more as plastic bag industry lawyers and lobbyists fly around the country squashing local initiatives.

Seattle’s groundbreaking proposal to place a 20-cent fee on all single-use bags was defeated Tuesday in a David v. Goliath PR battle. The plastic bag industry shelled out the first round of cash to get signatures to put the ordinance, previously approved by city council, on the ballot. A syndicated AP article reports the bag industry spent $1.4 million to defeat the proposal. Unfortunately, the bag industry is much better prepared to take on these fights than it was just a few years ago, when few cities were considering bag ban or fee ordinances. When plastic bag industry representatives sued Fairfax, CA for passing a plastic bag ban ordinance, Fairfax took it to the voters themselves and passed the measure with 79% of the vote.

But Fairfax is a small city and times have changed. Now, the list of cities considering bag ban or fee ordinances is long and the plastic bag industry, recognizing the threat, is out in force.

That doesn’t mean that cities have to capitulate to industry pressure. This year Washington, D.C. passed a single-use bag fee, despite the bag industry paying for a presidential-election style spin campaign complete with automated calls to residents. And just this spring, Palo Alto, CA successfully passed a ban restricting large grocers from distributing single-use plastic bags, despite a lawsuit from plastic bag industry lawyers.

So what should reusable bag advocates take away from this experience? For one, cities trying to cut down on unnecessary plastic bag litter and help solve the problem of marine plastic should expect well-funded lobbyists flying in from corporate HQ. Communities must be prepared to overcome this by speaking up loudly for policies that restrict the distribution of free plastic bags. San Jose, CA is considering enacting a strong policy to prevent free plastic bag distribution. We urge residents of San Jose and San Jose elected officials to take this opportunity to stand up for a clean community and a healthy San Francisco Bay.

Just like Big Tobacco, the plastic bag industry will have to fight these battles until they find a new line of work.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Help us raise $500 to fight plastic pollution in the Bay!

by Amy Alton, Communications and Policy Associate


Over one million – that's right, one million!! – plastic bags end up in the Bay every year, polluting our waters, smothering wetlands and killing Bay animals. Plastic never biodegrades; and plastic waste from the Bay flows into the ocean to join the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating island of trash estimated to be twice the size of Texas. We want this scourge to stop!

And we need your help. If we raise $500 from our Facebook community by August 31st one of our Board Members will match every contribution dollar-for-dollar to help us clean up the Bay. And University of Phoenix will match it again! That’s $1,500 for our Bay!

If we all donate just $5 or $10 we can help Save The Bay meet this goal. Join our Cause today and your gift will be tripled!

To learn more about Save The Bay’s work towards a clean and healthy Bay, visit: www.saveSFbay.org/bayissues.

Thank you for your help!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Runoff pollution running through the Bay

by Amy Alton, Communications and Policy Associate

NRDC recently released their annual beach water quality report, naming storm water runoff – an untreated toxic brew of trash, oil, pesticides, heavy metals and chemicals – as the #1 source of pollution in our Bay and waterways.

Read all about it.

The truth is most of the pollution in San Francisco Bay doesn’t come from shoreline industry or boaters. It comes from all of us. Pollution from our homes, cars and neighborhoods, which includes plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, cigarette butts, and toxic chemicals like pharmaceuticals and mercury, flows unfiltered through storm drains into the Bay, killing wildlife, smothering wetlands and spoiling water quality.

Fortunately for us and for the Bay, since we create this pollution, we have the power to diminish it. All it takes are simple lifestyle changes to protect the Bay.

Click here to learn how you can reduce Bay pollution.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sticking to the ban

by Amy Alton, Communications and Policy Associate

Yesterday, the City of Palo Alto settled out of court with an industry-backed group, Save The Plastic Bag Coalition (no joke!), over the city's plastic bag ban, which is set to go into effect on September 18.

Both the San Jose Mercury News and the Palo Alto Weekly ran stories about the settlement.

Under the settlement, the city will be able to maintain its ban. But any expansion would have to be accompanied by a complete environmental review. This is good news for both the city of Palo Alto and for other Bay Area cities looking to reduce plastic bag litter and pollution in their cities and in the Bay. Right now a statewide coalition of municipalities, non-profits and foundations is working together to draft a master environmental assessment, which will help cities complete the necessary environmental reviews to pass ordinances that either ban or impose fees on single-use bags.

Kudos to Palo Alto for taking on the plastic bag industry and banning plastic bags to clean up the environment and their community!

To learn more about plastic bag pollution and its effects on wildlife and the Bay, visit: www.saveSFbay.org/bayvsbag.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Chron calls out Cargill

by Amy Alton, Communications and Policy Associate

Today the San Francisco Chronicle ran a feature editorial, "Bay at risk," which calls out Cargill’s proposed development in Redwood City as one of the major threats to the health of the San Francisco Bay. Other dangers to “the lifeblood of our region” include trash, chemical pollution, climate change and regulatory oversight, as the state budget woes threaten the existence of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.



