Urgent Actions for Marin's Salmon Streams Will Be Announced Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: embargoed until Wednesday FEBRUARY 6, 2008 at 10AM

For more information, contact:
Todd Steiner- SPAWN Director- 415-663-8590, x103
Steve Kinsey- Marin County Board of Supervisors- 415-499-3091

The County of Marin and SPAWN, the Salmon and Watershed Protection Network, are pleased to announce an important salmon restoration effort focused on the San Geronimo Creek watershed. Over the next two years, building on existing scientific research and local studies, the County, with the active involvement of SPAWN, technical experts, and property owner representatives, will prepare a Salmonid Habitat Enhancement Plan for the San Geronimo Creek Watershed. The plan will develop and define proposed County policies, programs and specific actions intended to improve the survival chances of endangered coho salmon and steelhead in this critical reach of the Lagunitas Creek watershed.

The estimated cost to execute the plan and targeted dates for implementing specific elements will be included in the plan. Revision of the County’s existing tree ordinance to incorporate protection of riparian vegetation is also expected to be a part of the plan. Another expected important result will be the development of clear guidelines for legalization or removal of the many unpermitted structures already constructed along the sensitive creek banks of the San Geronimo Valley.

“With true partnering, I am confident that the end result will reflect the highest commitment to protecting and nurturing our fisheries back from the brink of extinction. I expect this plan to provide a template for aggressive action in other Marin communities and throughout the central California coast,” said Supervisor Steve Kinsey.

To insure that incremental impacts don’t undermine the Plan’s purpose, the County Board of Supervisors will consider adopting an urgency ordinance on February 12, 2008 that would enact a building permit moratorium on currently unapproved new construction inside the County’s mandated Stream Conservation Area within the San Geronimo Valley. The moratorium would last a maximum of two years under the terms of the proposed ordinance. On developed properties, emergency or disaster repairs and up to 500 square feet of additional space would be permitted as long as no net increase in the building footprint occurred. Pending development applications received prior to January 1, 2008 that do not propose buildings within the Stream Conservation Area will not be subject to the moratorium.

This unprecedented and collaborative habitat planning effort addresses concerns raised by SPAWN, and leading salmon experts in California including Dr. Peter Moyle of UC Davis, Dr. Jon McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences, and the American Fisheries Society of California, during the Board of Supervisors review and adoption of the Countywide Plan update in November 2007.

Todd Steiner, Director of SPAWN adds: “We are pleased that we can work with the County to implement a comprehensive study that will inform science-based policies for the San Geronimo Valley, which is arguably the most threatened habitat for the critically endangered coho salmon on the Central California coast. We will applaud the Supervisor’s decision to implement a two-year moratorium, an important “time-out” to protect Lagunitas salmon and local streams while we collect the scientific data needed for rational development decisions to protect the health of this watershed we all love so much.”

The County’s decision comes on the heels of data that shows that this winter’s run of salmon is the lowest recorded in twelve years of monitoring. In the San Geronimo Valley, a critically important spawning and nursery area, spawning declined by a drastic 79%.


WHAT: County Supervisor Steve Kinsey and SPAWN executive director Todd Steiner will announce the conclusions of confidential negotiations to protect endangered salmon habitat and conduct much-needed studies in the San Geronimo Valley of the Lagunitas Creek Watershed.

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 2008, 10:00 AM

WHERE: Brown Bridge, on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, Marin County, CA. The Brown Bridge is at the west end of Farifax on the big hill you drive over between Fairfax and Woodacre and is the watershed dividing line between the Lagunitas and Corte Madera Watersheds. The parking area is at the top of the hill to your right if you are heading west.

WHO: Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey and SPAWN executive director Todd Steiner

BACKGROUND: Marin County hosts the largest remaining population of wild coho salmon left in California, a species on the brink of extinction. For several months, the public and hundreds of California scientists have asked for more protection and additional studies. The news comes on the heels of an announcement this week that the Lagunitas Watershed coho spawning run was the lowest in 12 years.



Paola Bouley, M.S.
Watershed Biologist
Salmon Protection and Watershed Network
http://www.SpawnUSA.org

**NEW ADDRESS and PHONE NUMBER**
PO Box 370
Forest Knolls, CA 94933
Phone- (415)663-8590 x102
Fax- (415)663-9534