Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area
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Story Update: Subtleties of the Subtidal

This past October, we reported on a landmark plan to preserve and restore the subtidal habitats of the San Francisco Bay — thousands of acres that sit mostly out of sight and out of mind below the surface of the Bay. In late January, the Final San Francisco Bay Subtidal Habitat Goals Report addressing this plan was released.

Subtidal habitat is crucial to the Bay’s health for many reasons. Bay ecosystems — including rocky areas, places with muddy or sandy bottoms, shellfish beds, seaweed beds, and even some human-made structures — provide habitat for hundreds of species of native plants and animals, from obscure worms in Bay mud to 10-foot sevengill sharks to sea lions and even harbor porpoises.

So the biodiversity of the Bay rests on the health of its subtidal habitats. But the threats those habitats face are numerous.

So how exactly does this report help the Bay’s threatened ecosystems?

“This is the first time this information has been compiled for the subtidal regions of San Francisco Bay.”

“Now there is mapping information, descriptions of each habitat and its function, and recommendations of how to move forward for protection and restoration,” says Marilyn Latta, who managed the project for the state Coastal Conservancy. “This is the first time this information has been compiled for the subtidal regions of San Francisco Bay.”

The report lays the groundwork for actions to be taken that can prevent further degradation, restore damaged subtidal habitat, and actually boost the amount of native habitat in the Bay.

But the effort to mend the Bay’s ailing subtidal habitat is just beginning. “This is the first step, getting the report out,” says Latta. “Now we hope that resource managers and researchers will implement the report’s recommendations.”

Those recommendations take the form of 263 goals, objectives, and actions to improve the state of San Francisco Bay.

That’s a lot of work, but all those to-do items also come with a planning horizon of 50 years. So don’t hold your breath waiting for an eelgrass bed to instantly sprout off the Albany Bulb.

And as first steps go, this is a pretty solid one. “This [report] was a great effort between federal and state government, local researchers, and nonprofits,” says Latta.

So, while it may be a slow process, the protection and restoration of the Bay’s subtidal ecosystems is most definitely underway.

LEJ’s SF EcoCenter Wins EPA Environmental Justice Award

The EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park, operated by the Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ), is truly a diamond in the rough.

Nestled deep in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood among a tallow rendering plant, a wastewater treatment facility, a concrete plant, and one of the state’s largest Superfund sites, the environmental justice education facility may just be the Bay Area’s most innovative green building.

Solidifying the EcoCenter’s spot as environmental jewel, it was awarded the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 National Achievements in Environmental Justice Award. According to the EPA, the award “recognizes partnerships that address local environmental justice concerns and result in positive environmental and human health benefits in communities.” Only five awards were given out last year.

The location, in one of the more industrial areas of the city, is no accident. “Most environmental education services are in the northern part of San Francisco,” says LEJ’s Tracy Zhu. “We are working to change that.” A native of Bayview Hunters Point herself, Zhu says she’s excited that the EcoCenter (which she now manages) is open for business.

EcoCenter wasterwater treatment
The EcoCenter process all its wastewater, including sewage, on site. Photo courtesy OpenHomesPhotography.com.

LEJ addresses the health and environmental needs of Southeast San Francisco, an environmental justice community. “The community here is made up of predominantly low-income people of color who have historically carried the burden of industrial pollution,” Zhu explains. Approximately one-third of the children in Bayview Hunters Point struggle with asthma, testament to the health effects of living next door to Hunters Point Power Plant–the oldest and dirtiest power plant in California until it shut down in 2006 after years of community pressure.

Zhu says LEJ aims to use the EcoCenter to educate the community–with a focus on youth–about ecologically sensible alternatives to the toxic and smelly industry surrounding it. To accomplish this, it hosts an impressive array of groundbreaking environmental technologies:

• With solar panels donated by BP and a system of storage batteries, the center operates completely off the grid. When asked about the heavy wires attached to the walls throughout the building, Zhu says “we left the electrical conduits exposed to highlight the source of our energy. Not just here, but elsewhere where it’s not visible.”