As the Bay’s leading champion since 1961, Save The Bay wages effective advocacy and education campaigns to diminish these threats. We are working diligently to:


  • Stop Cargill’s unwise development in the Bay;

  • Reduce Bay pollution through public education and urging local governments to enact strong pollution prevention policies, and requiring stricter regulation of trash in the upcoming municipal stormwater permit;

  • Re-establish 100,000 acres of wetlands around the Bay for a sustainable ecosystem and to provide natural flood control to protect Bay Area communities from the impacts of sea-level rise, and;

  • Advocate at the state level to save BCDC, the agency that regulates Bay shoreline development.

    However, we cannot do it alone. As underscored by the Chronicle, “The Bay needs the local community more than ever."

    Please join us today in protecting and restoring San Francisco Bay by becoming a member, taking action to protect the Bay, and helping us restore critical wetlands around the shoreline.

    Our quality of life and economy depend on this great natural treasure. And the Bay needs all of us working together to save it.

  • Thursday, July 16, 2009

    Ecology in Education -- Makin' it Work

    by Sigrid Mueller, Education Director and Alicia Moore, School Programs Manager

    Connecting students to the San Francisco Bay and supporting teachers who share this commitment have always been at the core of Save The Bay’s educational vision. We believe that outdoor environmental education – such as our Watershed Education Programs – works best with appropriate preparation and follow-up. And, recent research supports the idea that students learn and retain more when field-trip activities are bookended by classroom lessons.

    Since 1999 Save The Bay has hosted a professional development workshop for teachers interested in our Watershed Education Programs. Our regular evaluation has found that teachers desire, and benefit from, methods and strategies to integrate the field trip experience into the classroom lesson plan. Our workshop teaches classroom techniques to prepare for and get the most from our field trips.

    This summer our workshop added an additional day to help teachers incorporate the field trip into the classroom. Participants worked with Save The Bay staff and colleagues to design lesson plans derived from our Canoes In Sloughs and Community-based Restoration field trips – to strengthen the impact on students and improve learning outcomes.

    From June 30 to July 2, sixteen middle and high school teachers and five environmental educators gathered to explore in canoes and restore wetlands, and learn how to bring it all back to the classroom. Highlights from the two field-based days included seeing California Clapper Rails in their native habitat, identifying invertebrates and native wetland plants, and discussing the importance of service learning. Participants were also excited to have a third day to work on classroom lesson plans with Save The Bay staff and their colleagues. As one teacher remarked: "It was incredibly beneficial to actually conduct some lessons and discuss them with our peers. It makes it much easier to actually integrate field experiences into my teaching if I have done it before."

    To learn more about Save The Bay's Watershed Education programs, visit: www.saveSFbay.org/education.

    Here are a few photos taken during the three-day workshop:




    Monday, July 13, 2009

    How clean is your city?


    Last year Save The Bay launched the Clean Bay Project (formerly Cities Keep It Clean) to provide Bay Area cities with a roadmap to a cleaner San Francisco Bay and empower them to adopt innovative and common sense programs to reduce Bay runoff pollution.

    The Bay Area's largest city, San Jose, is the first Clean Bay Project partner. But we need more cities to participate – and that's where you come in. Help us determine which cities have effective pollution programs, which are behind the times, and what programs you’d like to see in your community!

    Please take just five minutes to complete this short survey and you will be entered to win an iPod shuffle.

    We are counting on your input to help make the Clean Bay Project even stronger. We’ll compile your answers and share with you the results.

    Pollution threatens our quality of life, health and economy. Please take the short survey today and help our community clean up the Bay! And be sure to forward this email to your friends so they can take the survey too!

    Monday, June 29, 2009

    Stand by your plan

    by Stephen Knight, Political Director

    As our readers know, Cargill and DMB recently submitted an application to Redwood City, proposing to build up to 12,000 housing units on retired salt ponds that should be restored to natural wetlands. Before reviewing Cargill's development proposal, the Redwood City Council is working to finalize a new general plan.

    In January, the City Council made a public commitment that there were to be no changes made on Cargill's Redwood City salt ponds in the updated plan.

    In fact, Redwood City's current general plan map clearly places the entire salt pond property under the category of "Open Space." And the current general plan, in place since 1990, says this about the salt ponds: "Due to the sensitive nature of these open space areas, it should be assumed that they will remain as open space forever."

    But a recently released general plan map would remove the words “Open Space” from hundreds of acres of the Cargill salt ponds. See the map here. City staff told the Planning Commission that the so-called "Urban Reserve" on a section of the Cargill property "really wasn't an open space designation." A proposed new "Open Spaces" map graphically illustrates the result – nearly half of the Cargill salt ponds would be taken out of open space.

