Conservation:
Newark Area 3 & 4 Draft Environmental Impact Report
Analysis by Janice & Frank Delfino (paraphrased)
Historically, Area 4 in Newark west of the Union Pacific
Railroad was mostly wetlands with duck clubs and vernal pools.
Although repeated disking has destroyed most of the wetland
vegetation, one deep pool remains. There is a remnant slough that
connects with Mowry Slough along with numerous flood control
channels. There is concern about which jurisdiction would
maintain the levees along Mowry Slough.
If the proposed golf course is built there would need to be a
treatment source for the chemicals before the water runoff enters
Mowry Slough, a major Harbor Seal resting, feeding, and pupping
site. Shorebirds and waterfowl are also found in this area. Area 4
is a sensitive wildlife habitat and most of it should remain as
open space.
Power Plants in Hayward
August 2008
News
The two power plants and the four radio towers proposed for
the Hayward Shoreline are causing a ripple. The Eastshore
Power Plant (Tierra) received a decision to deny from the Chair
of the California Energy Commission. The full commission is
slated to meet this month to either uphold or overturn that
decision. Assemblymember Hayashi has a bill in the State
Legislature that would allow the citizens of Hayward the option
to deny a power plant if another plant is being considered to be
built.
The Calpine (Russell City) Power Plant is subject to a delay
while awaiting an appeal to the Environmental Protection
Agency to deny the plant. The California Native Plant Society is
requesting a reopening of the biological opinion due to the
amount of nitrogen that the native plants as well as the animals
would be subjected to as well as other issues due to moving the
location of the plant with no further studies. Calpine has asked
for another two year extension of time to get its act together.
Rich Cimino wrote a very persuasive letter asking for denial of
extension.
The Salem radio towers would be built on top of an old
landfill on the Hayward shoreline. There are already 4 towers in
the vicinity. Salem intends to sink the footing into the landfill and
says there is no cause for alarm from leachate from so doing.
Others are not so sure and say that all landfills eventually leach.
The edges of the landfill were never adequately capped and will
have to be capped. Salem and Calpine have offered money to the
city for a library for allowing these things to happen. It is
doubtful whether this will really come to pass. —EC
June 2008
(paraphrased from Hayward Daily Review Editorial)
On Wednesday evening, June 6, approximately 100 people
packed the Hayward City Council Chambers to attend a public
hearing conducted by the California Energy Commission regarding
the possible building of two power plants on the Hayward
shoreline. The first, the Russell City power plant was proposed
several years ago by Calpine, but the Calpine ran out of money.
They are now back with essentially the same proposal as before.
The second one was somewhat a stealth proposal. Tierra
Energy had laid much of the ground work before the City of
Hayward or the citizens had heard about it. Of the two, the Tierra
proposal is the most cause for concern because it would be used
only when there is a drain on the energy supply and as such is not
held to as strict an air quality standard as the other plant. The
proposals say they will buy credits to offset the dirty air, but that
doesn’t make the quality of life and health issues any more
palatable for East Bay residents.
SF Bay Conservation Coordinator for California Audubon.
Mike Perlmutter has been brought on board at the Emeryville
office of Audubon California to coordinate all the projects going
on around the San Francisco Estuary. In addition to the South
Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, The Army Corps of Engineers
and U. S Geological Survey are doing a study of the entire
estuary shoreline. There are projects going on in the North Bay as
well, so this will be a challenging job. We look forward to his
leadership in this post. —EC (July 1, 2007)
Altamont Pass Wind TurbinesAugust 2005
Boundary Creek , Castro Valley, CA 
August 2006
Burrowing Owl surveyAugust 2006
Calaveras DamNovember 2005
Coyote Hills & Patterson Ranch August 2006
Dumbarton QuarryJanuary 2006
EBRPD Grazing Review Task Force
Endangered Species ActJanuary 2006
Iron Horse Trail in DublinAugust 2006
Lake Elizabeth Tree Swallow Nest Boxes [updated 16 Oct. 2001]
Livermore Valley
ConservationAugust 2006
Opposition to Fremont Development: Patterson Ranch & Coyote Hills Regional Park[updated 26 Aug. 2005]
Schaefer Ranch Project, Dublin
San Francisco Public Utility Commission Watershed Plan
Saving Wetlands: Audubon's Baylands Campaign [updated 21 Aug. 2001]
Springtown Preserve, Livermore
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project [updated 16 Aug. 2004]
Sunol/Niles Dam RemovalNovember 2005
Sunol Water Temple Imperiled by Quarry
Walpart Ridge January 2006
Zone 7 Watershed Plan August 2006
Education:
Introduce Children to Audubon Adventures
Springtown Preserve
The Springtown Preserve (STP) in north Livermore is a
compact, pleasant, place to look for birds and native plants.
