For Immediate Use Contact: Brooke Langston, (415) 388-2524
December 16, 2009

Tiburon, CA – The Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary’s efforts to restore much-needed habitat in San Francisco Bay recently received a big boost when the California State Water Resources Control Board approved nearly $850,000 for an enhancement project on Aramburu Island in Richardson Bay. The 17-acre island owned by Marin County, now dominated by non-native plants, is a rare undeveloped sanctuary for resident and migratory birds.

“San Francisco Bay is one of the most important places for birds in the Western Hemisphere, and yet with all the development that has taken place here in the last century, there are very few places where we can really make more welcoming habitat for birds and other wildlife,” said Brooke Langton, director of the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary. “This island has really needed some attention for some time, and this is the kind of project that will really make this whole community better.”

The funding is being allocated from the State Water Board’s Cleanup and Abatement Account, which is used to fund environmental projects statewide. The Water Board chose this particular project because the need for high quality habitat and refuge areas for wildlife in the Richardson Bay area has grown tremendously over the last three decades.

“Funding this project on Aramburu Island is a great opportunity to make the Bay a better place for both birds and people,” said Dyan Whyte, assistant executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “To be able to use this man-made island to restore some of the important coastal habitats that have disappeared in this area and create much needed refuge habitat for birds and seals is something we can’t pass up.”

The enhanced environment created by the project will improve habitat for wildlife such as shorebirds, waterbirds, and harbor seals.  It will also support a diversity of native plants, including several species that were once prevalent in the area but are now rare. By maintaining the hilly, upland areas as coastal grasslands, the project will provide room for the salt marsh to expand as sea level rises over the next few decades.

Invasive plants, including broom and ice plant, have spread widely over the island, greatly reducing habitat quality and use by a diversity of birds and small mammals. The restoration project will eliminate the invasive plants and allow the return of native species along with the birds and other wildlife that depend on them.

Activities in the Audubon-led program will include:

1. Rehabilitate existing tidal marsh to improve habitat quality for birds and other wildlife, and to provide a refuge for native salt marsh plant species diversity and recovery of native, regionally rare marsh plants.
2. Rehabilitate upland grassland habitats and establish gradual transition zones between upland and intertidal areas to support native plants and improve wildlife habitats for shorebirds, waterfowl, and special-status native plant species.
3. Reduce wave erosion and shoreline retreat by selective placement of bay sand and gravel beach sediments.
4. Expand existing sand and gravel spit shorebird roosting habitats and provide access for harbor seals to haul out.
5. Construct new and improve existing depressions to form rain-fed pools with seasonal marsh flora to provide high tide roosts and foraging opportunities for migratory shorebirds and dabbling ducks.

About the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary
The Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary is located on the edge of the San Francisco Bay and operates under the auspices of Audubon California. Primarily a Sanctuary providing habitat for migratory waterbirds and other wildlife, it also offers ways for the community to connect with the Bay through education, conservation and restoration programs.