The San Francisco Bay oil spill made us realize again how deeply we care for our wild friends. Therefore it seems appropriate to visit some of Marin's wildlife protectors.
WildCare took in a number of oil spill birds but sent them to the bird sanctuary at the Oil and Wildlife Care Network in Cordelia. They had expected more DOAs than living birds, but the number was about half and half, mostly surf scoters, grebes, cormorants, gulls and different ducks. One of these deaths was a male red-tail who died from ingesting oil on Angel Island. WildCare was able to save what may have been its mate and who was released back into the area.

As of Jan.7, the OWCN states, the number of collected dead was 1,851, the collected live was 1,084 of which 652 died or were euthanized. Of those 418 were released. As of that date it was still caring for 14. It also collected one living mammal that died and 5 that were already dead.

Morgan Environmental, which failed in its efforts to string oil booms across the mouth of the Bolinas Lagoon has charged Marin County $222,000 for the job. The total cost to the County will be around $500,000, which will be billed to the owners of the Cosco Busan freighter.

"Friends of Corte Madera Watershed" (friendsofcortemaderacreek.org) published an article by Roger Harris on Corte Madera bayland in its January-June 2008 Creek Chronicles newsletter. The following is a synopsis. Those interested would do well to get a copy of the full article.

Visualize the creek as it meets the bay at Larkspur Landing, "canalized" and crisscrossed with bridges, roads, housing developments and shopping malls. At one time, the creek, marshes and bay waters extended to the south along Paradise Drive/Tamalpais Avenue. One can almost see where the water lapped the shore. These baylands extended across Corte Madera Park, along Magnolia Ave., across the Redwood High School and College of Marin properties and up the Corte Madera Creek on either side to Ross. With efforts to save the area starting in 1915, and marsh health still tenuous, Harris was able to report "The number of breeding bird species using Corte Madera Creek marshes and environs has not been higher in our lifetimes than it is now." Environmentalists need some good news now and then.

This brings us to the concrete channel running from Kentfield to Ross. Built for flood control, it's considered a main obstruction for the drastically reduced steelhead migrations. For years, environmentalists have been trying to bring the Steelhead trout back to Corte Madera Creek. The Steelhead, which spawn between December and March need fast moving water and places to rest as they move upstream. The channel lacks resting places. That's not exactly true. There are resting places but they're inadequate and allow only the strongest fish to transit the channel. The upper 1,900 ft section is steeper thus faster but the most dangerous to the fish. A study by Michael Love and Associates (MLA) has developed designs for improving these resting pools.

The CP talked to Friends' Sandy Guldman. "We're submitting proposals to get funding to remove the barriers to Steelhead migration. Besides the concrete channel we're working on several other sites. One of these is on Saunders Ave. in San Anselmo. An old fish ladder there no longer works.

"We also want to work on the sewer culvert running under the intersection of San Anselmo Ave. and Center Blvd. The problem here is that the land has settled and the baffle sits too high and at an angle above the creek. Even when the creek is full the fish can't reach it. The bottom also has no gravel to help the fish along. We want to build a fish ladder there. Another deteriorating fish ladder is at Pastoria Ave. near the Town and Country property in Fairfax. We're also applying for funding for further habitat restoration.

"There's something else that's important. E-coli has been found in the creek and a 4-year EPA citizen's monitoring program has been cut. It's too big an effort for us alone to find the source of the e-coli, however, funding may be coming." Another looming difficulty is the many private dwellings that border the creek system and are frequently flooded. This can cause toxic drainage from lawn fertilizers and other substances and may be the source of the E-coli.

In a complementary effort, Marin County and its residents have been working at least since 2002 to remove culvert crossings in the watersheds of Lagunitas/Papermill Creek, where fish populations have declined precipitously during the decades. SPAWN, the Salmon Protection And Watershed Network, (spawnusa.org) has been a leader in this effort to remove obstacles to spawning.

"Some of these barriers are small dams built decades ago, when the area was largely rural. They were probably used to water livestock, and serve no purpose today," said Reuven Walder, SPAWN watershed biologist.

"Other barriers, such as culverts that allow the creeks to flow under roads, can easily be replaced by newer designs that allow fish passage." The goal is the removal of 53 barriers to recover 4.5 miles of habitat for these species. There are 13 creeks with culverts, dams, and miscellaneous structures identified for removal. The San Geronimo Valley also suffers from demands on water and land with 330 residents. Of these, 200 are located along the creeks.

Even though the Navy won its recent battle to use sonar along the Pacific Coast to the determent of whales, on Dec. 28, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced it would look at whether the waters stretching from Big Sur to Central Oregon need "to be protected as critical habitat for the endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle."

Quoted in a blurb by The Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP), Brendan Cummings oceans program director of the Center for Biological Diversity stated: "Leatherback sea turtles survived the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, but they are unlikely to survive our unsustainable appetite for swordfish. If leatherbacks are to survive… we must turn the waters off California and Oregon into a true sanctuary... Designating critical habitat is a vital step towards that end."

Leatherbacks migrate the Pacific Ocean basin from nesting grounds in New Guinea and Indonesia to the waters off California and Oregon. The waters are considered among the most important foraging areas in the world for the turtles, which feed on jellyfish. They're so important these areas are closed to gill and drift net fishing for swordfish during the summer and fall when leatherbacks gather to feed.

The problem comes with a proposal from the US Fisheries Service to re-open the area to drift-gillnet and pelagic long-line fishing. Allowing gillnet fishing could set back efforts to save the endangered species. The Pacific leatherback turtle's nesting population has plummeted from 91,000 in 1980 to fewer than 3,000 today. The STRP says: "Scientists believe that their decline is primarily the result of hooking and drowning in industrial long-line and gillnet fisheries aiming to catch swordfish and tuna.

Google the Sea Turtle Restoration Project for a copy of the petition to stop drift and gill nets and have the NMFS designate this area as Critical Habitat.