Pattie Cole, a ranger with the Livermore Parks and Recreation
and Ohlone member led a Sunday morning bird walk
along the Altamont Creek as it flows through STP. Birding was
good. In a few feet we saw four different sparrows and a short
distance away we saw two Western Pond Turtles and a Green
Heron. There was a heron rookery across the creek. On October
15, I walked the Preserve and saw wintering Savanna Sparrow
in volume, two Say’s Phoebes, a Northern Shrike, a Great Blue
Heron and several jack rabbits. About two years ago Art
Edwards found a wintering Swamp Sparrow nearby.
The STP is a unique alkali sink, which can be divided into
three zones: the Altamont uplands, the recharge zone, and the
sink itself. The Altamont upland zone contributes both surface
and subsurface flow. The recharge zone begins at the base of the
valley hills. The STP follows Altamont Creek through the Sink
where the water table is two to four feet below the surface,
depending on the season and annual rainfall. The vegetation in
STP is alkali dry grassland with vernal pools and iodine bush
scrub.
The California Native Plants Society (CNPS) has completed
a recent inventory of STP and the Livermore Valley. The results
indicate that 50% of the Alkali lands have been developed. The
Springtown Preserve and surrounding ecosystem are 40% of the
balance of this dry grasslands habitat.
The STP has two federally listed plants, the Livermore Tar
Plant, found only in the Tri-Valley, and the Bird’s-beak, found
in only a few locations in North America.
On February 24, 2007 I will be leading a birding trip to the
Springtown Preserve. Please plan to join that day and explore
this unique habitat.
This report was, in part, contributed by Heath Bartosh and
Lech Naumovich of CNPS. —RC, October 2006.
Calaveras Dam
The Alameda Creek Alliance is urging the San Francisco
Public Utilities Commission to avoid impacts to habitats that
support officially listed, threatened, or endangered species and to
mitigate unavoidable impacts with investments to balance the
loss; to build passages that allow for migration upstream and
down for the steelhead trout at Calaveras Dam and Alameda
Diversion Dam; to guarantee adequate stream flows to protect
native wildlife; to not build a rubber dam in Sunol Valley; and to
build and operate Calaveras Reservoir to protect trout. To learn
more, and to learn what you can do to help, visit:
www.alamedacreek.org/.
Sunol/Niles Dam Removal
A draft environmental impact report has been issued on the
proposed partial removal of the Sunol and Niles Dams located in
Niles Canyon on Alameda Creek. Along with partial removal of
the dams, impounded sediment would be left in place to move
downstream over a period of decades. A public hearing was
scheduled for December 1, 2005 and written comments were due
by December 7. Check the Alameda Creek Alliance website for
results and suggestions.
Walpert Ridge
The area in Hayward known as Walpert Ridge is slated for
development as Stonebrae. The developer is supplying approximately
$1.5 million to buy land for open space as the result of a
lawsuit settlement regarding impact on the red-legged frog and
the Alameda whipsnake. Negotiations between the developer and
East Bay Regional Park District are proceeding slowly.
Evelyn Cormier, Ohlone Audubon Society
Endangered Species Act
Congressman Richard Pombo was able to get HR3824 through
the U. S. House of Representatives. It would have the effect of
gutting the Endangered Species Act. The bill will now move on to
the Senate where there will probably be some opposition to it. The
question is how much, and will it be enough?
According to the Tri-City Ecology Newsletter, the Pombo bill
would do the following things:
• do away with critical habitat protections for endangered
species;
• remove protection from threatened species; It would allow
political appointees to determine what is best science available;
• exempt other federal agencies from consulting with the
Fish and Wildlife Service; and
• force the FWS to pay developers to comply with the law.