    Redwood City must honor its commitment to "take the Cargill site out of the General Plan Process." The city should renew its vision of saving the salt ponds "as open space forever," just like they are in the current general plan.

    We have been told that the City is working to resolve this issue and intends to stand by their word by continuing to describe the "urban reserve" as open space on the land-use map. Exactly what they will do with other existing Cargill-related language from the current general plan – that it should "remain as open space forever" – remains unclear.

    Save The Bay is committed to urging the City to renew their vision of saving the salt ponds as open space, which will benefit both people and wildlife.

    Learn more at http://www.saveSFbay.org/redwoodcity.

    Wednesday, June 24, 2009

    Coots Scoopin' Booty

    by Amy Alton, Communications and Policy Associate

    If not for recent and shocking reports of pirates capturing large vessels on the high seas, I would not have believed that pirates truly existed. Honestly, until a little over a year ago, I was naïve enough to think that pirates were the stuff of movies and amusement park rides. Imagine my embarrassment at several dinner parties in exposing this truth… But talking pirates got me thinking about another pirate—one of San Francisco Bay’s truest resident pirates: the American Coot.

    This bird even looks like a pirate; it has a black body with a bone-white beak and red eyes! You can find coots all around San Francisco Bay, and in especially large numbers at Lake Merritt in Oakland and the duck pond in Palo Alto. But don’t mistake the coot for a duck! Its feet are lobed, rather than webbed, making it part of the rail family. The lobes allow the coot to have both sea and land legs—good for swimming, diving and walking.



    Another pirate-like feature: coots are kleptoparasitic, which means that when they don’t feel like hunting for their own food, they’ll steal their booty from other species, such as dabbling ducks, or diving ducks bringing plants up to the surface of the water. They’ve even been known to swipe the food right off a duck or swan’s bill!

    Like pirates, coots are often viewed as obnoxious, ugly, and unwelcome pests (hence the term, ‘you old coot!’); but when their population decreases, it’s often a bad sign for other species, as well. Coots are an important indicator species of the overall health of the wetland ecosystem. While pirates may be a danger to those sailing the high seas, I suppose this particular pirate might not be so bad after all.

    Tuesday, June 16, 2009

    Cargill paves the way to pave the Bay

    by Stephen Knight, Political Director

    Cargill Inc and their luxury developer DMB Associates recently released their plan to build a "mini-city" on 1,433 acres of retired salt ponds in Redwood City. Their proposal includes up to 12,000 housing units and 30,000 new residents and would be the largest development on the Bay shoreline since the 1960s.

    The project would put new development in the path of rising sea levels and destroy Bay shoreline open space that should be restored. This is not an infill site, nor is it the place for housing and commercial development. You can help us urge Redwood City to continue its current smart growth redevelopment downtown.



    On Sunday, the Insight section of the San Francisco Chronicle published an opinion piece written by Save The Bay Executive Director David Lewis pointing out the arrogant and irresponsible nature of Cargill and DMB's plan. These developers, like so many before them, believe they can buy approval for massive sprawl into the Bay, spending millions on slick PR campaigns to pass Bay fill off as "green" development, and making big promises to restore some wetlands on site in exchange for destroying the rest.

    Read the article now.

    Our region’s quality of life and economy depend on a healthy and vibrant San Francisco Bay, which brings millions of dollars to our state from tourism, industry, recreation and fishing. The Bay and its marshes moderate our local climate, provide vital habitat to 500 species of wildlife and offer natural flood protection for people and communities.

    The Bay, including these salt ponds, belongs to all of us, not just Redwood City. The era of filling in San Francisco Bay is over and the entire Bay Area should tell Cargill and DMB that housing doesn’t belong in our Bay.



    Help us protect the salt ponds today by visiting our website and adding your name to the many individuals and organizations that have joined Save The Bay, the Sierra Club, and others in signing the petition to save the Redwood City salt ponds.

    Wednesday, June 10, 2009

    Weeding in sheets is 'mulch' easier

    by Melanie Lopes, Restoration Specialist

    “Is there any easier way to do this?”
    “Can’t you just get a bulldozer and clear this whole area?”
    “Isn’t there some sort of spray that you can use on these plants to get rid of them?”

    These are questions that we often hear from volunteers participating in weeding projects through our Community-based Restoration program. The work, albeit satisfying, is labor intensive and time-consuming, and after about an hour’s worth of pulling, digging, and lopping, people start to wonder if there’s a better way.

    The manual removal that we do with volunteers is an effective strategy for thoroughly removing populations of weeds in areas where native plants are present. Bulldozers, power tools, and herbicides, however time-saving they may be, are not as selective, and simply are not options given the nature of our sites and the nature of a community-based program.