• Black water treatment. All grey- and black-water (raw sewage) is processed on-site using a series of tanks, ultraviolet lights, and a beautiful indoor wetland (complete with tule reeds, fish, and spiders). The processed water is then used to water the center’s native plant landscaping.

• Living roof. Blossoming with native plants and a bird pond, the EcoCenter’s roof cuts down on the need for heating and cooling, reduces heat island effect, provides native wildlife habitat, and feeds the rainwater catchment system.

• Native plant landscaping. Reduces irrigation needs, provides wildlife habitat, and educates visitors about native plant life. The plants are grown by LEJ’s own youth-operated nursery at nearby Candlestick State Park.

Ten years in the making, the EcoCenter was christened on People’s Earth Day (April 18th) 2010 and opened its doors in September.

“It took eight years to raise funds and get permits,” Zhu says, chuckling, “the agencies didn’t know how to permit these technologies.”

Even with permits in place, it took a while for everything to fall into place. “It took many sectors of society to bring this center to Bayview Hunters Point,” says Zhu. “The real success here is that we organized a village to it build. We didn’t have $5 million in the coffers for this.”

So what exactly takes place in this truly ecological building? “We want to make this a hub of activity that brings students, teachers, and community members together to learn about the environment–their environment–and how they can help it,” says Zhu.

The EcoCenter provides a destination for school field trips, teacher training sessions, youth docent programs, and volunteer days (every second Saturday). Since all those programs are provided for free, LEJ is also looking to rent out the space out for events.

In addition, LEJ manages the 23-acre Heron’s Head Park where the EcoCenter sits, one of few open spaces in southeast San Francisco and one of even fewer with access to the water. The park is great for birding, with a short scenic trail and a restored wetland and coastal scrub plants throughout.

“We really want to provide opportunities and resources for young people where they are,” says Zhu, “We don’t think [the kids] should be bussed out to access these.”

If the last few months of 2010–when 1,500 kids visited the center–are any sign, LEJ and the EcoCenter are well on their way to accomplishing their goal.

Heron’s Head Park and the EcoCenter are located at Jennings Street and Cargo Way, two blocks south of Pier 96. Free parking is available at the entrance. To schedule a field trip or sign up for classes, please contact LEJ’s Program Manager Tracy Zhu.

Getting Local Food at Your Local Park

People travel from around the world to visit the America’s National Parks. They come for the scenery, the wildlife, the human history.

But rarely–whether they’re visiting Muir Woods or the Everglades–do they come to sample the local, seasonal foods of whatever region they’re visiting. Instead they usually find the same fare available at most any shopping mall food court. That may soon change soon thanks to work being done at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and the Institute at the Golden Gate.

The institute’s “Food for the Parks” initiative aims to make GGNRA a model for national parks across the country to begin providing local, seasonal foods in the park system’s many eateries.

On November 7, environmental writer and thinker Bill McKibben, GGNRA’s Acting Deputy Superintendent Aaron Roth, and local chef/food activist Larry Bain gathered at Mission Blue Chapel at Cavallo Point in Marin to discuss the proposal and the role food could play in the future of the park system.

A self-proclaimed “rainer on parades,” McKibben was in unusually high spirits as he, Roth, and Bain discussed the success of the local food movement. “Our relationship with food is headed unambiguously in the right direction,” he said. “The degree to which local, seasonal food has taken off is astonishing.”

The Bay Area is very well aware of this, as farmer’s markets abound on all sides of the Bay, and prime agricultural land can be found nearby in every direction, with a good chunk of the harvest landing on Bay Area tables.

And a fair bit of that harvest also lands at GGNRA’s concessions. “The menu at Muir Woods is 77 percent local, coming from within 80 miles,” Roth said. “Of the produce and protein, 90 percent is local and 75 percent is organic.” And more than three quarters of the food waste from Muir Woods is diverted to local composting programs.

“We need to get closer to the real world,” McKibben says, “food is one of the easiest ways to do this.” Eating food that is local and in season serves to enrich the park experience, allowing visitors to further immerse themselves in the local region.