Contact your Senators to let them know of your concerns.
Barbara Boxer, 112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-3553
Web: boxer.senate.gov/contact
Dianne Feinstein 331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-3841
Web: feinstein.senate.gov/email.html
Call Evelyn to learn what else you can do about the Pombo
Act and about the other issues listed.
Evelyn Cormier, Ohlone Audubon Society
Dumbarton Quarry
The Dumbarton Quarry is slated to be closed and the site
donated to East Bay Regional Park four or five years from now.
Because of its proximity to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay
National Wildlife Refuge, the outcomes need to be compatible
with the Refuge.--Evelyn Cormier, Ohlone Audubon Society
Boundary Creek, Castro Valley, CA
The Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has
some significant improvements in the proposed project located
between Castro Valley Blvd., Crow Canyon Road and I-580. The
number of houses on the 8.49 acre site has been reduced from 37
to 28 and all are on the westerly side of the creek. Grading has
been reduced and the foundations will be fitted to the terrain
instead of having flat pad construction. The Riparian Corridor will
only be impacted by the bridge abutments and the storm drain
outfall. Approximately 4.2 acres of creek and 3,500 ft. of open
space have been preserved. Of the 429 trees, 144 are slated for
removal with replacement at a two for one ratio with native trees.
What still seems doubtful is the adequacy of the archeological
information and requirements for protection. The consultants
seem to have had difficulty locating grinding stones and other
artifacts. However an archeologist will be required to monitor the
site as construction goes forward. The creek conservation and
easement area is a definite plus in the Recirculated EIR.
Ohlone Audubon Society is opposed to the Boundary Creek
development unless the following concerns are addressed:
a) houses being built too close to the creek
b) lack of a defensible space for fire protection
c) the plan to cut down a number of the heritage oaks.
The Boundary Creek issue is slated to go to the
Alameda County Planning Commission and then to the County
Board of Supervisors. Call Evelyn Cormier for updates.
Evelyn Cormier, Ohlone Audubon Society
Burrowing Owl Survey
The Breeding Burrowing Owl survey in the East Bay is now
finished. In the productive I-580 corridor we had over 50 owls: 7
pairs, 2 adults without a partner, and 34 babies. I want to thank
the Ohlone members who shared owl sightings with me.
The survey revealed a number of development threats to
traditional nesting sites. I will be attending both Livermore and
Dublin city council and planning committee meetings on behalf of
the owls.
Ohlone Audubon needs to raise the knowledge of planners and
city decision makers about the presence of these owls.
I really do need local citizens of these cities to attend these
meetings with me. Please e-mail me: rscimino@earthlink.net
We can talk on line, do some planning, and pick dates to
address local government. —Rich Cimino, Conservation Chair.
Iron Horse Trail in Dublin
FYI The Iron Horse Trail north of Amador Valley Blvd. in
Dublin has beenclosed by the EBRP. It seems apartment dwellers
bordering this section of the Iron Horse Trail began complaining
about a gasoline like smell coming from a ditch in the Iron Horse
Trail. Since Kinder Morgan operates a petroleum pipeline under
the trail they were called to come look at it. Their response was
“someone dumped a can of gasoline in the ditch” and then they
left. EBRP called a cleanup company to clean up the “can of
gasoline”. After 300 gal. Kinder Morgan was told to come out
and fix their pipeline. After digging a huge hole and determining
that “yes the pipeline was leaking” they replaced a portion of the
pipeline. It doesn’t stop there. The trail will be closed for most of
the summer as they are tacking soil samples and drillings to
determine if there is a plume of petroleum. In addition the
petroleum pipeline was laid directly on top of a CSV waterline
bending that pipeline to the point that it needs to be replaced. To
be continued. >
Another FYI. EBRP has received grant money to complete an
underpass at the I580/I680 interchange connecting existing
paved trails on both the Dublin and Pleasanton sides of 580.
This connection leads to the Iron Horse Trail. A public hearing
as required by law will be held on Aug 23 at the Dublin library.
