Take Action for Salmon
Warming oceans coupled with a higher probability of infrequent rain events are already creating an uphill battle for Coho Salmon to return to their native spawning grounds. For this species to survive, we must protect what little unimpaired streams we have left.
Take action by letting the Marin County Board of Supervisors know that they need to adopt a common-sense science-based Ordinance that follows the California Environmental Quality Act and protects salmonids for generations to come!
Add your name to the petition.
The petition can be seen below:
Dear Marin County Board of Supervisors,
We appreciate your efforts to pass an effective Stream Conservation Area Ordinance in the San Geronimo Valley. The tiny 9 square mile San Geronimo Valley attributes 10% of the spawning habitat for central coast Coho, making this the paramount Coho spawning habitat in all of California. Despite being protected by the U.S. and California Endangered Species Act, this species has seen a 95% decline since their historical numbers were driven by the loss of riparian habitat, making it critical to protect the little spawning habitat they have left.
The creation of the SCA was spurred after the courts found the 2007 Countywide plan to violate the California Environmental Quality Act. The plan would have permitted excessive development along the streams, eliminating the spawning habitat for coho salmon in the watershed. To mitigate any impacts the plan would have, the county elected to create a science-based SCA to protect the streams from being overdeveloped. But over 14 years later, and still, in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act, an effective SCA has not materialized.
The current version of the SCA that the Marin County Planning Commission passed falls short on necessary environmental protections to ensure the survival of salmonids in the watershed. Excessive development is permitted within the SCA, lacking baseline regulations to protect the streambanks. The SCA ordinance is absent of workable and clearly defined language, unnecessarily burdening the homeowners and the environment. It is hard to discern how the development would be regulated due to the broad ill-defined exceptions and exemptions. The SCA lacks any provisions for inspection or enforcement to ensure that the Ordinance is put into effect, making this nothing more than a toothless paper document. Also, the current SCA lacks any performance standards to measure how effective the SCA is at protecting salmon. Finally, there is no mention of adopting a mitigation program to restore degraded riparian habitat in priority areas of the Lagunitas Creek watershed that would be damaged due to development.
Warming oceans coupled with a higher probability of infrequent rain events are already creating an uphill battle for coho salmon to return to their native spawning grounds. For this species to continue, we must protect what little unimpaired streams we have left. The undersigned calls upon the Marin Board of Supervisors to address the aforementioned issues with the SCA and pass an Ordinance that adheres to the California Environmental Quality Act and protects coho salmon for generations to come.