GGNRA’s accomplishments may be tough to replicate throughout the park system. The obstacles, while daunting, aren’t insurmountable, says Bain. “People have lived locally all around the world for many years,” he adds. “Only recently has it become an issue.”

In addition to providing park visitors with local, healthy and tasty foods, “Food for the Parks” could serve to bolster regional food system as parks make large purchases of local produce.

With “Food for the Parks” promising ecological sustainability, economic benefits, and a more solid sense of place in America’s national parks, it seems likely more local food will start popping up on park menus across the nation. But the final selling point is, of course, taste. “Thank goodness what we’re selling is delicious,” Bain says, “otherwise we’d need billions in advertising.”

The Rainy Day Barrel Contest

With a few good storms already this fall, we have some reason to hope for good rains this winter. That will be good news for salmon, and good news for the young rain harvesters at work in Marin County, where the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN) — in collaboration with Jane Goodall’s “Roots and Shoots” program — is putting on a “One, Two, Three, Save Some For Me” rainwater harvesting and community art contest.

“This is the first Roots and Shoots group in Marin County promoting rain water harvesting,” says SPAWN’s Catie Clune. Participating classes are raising funds for rainwater harvesting systems, then creatively decorating the rain barrels before installing them at their schools. “The contest is really about the kids educating themselves and other people in their community about rain harvesting barrels,” Clune adds.

But rainwater harvesting is more than an opportunity for artwork: Urban rainwater runoff can pick up toxins as it flows over impervious surfaces like streets and sidewalks in a watershed, ultimately harming both wildlife and human communities. “The aim is to try to capture rainwater runoff,” Clune explains, “and use it in the garden or elsewhere to ensure that the water entering our streams is clean.”

In addition to learning the benefits of rainwater harvesting, students get their hands dirty while directly benefiting local watersheds. “The kids enjoy being creative, and the hands-on part of this [contest] is great,” says Laura Honda, a third-grade teacher at Manor School in Fairfax. “It makes the issue visible and real to the kids.”

student with rain barrel
Photo by Cailtin Clune, SPAWN.

But the contest is only one part of broader watershed conservation education: Honda’s students are conducting home water surveys to see how much water their families use and how that amount can be reduced. They also hosted a guest speaker from the Marin County Water District who spoke about water conservation in Marin County.

At St. Marks School in San Rafael, Loree Donaldson’s third grade class is one of four classes participating. “It’s good at every age to make [the kids] conscious of using resources, to think about the watershed, about how we use water and where it goes afterward,” says Donaldson. “It’s better for both the kids and our world down the road.”

While Donaldson’s students have yet to decorate their barrels, she’s excited to see what they come up with and already has plans for the barrels after the contest. “We’re looking to use them in our campus garden to capture rainwater and water the garden with it.” Honda’s students have decorated their barrels with images of migratory birds, native wildflowers, and — appropriately — salmon.

Classes at nine schools throughout the Bay Area are already participating, and with the final days of judging and exhibition set to take place on November 20th at SPAWN’s Marin headquarters, there’s still time for interested classes to join in on the fun.

Teachers looking to sign up should contact Catie Clune at catie@tirn.net or (415) 663-8590 ext. 118. SPAWN will provide teachers with lesson plans and fundraising ideas. And Fairfax Lumber and Hardware will provide barrels to participating groups at a discount.

So this fall, with any luck the Bay Area will be cloaked in fog and rain, and you can skip the rainy-day blues simply by joining the contest or installing your own rainwater harvesting system. Then sit back and relax, knowing you’re doing your part to keep our watersheds safe and clean.

Trailing Ahead in the East Bay

Currently, the East Bay has 175 miles of pedestrian and bicycle trails serving over 2.5 million people across the Alameda and Contra Costa counties. This network already connects parks, schools, shops, jobs, and transit stations. But there are still significant gaps, notably around Hercules, Martinez, Albany, Union City, Dublin/Pleasanton, and Antioch/Brentwood.

