Return-Path: <Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis> Received: from opus.labs.agilent.com (root@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis [130.29.244.179]) by jr.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id MAA03489 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 12:14:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis Received: from msgbas1x.cos.agilent.com (msgbas1.cos.agilent.com [130.29.152.58]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id MAA28977 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 12:14:24 -0700 (PDT) Received: from imo-r03.mx.aol.com (imo-r03.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.3]) by msgbas1x.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id D0E4F2A6 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 13:14:22 -0600 (MDT) Received: from Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis by imo-r03.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v27.12.) id v.f5.1d5a8c3 (3977) for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 15:14:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <f5.1d5a8c3.26c99f03@aol.com-DeleteThis> Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 15:14:11 EDT Subject: Fwd: FYI, SFO & Salt ponds -- Saturday Merc To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="part1_f5.1d5a8c3.26c99f03_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows sub 104
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This might be a good time to wrtie some letters to State Senators and
Assembly members asking them to fund land aquisition for wetland restoration
without requiring that the restoration funds be provided up front. The fact
is that the Cargill resotration will be a long project that can be funded at
modest levels over a number of years rather than having SFO come in and offer
to fund it up front at great expense to the Bay.
Peter
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Return-Path: <dlewis@savesfbay.org-DeleteThis> Received: from rly-yg04.mx.aol.com (rly-yg04.mail.aol.com [172.18.147.4]) by air-yg02.mail.aol.com (v75_b3.11) with ESMTP; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 15:00:35 -0400 Received: from serverstb1.SAVESFBAY.org (savebay2.savesfbay.org [205.179.186.2]) by rly-yg04.mx.aol.com (v75_b3.9) with ESMTP; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 15:00:15 -0400 Received: from ExecDir (savebay17.savesfbay.org [205.179.186.17]) by serverstb1.SAVESFBAY.org with SMTP (Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service Version 5.5.2448.0) id QXXY6J73; Mon, 14 Aug 2000 11:57:13 -0700 Reply-To: <dlewis@savesfbay.org-DeleteThis> From: "David Lewis" <dlewis@savesfbay.org-DeleteThis> To: <loma.prieta.chapter@sierraclub.org-DeleteThis>, <RODonIsle@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <john.holtzclaw@sfsierra.sierraclub.org-DeleteThis>, <mlozeau@law.stanford.edu-DeleteThis>, <vjw@cleanpower.org-DeleteThis>, <tph2@pacbell.net-DeleteThis>, <craig@scvas.org-DeleteThis>, <gravanis@earthlink.net-DeleteThis>, <williams@mha-inc.com-DeleteThis>, <jsteere@igc.org-DeleteThis>, <nans@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <mulvey@ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis>, <tnevins@scc.ca.gov-DeleteThis>, <smholmes@home.net-DeleteThis>, <davis@bay.org-DeleteThis>, <jwald@nrdc.org-DeleteThis>, <pollyosmith@dellnet.com-DeleteThis>, <rfraab@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <dkern@kernsite.com-DeleteThis>, <JenClary@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <wburns@pacinst.org-DeleteThis>, <vickimoore@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <srose@ecovote.org-DeleteThis>, <lsiegel@cpeo.org-DeleteThis>, <drjohnw@ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis>, <dlinney@nextgeneration.org-DeleteThis>, <rlong@earthisland.org-DeleteThis>, <eyes4hire@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <geohaye@hotmail.com-DeleteThis>, <Robberson.Bill@epamail.epa.gov-DeleteThis>, <billrx@worldnet.att.net-DeleteThis>, <bob@quake.net-DeleteThis>, <cems1@earthlink.net-DeleteThis>, <Catgretch@aol.com-DeleteThis>, <dankalb@earthlink.net-DeleteThis> Subject: FYI, SFO & Salt ponds -- Saturday Merc Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 12:01:28 -0700 Message-ID: <001d01c00622$0dd9b4c0$11bab3cd@savesfbay.org-DeleteThis> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300
Published Saturday, August 12, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News
Salt pond purchase proposed
BY DION NISSENBAUM
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO -- At the behest of San Francisco officials, Democratic
Assemblywoman Carole Migden has quietly introduced a proposal to set aside
up to $150 million in state money for an ambitious bid to buy 30 square
miles of private South Bay salt ponds and transform them into dynamic
wetlands.
