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It's nice to have some good news to report. In late July the Marin County Open Space District (MCOSD) Board approved a new plan for Bolinas Lagoon: entering into a partnership with the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary (GFMS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to develop a Locally Preferred Plan (LPP) for the Bolinas Lagoon Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study. The LPP will be an alternative to the plan developed by MCOSD and USACE in 2005.
Significant to this decision is that, under the leadership of GFMS, a "Working Group" will be established to develop the LPP. The working group will include representatives of public agencies, scientists, and local stakeholders in the lagoon. The target schedule includes a public meeting to explain the program (September); working group meetings in September, October and November; creation of a draft LPP by January 2008; a second public meeting in February 2008; revision to the LPP resulting from public comments; and completion of the LPP by May 2008. At that point, the MCOSD/USACE partnership will complete the Draft Feasibility Study Report/EIR/EIS for submission to Congress in late 2008.
Concurrent with this work, a number of tasks will be undertaken by MCOSD and USACE, including installing a permanent tide gage in the lagoon; a bathymetric survey to complement those of 1998, 1988, and earlier; implementing a monitoring program for ecological indicators; possibly removing the dredge at the lagoon's south end; and completing the removal of unneeded telephone poles along the Route 1 shoreline.
These developments have been a long time coming. Let us all hope that they lead to a meaningful restoration plan to safeguard the long-term health of Bolinas Lagoon and its wildlife. Your help will be requested when the time comes to seek federal financial support for the restoration work. You have been key to our past success in generating funds, for which we thank you.
Project bulletins, correspondence and status updates continue to be available at the MCOSD’s web site: www.marinopenspace.org.
Bucky Mace
For the Foundation Board