    However, we have found a technique for weed management that is efficient, effective, and appropriate for our programs – it's called sheet mulching. And it's a technique that can be used to eliminate large areas of weeds while simultaneously enriching the soil. It involves smothering the weeded area by laying down a layer of compost, then cardboard, followed by a thick layer of mulch (wood chips, straw, leaf litter, etc). As time passes, the cardboard and the existing weeds underneath begin to decompose, adding nutrients to the soil. Furthermore, sunlight is blocked from the soil, preventing future weed germination. This creates a blank slate for planting native seedlings in enriched soil, without competition from aggressive weeds.

    Here are a few photos to show you what we mean.





    So far, we have tried this technique at only one site, along a trail at the Palo Alto Baylands. We chose an area that was covered solely by non-native plants, making it easy to completely cover the area without fear of destroying any natives. With the generous contributions from the City of Palo Alto, we had enough compost, cardboard, and mulch delivered to the site to get the project underway. In the fall of 2006, a group of volunteers from PG&E came out to help install the first section of sheet mulch – an effort that was met with great success. The area was left to rest for one year, in order to allow the cardboard and weeds to decompose. The following winter our first plantings went in and the results were phenomenal. Three years later, the area is thriving with native plants, with hardly any weeds in sight!



    We've expanded the sheet mulch area down the trailside, and we hope to continue using this technique at other sites as well. Finding appropriate areas for this approach and acquiring the necessary resources (cardboard, compost, mulch) are the main obstacles we face, but based on the remarkable results we’ve seen down at the Palo Alto Baylands, we know that getting another sheet mulch project underway is well worth the effort.

    Sign up for one of our Community-based Restoration programs at www.saveSFbay.org/restore.

    Thursday, June 4, 2009

    Save The Bay makes the national news!

    by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

    We got some national attention last night when ABC's World News with Charles Gibson featured our "The Bay vs. the Bag" video during a segment on the negative environmental impact of plastic and paper single-use bags and the steps cities across the nation are taking to reduce pervasive bag pollution and litter.

    Check it out!

    And read all about it. Click here for more news stories about cities nationwide that are helping residents to kick the bag habit.

    Thursday, May 21, 2009

    Bay Savers: The Next Generation

    by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

    You're never too young to take an active role in caring for the Bay. Ten year old Alyssa Lee proved this point last weekend when she mobilized a group of her friends to clean up a section of the Alameda/Oakland shoreline. Here is the story…

    Two weeks ago, when taking a walk with her family, she discovered an extremely littered section of the shoreline. Rather than turn a blind eye to the problem, she took action. She invited several friends to give up their weekends to join her in a trash cleanup.



    Being the conscientious type, Alyssa's dad contacted Save The Bay to ask how to responsibly dispose of the heaps of trash they would no doubt collect. He also mentioned that most of the trash was plastic and that as a result, he had been telling his daughters and their friends about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the impact non-recycled plastics have on the environment.

    As you can imagine we were thrilled to learn of these budding Bay Savers! We pointed them toward the appropriate recycling and waste centers and outfitted them with Save The Bay stickers and patches to thank them for their invaluable contribution to the health of the Bay.

    According to dad, "the cleanup was a big hit with the kids! It gave them a great sense of pride to do something for the environment."



    At the end of the day, they had filled at least four big garbage bags – most of which were non bio-degradable plastics. Both the impetus and result of Alyssa's cleanup serve as a good reminder of the massive amounts of trash flowing to the Bay from our parking lots, streets and neighborhoods. It also underscores the necessity to significantly reduce this trash and plastic pollution, which harms wildlife, spoils water quality and lowers property values and our quality of life.

    Do your part and help Save The Bay protect our valuable resource from trash and litter:

  • Learn more about preventing trash pollution.

  • Sign our petition to "Kick the Bag Habit!" and make the switch to reusable bags.

  • Tell your leaders to eliminate plastic bags in California.

  • Tuesday, May 19, 2009

    No business like 'sow' business

    by Jocelyn Gretz, Community Programs Manager

    If you've ever been to Yosemite around this time of year, you would know that Yosemite Falls is in full force – much like the surge of requests for corporate group programs I have been receiving lately. Every spring things pick up, as if workers around the Bay Area are coming out of cubicle hibernation and are craving an outdoor team-building experience.

    The corporations that have recently come out with us or are scheduled to come out in the next few weeks include: Sun Microsystems, Roche, Trulia, SAP, Charles Schwab, Polycom, Life Technologies, Cupertino Electric, Robert Half International, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Delloitte, Codexis, Maxygen, VM Ware and NBC. Whew!



    Adult volunteers play an important role in our Community-based Restoration programs. They quickly learn plant identification skills that allow them to work in our most sensitive habitats, acting as sleuths to find and remove invasive weeds amongst recently planted seedlings. These volunteers also provide critical manpower in the delicate tasks of seed collection, sowing seeds and rooting plant cuttings for future seedlings in our two native plant nurseries.



    In addition to helping restore vital habitats, many of these businesses also make a donation to Save The Bay, acknowledging that providing team-building volunteer programs takes professional coordination, experienced field staff and adequate equipment to make the projects run smoothly. These donations help us offset some of these costs, but also allow us to continue to offer free programs to school and community groups that do not have funding. Save The Bay sincerely appreciates both the time and support these businesses have given our programs!

    Roughly 100 corporations and community groups come out with Save The Bay each year. We hope you will join us - during any season - and the long list of Bay Area businesses that make our Community-based Restoration programs a success.

    Learn more at www.saveSFbay.org/community.

    Thursday, May 14, 2009

    DMB plan should be DOA

    by Stephen Knight, Political Director



    Yesterday, DMB Associates unveiled their massive development plan for the Cargill site in Redwood City.

    As our Executive Director David Lewis says in this San Jose Mercury News article, this project "should be dead on arrival."

    Save The Bay opposes Cargill and DMB’s Bay salt pond development project in Redwood City. We therefore urge Redwood City, state and federal agencies to reject the project and promote full restoration and protection of habitat and open space on the site.

    The project would destroy Bay shoreline open space that should be restored. It would put new development in the path of flood waters and rising sea level.

    This site is not infill and it is not the place for housing and commercial development. Redwood City should continue its smart growth redevelopment downtown. These salt ponds should be permanently protected for restoration that benefits people and wildlife.

    Once again, it is up to residents to make their voices heard and stop this destructive project.

    Learn more at www.saveSFbay.org/redwoodcity.

    Thursday, April 30, 2009

    In the zone

    by Stephen Knight, Political Director

    You might have heard about the Pacific Institute’s recent report, "The Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on the California Coast," which states that a half a million current California residents and $100 billion of the state’s infrastructure will be in the inundation zone by 2100.

    If you haven't heard – read all about it. Check out this article from the San Francisco Chronicle and this story from NPR.

    Over two thirds of that "at risk" infrastructure is in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    What's more, California's number one, most threatened municipality is San Mateo County, both in terms of population and infrastructure. San Mateo County has $24 billion in infrastructure at risk – almost one quarter of the entire statewide projected impact from sea level rise. Check out the maps from the report.

    The Bay Area faces an enormous challenge to protect existing infrastructure around our Bay, including San Francisco Airport, Highway 101 and many thousands of residences. In the face of this growing threat, one thing is clear: Redwood City should not approve Cargill’s plan to place billions of dollars of new housing infrastructure out on Redwood City’s bayfront salt ponds.

    Learn more at www.saveSFbay.org/redwoodcity.

    Wednesday, April 22, 2009

    Plastic bag makers miss the mark

    by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

    No doubt to coincide with Earth Day, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) – the trade group for the major plastic bag makers – announced yesterday their plan to use "40 percent recycled content in all plastic bags by 2015, including at least 25 percent postconsumer recycled plastic."

    What a big hurrah they deserve for aiming at a whopping 25 percent post-consumer material in the bags they produce no sooner than six (plus) years from now. The Earth is indeed saved.

    Oh wait.

    While aiming to use recycled content in plastic bags is better than NOT using recycled content, it still doesn't address the ever-growing issue of plastic bag litter, which continues to plague the environment.

    Plastic bags were the second largest item of littler picked up by volunteers during the Ocean Conservancy's 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Day. On this day, 1.37 million plastic bags were removed from coastal areas worldwide, second only in number to cigarette butts.

    Enormous quantities of plastic bags are polluting our waters, smothering wetlands and entangling and killing animals. Bags also clog storm drains and recycling equipment and bag litter lowers property values and degrades recreational areas.

    Rather than using disposable plastic (or paper) bags, we encourage shoppers to use reusable bags at grocery stores, retail outlets, farmers markets – you name it!

    And others would agree. In this article, folks from Earth Day Network and National Resources Defense Council weigh in on the ACC's latest public relations ploy:

    "It's annoying. And it's transparent," says Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network. "The death knell has sounded for plastic bags. They're just trying to continue to make a bad thing."

    The Natural Resources Defense Council agrees: "We don't want people to use disposable bags. We want people to use reusable bags," says Darby Hoover, a senior research specialist.

    The bottom line? Make the switch to reusable bags and eliminate ALL plastic bag litter – recycled or not.

    Learn more at http://saveSFbay.org/bayvsbag.

    Have you checked out our movie yet?