The East Bay Regional Park District is poised to start filling those in after this week’s announcement of a $10.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Park District General Manager Pat O’Brien says this money — along with funds from 2008’s Measure WW — will enable the district to create a truly comprehensive system of pedestrian and bicycle friendly corridors in the East Bay. “This will be the largest urban-metro paved trail system in the United States,” says O’Brien.

“This will be the largest urban-metro paved trail system in the United States,” says O’Brien.

The District’s application to the federal TIGER II program competed with 1,000 others — totaling $19 billion in requested funds — for a share of the $600 million awarded by the Department of Transportation. “These [grants] usually go to bridges, freeways, stuff like that,” says O’Brien. “It’s not common for trails like this to get funded.” The district’s Green Transportation Initiative was the only Northern California project to receive funding.

“This is really historic,” explains O’Brien, “We’ve wrapped [this grant] around a whole new concept of ‘green transportation’ in a major urban area.”

But with a core mission of providing access to protected open spaces and recreation areas, how does the park district see itself bridging the gap to regional transit? “I don’t think there is a gap,” O’Brien is quick to answer. “Since 1970, we’ve not only been doing unpaved trails [in parks], but also urban paved trails and multi-use trails. This grant is really to hook up the paved trails already in existence, so the whole network interlocks.”

In fact, O’Brien says the park district has a crucial role to play in today’s changing society, as we confront climate change and crises like the Gulf oil spill. “The trails are recreation and health focused,” says O’Brien, “but they also have this functional component of transportation where people can use them to go to school, to work, to shop, or to hook up with BART or the train station.”

So, when can East Bay residents expect to see crews on the ground? O’Brien says, “A couple projects [will be] ready to go by the end of next year.” Funds still need to be allocated and the inevitable red tape lurks, but folks itching to leave the car in the garage — or better yet, in the dealer’s lot — need not wait much longer.

Sea Otters Face Dual Threat of Sharks and Algae

It’s safe to say that most Californians harbor a soft spot for sea otters, our furry ocean friends who hold hands while napping and charmingly use tools to smash open tasty mollusks. So two bleak reports this past month concerning the fate of the southern sea otter were met with much dismay.

First, researchers in Monterey Bay announced they had documented the first otter mortalities from a toxin–microcystin–that comes from inland freshwater algal blooms.

Then, California’s Department of Fish and Game reported a dramatic increase in otter deaths from white shark bites throughout the southern end of the otters’ range.

These reports are hardly good news for a marine mammal population that has recovered from a mere 50 or so individuals in 1938 to a tenuous 2,711 today. Hunted for their thick pelts from 1741 to 1911, the sea otter’s recovery story has turned decidedly bittersweet as reintroduction efforts falter and populations fail to increase as much as scientists initially hoped.

But what do these two depressing studies really mean for the future of sea otters? Have we just seen a few bad years, or are we witnessing the beginnings of long-term downward trends?

As far as the shark attacks go, it’s far too early to tell. “There’s not a lot of info on sharks,” says Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Michelle Staedler. “It’s very hard to tell whether [the sharks’] numbers are increasing or if their food sources are decreasing.” The only certainty, it seems, is that fatal attacks on otters are on the rise. “In the ’80s we were seeing 5 percent of dead sea otters from shark bites,” she says. “Now that’s up to 15 percent.”

Whatever the cause, any action taken to curb these attacks will be tricky. “This is an issue conservationists are facing around the world,” says Melissa Miller, senior wildlife veterinarian and pathologist with Fish and Game, “where one protected species is causing problems for another.” Great whites have been protected in California’s waters since 1994, and sea otters are federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, making harassment of either animal illegal.

So for sharks, this is more an issue of wait and see.

“This is a pretty quick killer, We’ve seen this on land, but never in the ocean.”

But what’s the outlook for microcystin’s effect on otters? Miller has traced the toxin to blooms in stagnant waters high in nitrogen and phosphorous–two fertilizers heavily used in California agriculture and also present in domestic animal waste, whether pets or livestock. As these sources continue to increase, it appears so will the blooms. 

