Thursday, Dec 11, 2008
Last week, Point Reyes National Seashore completed the Drakes Estero coastal watershed restoration project, which has removed fish passage impediments to five stream systems, all draining into the Drakes Estero system, the centerpiece of Point Reyes National Seashore and one of the most ecologically significant estuarine areas in the state of California. This project was funded through the NPS line item construction program.
The project removed two dams built across tidal marsh habitat and replaced or repaired five culverts that were in various states of disrepair, thereby restoring natural conditions and increasing estuarine habitat. The removal of facilities from wilderness and estuarine areas and replacement of existing road crossings with structures that allow for natural hydrological process and fish passage will ultimately allow for the reintroduction and enhancement of endangered aquatic populations, including federally threatened steelhead trout and federally endangered coho salmon. These facilities were the result of coastal development activities that threatened the area in the late 1950s and led directly to the Congressional establishment of the seashore on September 13, 1962. Overall, the project restored fish access to 20 miles of streams.
Drakes Estero is within Point Reyes National Seashore and is a nationally prized marine resource. The waters of the Estero were designated by Congress as potential wilderness by the 1976 Point Reyes Wilderness Act (Public Law 94-544). The act designated over 33,000 acres as wilderness, including the waters of Drakes Estero. The wilderness area honors the preservation legacy of the late Congressman Philip Burton.
Restoration of Drakes Estero and its watershed is a critical endeavor, locally and nationally. It is the only federal marine coastal wilderness between Washington State and Mexico and one of only 11 marine wilderness areas in the U.S. The estuary was recently designated a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, a site of regional importance in the U.S. shorebird conservation plan because it is critical to a great diversity and abundance of shorebirds. A similar waterbird designation is pending. Drakes Estero is adjacent to Estero de Limantour, a state ecological marine reserve, established in 1974 by the California Department of Fish and Game.
The estuary is a remarkable resource. Extensive eelgrass beds are highly significant to the ecological function of the estuary because they provide cover, food and a nursery for fish and invertebrates. Several marine species such as lingcod, English sole, speckled sanddab, rockfish, and Dungeness crab, spend their larval and juvenile stages in eelgrass beds. The bird life is highly diverse and abundant, with maximum estimated numbers ranging between 10,000 and 100,000 seasonally. Biologists have identified several federal threatened, endangered, or species of concern such as osprey, white pelican, brown pelican, peregrine falcon, black brant, and western snowy plover. Black brant over-winter, feeding on eelgrass, and are on the Audubon species watch list.
The Estero is a sanctuary for harbor seals, annually producing 300 to 500 pups. During the breeding and molting season there are close to 2000 harbor seals in the estuary system. Point Reyes is a significant harbor seal area, protecting around 20% of the California mainland harbor seal population.
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