    If you aren’t one of the tens of thousands of people who have already watched our clever two-minute movie, watch it now and share it with your friends!


    Tuesday, April 14, 2009

    Choose the Bay over the Bag!

    by Amy Alton, Communications Associate


    Did you know that Bay Area residents use an estimated 3.8 billion plastic bags per year and discard over one hundred plastic bags per second? You might also be surprised to learn that the average plastic bag is only used for 12 minutes. That's it—just 12 minutes.



    Plastic bags are a major component of urban litter. Even when placed in trash or recycling bins, these lightweight bags are often picked up by wind and blown into the gutters –where they flow into creeks and storm drains and then into the Bay and ocean. In fact, it is estimated that more than a million of these bags wind up in the Bay each year, spoiling water quality, smothering wetlands and entangling and killing marine animals.

    Yet we continue to produce, use and discard plastic bags with reckless abandon. In just a few short hours, during last year's International Coastal Cleanup Day, 1.37 million plastic bags were removed from coastal areas worldwide.



    So what can we do about it?

    The multi-billion dollar plastic bag industry would have you believe that recycling is the answer. But recycling isn't a viable solution. California has pushed a statewide effort to recycle plastic bags for fifteen years, but despite this, less than 5% of all single use plastic bags in the state are actually recycled. Further, recycling firms report extensive costs associated with recycling even this small portion of plastic bags and there is very little market for the recycled plastic film.

    The fact of the matter is the plastics industry is putting profits over the health of the Bay, the ocean and wildlife. All over California (and the rest of the country), industry lobbyists and slick PR experts have been deployed to whip up opposition and undermine local efforts to protect the environment.

    That's why we need a statewide approach to relieve cities from taking on the plastics industry one-on-one. Save The Bay is supporting California Assembly Bill 68, which would require a 25-cent fee on plastic and paper bags.

    One may ask if we should be requiring fees on plastic bags during this tough economy. The truth is we already pay for plastic bags through local taxes and increased food and retail prices. It costs nothing to bring your own bag and in fact, many stores give you a credit if you do.



    San Francisco Bay is one of our nation’s most beloved natural resources and California's rivers, creeks and streams are vital to the health of our environment and our quality of life. Join us to protect our waterways and tell the plastic industry to back off. It’s the Bay vs. the Bag and only one side can win!


    Join the campaign, take action and watch our online movie at www.saveSFbay.org/bayVSbag

    Thursday, March 26, 2009

    At war with weeds

    by Jocelyn Gretz, Community Programs Manager

    Weeds are plants where you don’t want them – plain and simple. And although these weeds are often beautiful, restoration ecologists refer to them as invasive species. As we gear up for our spring and summer weeding season, I have been recalling the hundreds of hours I’ve spent pulling weeds – sometimes in outrageous situations – and contemplating the huge effort needed to maintain our native ecosystems.



    In college, instead of serving cocktails like my peers, I spent summer days restoring tall grass prairies in Wisconsin. Even in the seemingly 150% humidity, we were fully clothed in long sleeves and pants while ripping out non-native wild parsnip, hoping it wouldn’t lash back and give us a chemical burn that blistered the skin. Talk about invasive!

    I have also duck-taped my shoes around my ankles to prevent them from falling off as I plunged through a sedge mat on a mosquito-y bog, all to rip out the robust purple loosestrife.

    One of my more “painful” restoration tasks was when I wielded a chainsaw to cut down native cottonwood trees. I thought, "But I like trees." I had to be reminded that even though invasive plants can be pretty, they out-compete our natives and need to be removed for a natural environment to thrive.

    Certainly on a given day’s work, tactics can be frustrating. In a sea of weeds with seeds that are viable for five or more years, one can easily get discouraged. However, after several seasons working to protect San Francisco Bay, I have witnessed progress–we have significantly reduced invasive weeds like iceplant in our wetlands.



    And that is where you come in. Save The Bay's Community-based Restoration program works with thousands of volunteers each year to help us improve habitat and we rely on a continual flow of volunteer groups and individuals to help us restore wetlands at six sites around the Bay.



    As we head into spring and summer, we are in particular need of "weed warriors" to help clear away the invasive species that degrade habitat for birds, fish and other Bay wildlife. It's a great way to get outside and give back to the environment and your community. If you're interested in a fun day on the Bay, contact me to set up a project for your community group or employee team or sign yourself up for one of our public restoration events.

    Thursday, March 19, 2009

    Mission accomplished: Over 20,000 native seedlings in the ground

    by Laura Wainer, Restoration Projects Manager

    With the planting season just about "sown" up, we are thrilled to report that we have exceeded our ambitious goal to plant 20,000 native seedlings into several wetland sites ringing the Bay! Nearly 3,500 volunteers donated their time at over 100 programs since November to help restore critical wetland habitat, which is vital to maintain the health of the Bay and also to support the 500 species of wildlife that live in and around it.





