September 29, 2024 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, and U.S. Representative John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08) last Friday introduced legislation to expand the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge by approximately 5,658 acres.

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

The expansion would include adjacent baylands owned by the State of California and nonprofit Sonoma Land Trust, with parcels in Solano County, Marin County, and Sonoma County. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04) are cosponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives.

“The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge hosts a rich wetland ecosystem and offers numerous recreational activities,” said Senator Padilla. “Expanding the refuge’s boundary by over 5,500 acres would both protect Northern California tidal marshes to support wildlife and advance California’s ambitious conservation goals.”

“Conserving California’s special places has been a lifelong passion throughout my tenure in the state legislature, as Deputy Secretary of the Interior to President Clinton, and now as a member of Congress representing Solano County. San Pablo Bay is one of those special places. Our bill will help to restore the saltmarshes in San Pablo Bay for future generations. Expanding the National Wildlife Refuge is part of my ongoing work in Congress to support the redevelopment of historic Mare Island for Bay Area residents and visitors alike, while revitalizing its shipbuilding industry,” said Representative Garamendi.

“The San Pablo Bay Wildlife Refuge is home to some of the North Bay’s most vital habitats — serving as a safe haven for threatened species, increasing the region’s climate resiliency, and providing outdoor recreation opportunities for folks in the Bay Area. As a time-tested proponent of land conservation, I think this area is the perfect candidate for expansion,” said Representative Huffman. “Our bill will restore and expand this land so it can thrive for generations to come.”

“San Pablo Bay is an essential part of California, and protecting local saltmarshes and baylands is a priority for Bay Area lawmakers and communities,” said Representative Thompson. “I’m honored to introduce The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge Expansion Act with Congressman Garamendi, Congressman Huffman, and Senator Padilla to ensure we protect the health and longevity of our region’s natural resources for generations to come.”

The approximately 5,658 acres of state-owned and privately owned conservation land proposed for addition to the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge are as follows:

The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge Expansion Act would also direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to enter into cooperative agreements with state agencies, like California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, to manage the federal National Wildlife Refuge and nearby state conservation lands within the San Pablo Bay watershed. As with all National Wildlife Refuges, the legislation ensures that federally owned land within the expanded San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge boundary remain open to the public for outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing where permitted. The bill would not affect private land ownership or local land use decisions in any way and prohibits the use of eminent domain by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the National Wildlife Refuge.

The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge currently encompasses 24,390 acres, much of which is over water. The proposed 5,658-acre expansion would increase the National Wildlife Refuge’s acreage by more than 23 percent, supporting President Biden’s “America the Beautiful” National Conservation Goal to protect and conserve at least 30 percent of the lands and waters in the United States by 2030 and Governor Newsom’s similar conservation goal for California.

The bill is endorsed by organizations including Sonoma Land Trust, California State Coastal Conservancy, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, CalWild, Sierra Club, Tuleyome, California Waterfowl Association, American Rivers, Friends of the Lost Coast, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Endangered Habitats League, Californians for Western Wilderness, Klamath Forest Alliance, Wilderness Society, Save Mount Diablo, Ocean Project, Latino Outdoors, and Resource Renewal Institute.

Senator Padilla has secured millions of dollars to support San Pablo Bay. The $2.3 million he secured in the FY 2023 and FY 2024 appropriations packages for the Hamilton Airfields Wetlands Restoration project will help restore tidal and seasonal wetlands at the former Army airfield on San Pablo Bay in the city of Novato. He also announced $1.64 million for San Pablo Bay and Mare Island Strait to perform preliminary channel assessments in order to maintain the Mare Island Strait’s authorized width and depth, and to ensure a safe and navigable waterway for current and future economic development of Mare Island and the City of Vallejo.  

A map of the proposed boundary expansion is available here.

Full text of the legislation is available here.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla