BLOG: Support the Wildlife Refuge City Council Resolution

Support the Alameda Wildlife Refuge!  Speak in support of the City Council resolution re-affirming support for the 511-acre wildlife refuge on the runway area at Alameda Point and calling for zoning the refuge as open space.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 7 PM

Alameda City Hall, 2632 Santa Clara Avenue

The community is urged to attend and voice their opinion.  You are also urged to express your opinion to the city council via email. 

Email city council members:

Mayor Marie Gilmore mgilmore@ci.alameda.ca.us

Vice Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft mezzyashcraft@ci.alameda.ca.us

Stewart Chen schen@alamedaca.gov

Tony Daysog tdaysog@alamedaca.gov

Lena Tam ltam@ci.alameda.ca.us 

Key Points:

History:  The wildlife refuge is in our community base reuse plan and our general plan.

Environmental Value:  We need to stand up for environmental preservation and conservation, and provide habitat for all wildlife.

Funding value:  Putting our community on record with continued support for the refuge will provide the foundation for obtaining funding to create and implement a concrete plan to create a Bay Area conservation gem, elevating it from the status quo.

Economic Value:  The preserved open space along our shoreline with unimpaired views - clearly identified as a wildlife refuge conservation area - will provide an identity second to none.  It will bring status to the area, add desirability for adjacent property, and increase real estate values.

Community value:  A wild, open space within the highly developed East Bay will offer a unique opportunity to connect young and old with the natural environment just a few minutes from their homes.  The 10 parking spaces that the VA has currently planned for its nature center indicates the VA is not all that interested in people coming there.

Below is the draft of a city council resolution that has been introduced by councilmembers Stewart Chen and Tony Daysog.  It is item 9-A on the council agenda for 7 PM, Tuesday, February 19, 2013.  Proper zoning will reflect the level of commitment we have toward environmental stewardship in an era of growing demands on ecosystems everywhere.  Although the zoning will not be binding on the VA, it will be a clear re-statement of a community goal that began long before the VA was offered the property.  

The city's latest proposed zoning map for Alameda Point no longer has the words "Wildlife Refuge" on it.  Passage of this resolution means we will put those words back on the map, and our goal back on track.  Temporary status as a refuge until the least terns are no longer endangered, so that buildings could one day be constructed, has not been the community's goal for this area of Alameda Point.

Draft Resolution re-affirming support for creation of the Alameda Wildlife Refuge at Alameda Point

Whereas, the 1996 Community Reuse Plan identifies the southern two-thirds of the Naval Air Station-Alameda airfield for preservation as a wildlife refuge;

Whereas, the 1996 Community Reuse Plan stipulates that this area “would remain as open space to provide for the preservation of wetlands, sensitive species, and regional open space uses”;

Whereas, the City of Alameda General Plan was amended in 2003 to add Chapter 9 on Alameda Point, which includes support and encouragement for funding and implementation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Alameda National Wildlife Refuge;

Whereas, the General Plan amendment supports “a system of trails that provide public access to and within the Wildlife Refuge” that balances natural conservation with public access and education;

Whereas, the General Plan amendment supports the creation of education facilities and programs, similar to other conservation areas such as the Elsie D. Roemer Bird Sanctuary;

Whereas, the wildlife refuge is home to one of the most successful nesting sites in California for the endangered California Least Tern;

Whereas, Breakwater Island is part of the wildlife refuge vision in the 1996 Community Reuse Plan, and it is the only night roosting area of its kind in San Francisco Bay for California Brown Pelicans, which were only recently removed from the Endangered Species List;

Whereas, the wildlife refuge, and the entirety of Alameda Point and its adjacent waters, are subject to special restrictions for protection of the least terns by authority of the 2012 Biological Opinion issued by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the responsible agency for enforcement of the Endangered Species Act;

Whereas, the 511-acre refuge area offers a rare and vast inner urban opportunity for public access and education, a respite and retreat from the built environment, introduction of native plant species, expansion of wetlands, and wildlife recovery and protection efforts;

Whereas, the Alameda Wildlife Refuge would complement the land uses contemplated for the mixed-use area of Alameda Point, as well as complementing the entire city and the Bay Area;

Whereas, numerous federal, state, and regional public agencies possess the experience and mission for collaboratively managing a wildlife conservation area;

Whereas, environmental cleanup and remediation will be completed by the Navy in compliance with federal and state environmental laws;

Whereas, ownership by the VA will ensure that potential environmental cleanup liabilities regarding the Site 2 landfill, and any other portion of the federal property, will be borne by the VA (unless retained by the Navy) regardless of the land uses;

Whereas, the wildlife refuge vision is compatible with, and complementary to, proposed plans for a VA clinic and columbarium;

Now be it therefore resolved:

          The City Council of the City of Alameda re-affirms our commitment to and support for the creation of a wildlife conservation area known as the Alameda Wildlife Refuge at Alameda Point;

          And be it further resolved that the adjacent waters of the Alameda Point Channel, and Breakwater Island, are to be included in the management plan for the refuge;

          And be it further resolved that the City Council of the City of Alameda will support the zoning of the wildlife refuge property as “Open Space with a Refuge Overlay,” or similar conservation zoning designation, to promote the protection and implementation of the values and goals recited in this resolution.