But environmental groups contend Migden's bill could end up scuttling what
would be one of the largest conservation deals in state history because they
see it as a way to boost San Francisco's airport expansion plans.
Under the proposal -- which must be approved by lawmakers in the next two
weeks -- the sale would depend on the state coming up with additional money
to finance a costly transformation of the 19,000 acres of Cargill salt ponds
to wetlands. And at present the most likely source of that money is San
Francisco International Airport, which has been seeking a deal to save the
salt ponds as a way to compensate for its controversial expansion plans.
Airport officials have talked about restoring the Cargill property to
wetlands as one way to gain permission to fill in 1,000 acres along the west
side of the bay to create more space between runways. The expansion would be
the largest such project on the water in 60 years and could require the
airport to compensate for the project by protecting other parts of the bay.
But the expansion is wrapped up in an acrimonious and prolonged battle among
airport officials, environmentalists and neighboring cities that could
prevent the airport from putting any money toward the Cargill land for
years -- if ever.
By then, Cargill could walk away in frustration and sell the property to
someone else.
``It's an exciting project that will really transform the bay in a way that
turns back the clock,'' Cargill spokeswoman Lori Johnson said. ``But there's
no company that could agree to a sale with no endpoint in sight.''
That possibility has sparked opposition to the bill from some
environmentalists who are urging Migden to strip the link from her measure.
``I think the way this is drafted is counterproductive, counterintuitive,
not what's best for the airport and not what's best for the bay,'' said
David Lewis, executive director of Save San Francisco Bay Association.
The state has been talking with Cargill about buying the land for two years.
If the deal goes through, it would be the second largest state-federal deal
in California history. Only the $492 million spent last year to protect
ancient redwoods in Northern California's Headwaters forest would be larger.
Ecologists like Lewis view the salt ponds that stretch out between Hayward
and Redwood City as an ideal place to return part of the bay to pre-gold
rush conditions. By restoring the land, Lewis said, the region could improve
water quality and bring back several small creatures from the brink of
extinction.
But it would be a mistake, he said, to tie that effort to San Francisco's
dream of ending its frustrating airport delays.
Stuart Sunshine, director of the airport's expansion project, said Migden's
bill wouldn't directly aid airport officials' efforts because there is no
guarantee that they will get approval for the plan.
``We are way too early in our planning to tell you what mitigation has been
identified,'' he said.
At the same time, California does not have to rely on the airport to finance
the restoration effort. If it finds another source for the money, it could
move ahead with its plans.
Migden was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment. The San
Francisco lawmaker's aides have been talking with the competing interests in
hopes of working out a compromise.
So far, that remains elusive.
The bill is expected to receive a skeptical first test in the coming days in
the state Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee, headed by liberal
Democrat Tom Hayden of Los Angeles.
Debbie Drake, an official with the National Audubon Society's San Francisco
office, said her group has been working with state Sen. Byron Sher,
D-Redwood City, on a bill amendment to strip Migden's bill of the linkage.
As with almost every public project in San Francisco, this one has been
enveloped by the city's creeping fog of competing interests -- from Save the
Bay to San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, whose city advocates in Sacramento
drafted the bill.
Ideally, groups like Save the Bay would like to see the state put up $150
million -- half of what Cargill is seeking for the land -- without any
strings attached. Environmentalists have been encouraged by word from U.S.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office that she may be able to come up with the
other $150 million next year.
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---- Contact Dion Nissenbaum at dnissenbaum@sjmercury.com-DeleteThis or (916) 441-4603.
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