“This is a pretty quick killer,” says Staedler. “We’ve seen this on land, but never in the ocean.” The toxin’s newfound ability to affect marine creatures only adds to the laundry list of land-sea pollutants adversely impacting sea otters, and it might explain some of the past deaths that, until now, have remained mysteries. “This is probably more of a newly recognized problem than it is a new problem,” says Miller.

Will more and more otters meet their demise due to microcystin? “The question is open as to whether this is getting worse,” Miller says, “only time will tell.”

In the face of so much uncertainty, it can be difficult to know what to do to ensure sea otters grace California’s waters for years to come. According to Miller and Staedler, the main tasks at hand are more research and continued monitoring.

California’s Water Resources Control Board has been helpful in ensuring that both happen, providing funding for work on microcystin throughout the state, and prioritizing research on potential mitigation strategies for freshwater systems known to harbor the toxin. But mitigation will be a daunting task, since potential culprits range from agricultural and urban runoff to an excess of animal waste in waterways. Throw a changing climate in the mix, and you end up with a seemingly intractable problem that also pushes a lot of political buttons.

Nevertheless, while the outlook is less than cheerful, it’s thankfully too early to begin drafting an otter eulogy. “I don’t think it’s that grim,” says Miller. California sea otters are resilient creatures; they’ve been to the edge of extinction and back. As more is learned about the shark attacks and microcystin, we can begin to take steps ensuring they never get that close again.

This Weekend: Get Dirty, Clean Up

After a summer spent watching our nation scramble to clean up one of history’s largest oil spills, it seems like an especially good time to get our own hands dirty working to protect our nation’s fragile natural resources. Call it fate or coincidence then that both Coastal Cleanup Day and National Public Lands Day take place this Saturday, September 25th.

For the past 25 years Coastal Cleanup Day has seen tens of thousands of volunteers old and young flock to our nation’s coasts and inland shorelines to remove millions of pounds of rubbish, control harmful invasive plants, and restore marine habitat. In California alone last year 80,600 volunteers removed more than 1.3 million pounds of garbage from the state’s unique marine habitats; garbage that would otherwise pose a significant threat to these areas and the variety of wildlife they support.

But this day at the beach need not only be about picking up trash. It can also be about educating ourselves about the trash’s origin. In addition to a kayaking “Flotsam Flotilla” scouring the Bay and traditional debris collection, the Richmond-based Watershed Project looks to take a broader approach. Executive Director Linda Hunter says her group aims to help residents “understand the connections between their watershed, the shoreline, the Bay, and the ocean” with educational posters and the guest appearance of a vessel that studies ocean debris. The ultimate goal of such education programs? “We come out and there isn’t anything to clean up.”

Until then, though, better hit the beach and pick up what we can.

Up on dry land, National Public Lands Day has provided an opportunity since 1994 for Americans across the country to visit public lands without paying fees, while simultaneously participating in conservation work. For the 2009 Public Lands Day, volunteers around the nation collected almost a million pounds of trash, removed 20,000 pounds of invasive plants, and planted an estimated 100,000 native plants.

Among the most accessible of our federal public lands is Golden Gate National Recreation Area. At the park’s numerous units, this year’s focus is on habitat restoration, trail work, and landscaping.

“A majority of the projects we’re focusing on are completely family friendly,” says Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy’s Denise Shea. “Groups that haven’t realized these areas are right here,” she says, “are coming out to volunteer for Public Lands Day and making a connection with these areas.”

So this weekend, throw on a hat, some sunscreen, and shoes you don’t mind getting scuffed up, and join your community in a day of fun, learning, and conservation work. Most events begin at 9 am.

  • For events in the East Bay, check out the Watershed Project’s events calendar. To join the “Flotsam Flotilla” – experienced kayakers only – call Erik Vance at (510) 666-0577.

  • The California Coastal Commission website will help you locate participating areas, or you can call 1-800-COAST-4U for more info.

  • Check out the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy website for sites in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. You can register by calling (415) 561-3077 or emailing volunteer@parksconservancy.org.

  • For sites participating in National Public Lands Day, the event website will help locate areas close by.