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The newspaper for the new millennium
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Vol. 14 No. 1
January 6, 2015
BY DOUG CORDELL, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER PHOTO COURTESY OF EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE PHOTOS COURTESY OF DON EDWARDS SAN FRANCISCO BAY WILDLIFE REFUGE
L
ynnea Shuck, a 17-yearold volunteer who created the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge’s Junior Refuge Ranger program, has been named one of six youth leaders in North America to receive the Earth Island Institute’s prestigious Brower Youth Award. continued on page 4
Aerial photo with a Sunnyvale channel
SUBMITTED BY JOYCE BLUEFORD Recent rains have replenished the water at Tule Ponds at Tyson Lagoon Wetland Center. Additional rainwater brings birds and other wildlife to this 17-acre site in the heart of Fremont. This “water gem” is hidden behind the Fremont BART Station; most visitors are amazed that they never noticed the area. High school volunteers help maintain and restore the Tule Ponds under the guidance of staff from Math Science Nucleus which manages the site for Alameda County Flood control and Water Conservation District. Tyson Lagoon was once a larger lake; geologists have traced the age of the lake to a minimum of 4,000 years old. It was created by a depression between two traces of the Hayward fault in what is called a “sag pond.” A high water table west of the fault makes Tyson Lagoon a permanent lake, home for many threatened species including the Western pond
turtle, osprey, tricolor blackbird, and yellow legged frog. Over 130 different species of birds have been observed at the Lagoon throughout the year. In addition to Tyson Lagoon, there are three constructed ponds on the site that help prevent flooding after major storms. As a city grows, its roads, sidewalks, and homes prevent water from being absorbed naturally into the ground. During heavy rains the water flows into natural low spots. Tule Ponds at Tyson Lagoon was designed to help control the flow of debris and heavy metals through the watershed before it continues to the San Francisco Bay. It uses natural wetland plants like tules and cattails to help filter storm water that enters the area. Community volunteers pick up the garbage after storms. Educational and restoration programs at this site are developed by the non-profit Math Science Nucleus, incontinued onpage 12
SUBMITTED BY JILL SINGLETON Cargill recently donated 50 acres to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, expanding water and levee access to hundreds of acres along the Sunnyvale shoreline. The land donation includes a 100-footwide, 1.5-mile-long channel, and a paved road to a boat ramp on the Guadalupe Slough. The channel was built in the 1950s to move salt brines between two former salt ponds. It is located near the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant, providing allweather access to hundreds of acres of wetlands and salt ponds along the South Bay. “This is a unique property because it provides water and land linkages to hundreds of acres of salt pond properties that
Cargill donated and sold to the Refuge in 2003,” said Pat Mapelli, Cargill’s Real Property Manager. “It will assist the Refuge staff in their jobs of managing wildlife habitat and we are pleased to see that this land is now in public ownership.” The Sunnyvale channel is the latest in a series of land donations and sales by Cargill to benefit wildlife. Since 1978, Cargill has transferred more than 40,000 acres, or 90 percent of its landholdings, to public ownership, with donations exceeding $150 million. Cargill’s largest land transfer involved 16,500 acres of former commercial salt ponds and associated properties, which were acquired by the USF&WS and California Department of Fish and Game (Now CA Department of Fish and Wildlife) in 2003. continued on page 5
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