    Volunteers at Oakland's Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline worked extremely hard this winter, taking the top spot by planting over 8,000 seedlings. Folks who participated in programs at San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto ran a close second with just under 8,000 native plants in the ground. And with fewer programs offered, volunteers at Bothin Marsh in Mill Valley, Eden Landing in Hayward and Bair Island in Redwood City held their own with totals ranging from 1,000 to over 2,800 seedlings. Collectively at these three sites over 5,600 plants were planted.

    An exciting addition to this year's planting season were the Volunteer Appreciation Days held at Bothin Marsh, San Francisquito Creek and the MLK Jr. Shoreline. Together we honored our dedicated volunteers and celebrated with good food, music, fun giveaways and speakers. In fact, participants at Bothin Marsh were joined by a very special guest star—a gopher snake curious to see what all the ruckus was about outside its home.

    At our site in Oakland, evidence of the success of our Community-based Restoration programs also posed a bit of a challenge. Over the last several years, Save The Bay staff and volunteers have done such an effective job of creating habitat for the endangered California clapper rail, that the increased population of clapper rails is actively using that habitat. While that is great news and a clear demonstration of the success of our restoration work, it also meant that we had to vacate the habitat and create a different restoration site to avoid disturbing the endangered birds. It took some creative thinking, but in the end, we made it work.



    With the plants in the ground, we now begin weeding the wetlands to clear away invasive species that ultimately degrade habitat for fish and wildlife. Grab your gardening gloves and sign up for one of our many restoration programs.

    Friday, March 13, 2009

    Cargill property draws skepticism from Bay planners

    by Stephen Knight, Political Director

    A top priority for Save The Bay is stopping Cargill from developing its 1430-acre retired salt pond site in Redwood City – the single largest restorable wetland site currently under threat of development anywhere around the Bay.




    Cargill’s developer, DMB, has yet to file an actual development plan, but last week DMB gave a general introductory presentation to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) – which is just one of the many state and federal agencies that will eventually have to approve development on these retired Bay salt ponds.

    DMB’s consultants sketched out a picture of restored wetlands and other popular amenities like waterside trails and bike paths across Highway 101 to downtown. But virtually no mention was made of housing, traffic-choked streets, overtaxed water use, or of the many real-world impacts.

    Numerous commissioners raised significant issues, such as:

    --> How do you build “transit oriented development” on the other side of Highway 101?
    --> Should a Bay salt pond even be considered for a housing development?
    --> What about climate change and sea level rise?
    --> Will the proposed development be built on fill, or behind massive levees? (Answer: both.)
    --> What are the flood control risks raised by such a development in the Bay?
    --> What about the likely impacts on the endangered California clapper rails that live nearby?
    --> How do we help guide this process so that Redwood City does not pursue a development that we won’t approve?
    --> Shouldn’t complete salt pond restoration of the site be considered?
    --> In San Mateo County, not even a fraction of the El Camino Real corridor has yet been developed.

    Commissioner Eric Carruthers observed that the Cargill salt ponds were tidal wetlands as recently as 1943, which he said was “not ancient history.” He added he felt “very uneasy about such a major” alteration of the salt pond site.



    Among those expressing opposition to any development at the site were Save The Bay, Sequoia Audubon, Committee for Green Foothills, Friends of Redwood City, the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, and Loma Prieta Sierra Club. The Chamber of Commerce showed up to speak in favor.

    Redwood City Mayor Foust also attended and told BCDC that the city looks forward to working with DMB to conduct a planning process, starting with a “conceptual plan” from the developer later this year.

    Interestingly enough, this week a major new study was released showing the worst-case scenario in sea level rise—one meter by 2100—could be overly optimistic.

    “Rising seas, storms and extreme high tides are expected to send saltwater into low-lying areas, flooding freeways, the Oakland and San Francisco airports, hospitals, power plants, schools and sewage plants,” the article says. “Lessons from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina are not to build below sea level.”

    As the city’s general plan and the specific development processes move slowly forward in the coming months and years, Save The Bay and many others will be working and watching to see that Redwood City reaffirms that these restorable salt ponds are not a place for housing. The public can make themselves heard through this form on the City’s General Plan website and you can take action on our website.

    Friday, March 6, 2009

    Giving our volunteers a High-Five

    by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

    Simply put, our Community-based Restoration programs wouldn’t be possible without the labor and dedication of the community. To show our sincere appreciation of all the hard work our volunteers have contributed to restoring the Bay shoreline, we recently held volunteer appreciation days at Bothin Marsh, the Palo Alto Baylands and at the Martin Luther King Shoreline.

