Stewardship Plan for Tomales Bay

The Tomales Bay Watershed Council is now initiating a comprehensive public outreach campaign to gather additional community input on their Draft stewardship plan. During the months of March through May, Council representatives will be attending a number of regularly scheduled board and membership meetings of local service organizations to discuss the plan and to encourage community participation. The Council will also host three special community meetings in Pt. Reyes, Tomales and San Geronimo Valley in April to present the community with information about the Plan, and to provide an opportunity for community input in crafting this important document.

Over the last three years Council members have been working on a plan for the restoration and protection of Tomales Bay and its watershed. The Council's shared vision is to develop a comprehensive watershed management plan that recognizes the many dynamic interactions between the natural environment and human uses in the region. The DRAFT Tomales Bay Stewardship Plan: a framework for action is a result of these efforts. The Council hosted community meeting will be held on:

April 16, 2003-Point Reyes Station
Dance Palace in the Church space
503 B Street
6:30-8:30 p.m.

April 22, 2003-Tomales
Tomales Town Hall
27150 Highway 1
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

April 24, 2003-San Geronimo
San Geronimo Valley Cultural Center
6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

"A plan is only as strong as the commitment of people carrying it out - namely, all residents of, and the many visitors to, West Marin", says Michael Mery, long-time resident and Chairperson of the Council. The public outreach effort will provide an opportunity for additional community involvement in the long-term protection of Tomales Bay.

The Tomales Bay Watershed Council (the Council) is a community-based organization formed in January 2000 by the Tomales Bay Advisory Committee to develop strategies to protect and restore the Tomales Bay watershed in a manner that sustains human and natural resources. The Council members include 24 stakeholders representing residential and community groups, agricultural interests, environmental groups, recreational interests, shellfish growers and other commercial interests, and public agencies.

Tomales Bay is the geographic heart of the portion of western Marin County that includes the watersheds of Lagunitas and Walker creeks. The surrounding landscape can be viewed as a vast circulatory system, connecting all the plant, animal, and human inhabitants. Waters flow into the bay through wild lands, dairy ranches, forests, parks, and human communities-approximately 220 square miles in all. The upper boundary of the Tomales Bay watershed is made up of ridgelines both familiar and remote, a rim of sorts, measuring 142 miles. Nearly 900 species of plants, hundreds of species of birds, hundreds of invertebrate species, and numerous sensitive, threatened and endangered species including coho salmon, steelhead trout, brown pelican, Steller sea lion and red-legged frog, inhabit the watershed and nearby Point Reyes peninsula. Tomales Bay has been designated as an "impaired waterbody" by the Regional Water Quality Control Board due to elevated levels of nutrients, sediment, mercury and pathogens caused by human activities in the watershed.

The Council will continue to meet on the third Tuesday of each month from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Point Reyes National Seashore Headquarters. The public is invited to attend these meetings and to join in the planning process. We encourage members of the watershed community to join in our activities. Additional information on the Council and the DRAFT Stewardship Plan is available at, http://www.tomalesbaywatershed.org. To find our more about the community meetings or request an informational meeting, Contact Neysa King, the Council's Coordinator, at 415-663-9092 or by email at neysaking@earthlink.net.