This is a good project since there is no easy pedestrian access
across 580 except for the BART station. It will provides an off
road trail system stretching from Shadow Cliffs to Benica. The
birding along portions of the trail is not spectacular but it is
worth doing at the right time of year. >
Pleasanton will open its portion of the Iron Horse Trail by
Sept. —Bill Rose
Zone 7 Watershed Plan
Zone 7 is a water company supplying water to the Livermore-
Amador Valley. Part of its mission is management of the streams
draining the valley. Zone 7 responsibilities include flood control,
erosion, water supply, water quality, habitat/environment, trails,
recreation and public education.
In 2002, the agency began a 20-year development of a Stream
Management Master Plan (SMMP). The SMMP is the plan for
water management, recreational development, and endangered
species management. It may include opening of paths for birding
and escorted access to sensitive areas..
The Conservation chair has opened discussions with the
Zone 7 Environmental and Public Affairs Manager to consider an
adopt-a-creek joint partnership. Zone 7 is very supportive of this
civic/conservation partnership.
Chapter members can access all the early planning data base
at: www.zone7water.com.
Chapter members wanting to engage in the process can
contact Rich via e-mail: rscimino@earthlink.net.
Richard Cimino, Conservation Chair, Ohlone Audubon
Livermore Valley
Conservation
I am still seeking a volunteer resident from Dublin and
Livermore to attend a City Council and Planning Board meeting
with me, for each city. Ohlone Audubon needs to address local
Burrowing Owl habitat planned for development. Please e mail
me (rscimino@earthlink.net) if you want to find out more about
my ideas and planned approach.
Livermore Recreation and Park District is doing their Master
Plan update to cover into 2020. A focus is Trails and Open Space.
I have been invited to participate as representing Ohlone
Audubon.
A key area of open space is the Springtown Preserve which is
home to the endangered Bird's Beak plant. This area is home to
Burrowing owl, Western King Bird, Say’s Phoebes, Loggerhead
Shrikes and many wading birds also. Altamont Creeks run
alongside the 20 + acres of the preserve. Zone 7 our water
supplier has documented habitat improvements through this
area. Current the preserve has three owners, City of Livermore, a
local family, and ReMax development which is held in a mitigation
bank by California DFG. Livermore City currently has this
area as permanent open space. I’d like to have a definition for
this open land to keep it as a preserve for plants and birds
without threat of piecemeal development.
Richard Cimino, Conservation Chair, Ohlone Audubon
What:
Full week of instruction by Natural History experts. Birds, Plants,
Invertebrates, Geology, Ecology will be taught in the field. Information
will be most useful for teaching others and for passing on the many gems
of natural history and conservation ethics. A Snake River Raft trip is
now part of program. See browsing Moose or grazing Bighorn Sheep around
Camp; nesting nighthawks, Ospreys, peregrines, grouse, magpies, much more!
Where:
Torrey Creek Canyon in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming at the Whiskey
Mountain Wildlife Conservation Camp owned by Wyoming Game and Fish Dept.
and operated by National Audubon Society.
Accommodations are rustic and comfortable.
Food is hearty. Camp elevation: 7,000 ft. (to nearly 10,000 ft. on trips).
The camp is only 70 miles from Jackson Hole.
When:
Sat., 24 - Fri., 30 June,
Sat., 1 - Fri., 7 July,
Sat., 8 - Fri., 14 July,
Sat., 15 - Fri., 21 July,
Sat., 22 - Fri., 28 Jul, or
Sat., 29 July - Fri., 4 Aug.
How:
Registration and payment of the $850.00 Sandi Gamble Scholarship will be
completed about 60 days prior to the program. Transportation to and
from the event is the responsibility of the participant.
Application: Written by applicant
to Ohlone Audubon Society. Why do you want to do this? How do you
see this experience as enabling you to impart the expected information
of the natural history and ethics of conservation to others? How
do you expect to give feedback to OAS (whether by an article to the Kite
Call Newsletter, a program to the General Membership or some other
means)? What other elements or important aspects are there?
Mail to:
Patrick Hayes, OAS Scholarship Coordinator
1040 Poda Court
Fremont, Calif. 94539
Include your address, telephone,
and e-mail if available. Also include first and second choice of camp sessions.
Deadline(s):
Preferably by April 1 (absolute cutoff at 15 May with jeopardy to selection
of camp week). All applicants will be notified when results are determined.--Phil
Gordon