    Our fabulous volunteers were treated to good food, musicians, raffle prizes and much more! We plan to host more appreciation days in the future, so check our website for updates. In the meantime, take a look at photos of this year's festivities on our Facebook page.




    Tuesday, February 24, 2009

    Sewage spill soils the Bay

    by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

    The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that approximately 720,000 gallons of sewage spewed into the Bay during last week's spill at the Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District.

    Not surprisingly, sewage spills are a health risk for both people and wildlife—touching, inhaling, or ingesting sewage-contaminated water can cause rashes, infections, and nausea and vomiting. And large amounts of sewage can also cause die-offs due to increased nutrient load as oxygen in the water is used to break down the influx of organic matter, causing fish and wildlife to leave, or even die.

    This current leakage, in addition to the spills in Marin last year, are some of the largest sewage spills in recent years. But in reality, sewage spills happen quite regularly because the infrastructure is old and weak and significant investment is needed to repairs these lines and upgrade our plants.

    While it's true that sewage spills can harm both people and wildlife, you might be surprised to learn that runoff pollution from our homes, cars, and neighborhoods poses a much larger threat to the health of the Bay. Check it out:

    -- Each (car-owning) Bay Area resident contributes one quart of motor oil to the Bay from their cars every year.

    -- When cars are washed on pavement or in the driveway, soapy water, motor oil, copper, zinc, lead and other heavy metals are washed down the storm drains – which bypass the wastewater treatment plants – and flow straight into creeks and the Bay.

    -- Pharmaceuticals and mercury put down any drain contribute to Bay pollution.

    -- A 2005 study found an average of three pieces of trash along every foot of streams that lead to the Bay.

    -- Mercury from one thermometer can contaminate five million gallons of Bay water – the same amount of water needed to fill six Olympic-size swimming pools.

    Click here to learn more about how YOU can prevent Bay pollution.

    Tuesday, February 17, 2009

    A Mouse in the House

    by Darcie Collins, Ph.D., Habitat Restoration Director

    $30 million in the stimulus package for a mouse? That was the claim in last Thursday’s Washington Times. GOP officials, arguing the new stimulus package is stuffed with Democratic pork, charged Nancy Pelosi with earmarking $30 million of the $780 billion package to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse, an endangered animal endemic to the marshes of the San Francisco Bay.

    The story evolved like this: last week, a House Republican staffer circulated an email claiming an unnamed Federal Agency would spend “thirty million dollars (of stimulus money) for wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay Area—including work to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse.” Although there is no specific language in the bill indicating the money would go explicitly to protecting the endangered animal, the staffer held to this claim: “The bottom line is, if this bill becomes law, taxpayers will spend $30 million on a mouse.”

    Pelosi’s staff disagreed. “There are no federal wetland restoration projects in line to get funded in San Francisco,” Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said. “Neither the Speaker nor her staff have had any involvement in this initiative. The idea that $30 million will be spent to save mice is a total fabrication.”

    In truth, it's not a total fabrication. But many San Francisco Bay wetland restoration projects—earth-moving, planting, fence and road building, and creating wildlife viewing areas and parking lots—are currently at a stand-still due to inadequate funding. These “ready-to-go” projects are prime for the stimulus package. And they would help protect the salt marsh harvest mouse.



    So what is wrong with a project that benefits an endangered species and creates job opportunities? Unfortunately the little mouse has been getting a bit of a bad rap.

    In wetland restoration, the salt marsh harvest mouse operates as an “indicator species." Indicator species are very sensitive organisms that respond to extremely small changes in the environment and are often used to indicate pollution and other impacts in ecosystems. In the case of the salt marsh harvest mouse, the loss of San Francisco Bay tidal wetlands and salt marshes has caused a dramatic decrease in the harvest mouse population, resulting in its addition to the Endangered Species List in 1970.

    But just as sensitive species can be indicators of disturbance, they are also indicators of healthy systems, and restoration biologists often use these species as evidence of the successes of restoration work.



    So what does the mouse-bashing mean for SF Bay restoration ?

    Healthy salt marshes are vital for a sustainable Bay ecosystem, which helps combat the effects of global warming and leads to a sustainable fishing industry, improved water quality, and increased tourism and recreation. GOP officials may bash the little mouse, but a thriving salt marsh harvest mouse population indicates a healthy wetland ecosystem. And since salt marshes are the lungs of the Bay—providing habitat to hundreds of fish and wildlife species, trapping pollutants from urban areas before they reach the Bay, capturing carbon from greenhouse gases and providing flood and erosion control—this is a good thing.

    The proposed stimulus package includes $30 million to restore San Francisco Bay wetlands, which ultimately protects the salt marsh harvest mouse. Some call it pork; others call it cheese. I call it a good investment for our Bay.

    Learn more about Save The Bay's wetland restoration program.