East Palo Alto Baylands

Welcome to Collective Roots portal page to the East Palo Alto Baylands.

The East Palo Alto Baylands habitat is the point where the San Francisquito Watershed meets the San Francisco Bay. To understand a little of the history and importance of the Baylands to the people of East Palo Alto, read Shifting marshlands and making amends by Debbie Mytels, past Board Member of Collective Roots. Currently, The City of East Palo Alto is working toward goals established in the East Palo Alto Bay Access Plan.

Collective Roots is seeking partners and funding for engaging students from East Palo Alto in the East Palo Alto Baylands. If you have any suggestions or interest in this effort, please contact Wolfram Alderson by clicking here.

 Collective Roots has joined with the Committee for Green Foothills, one the Bay Area's oldest and most respected environmental organizations to support a community based process designed to clarify and raise up the environmental agenda in East Palo Alto. A key focus of this effort is the issue of flooding and other issues with the watershed surrounding East Palo Alto, a community built upon a flood plain. East Palo Alto was built upon an alluvial fan - flood plan. The geology of how this flood plan was formed is described in detail by clicking here.

The original path of the San Francisquito Creek was redirected to send the flow of the creek toward East Palo Alto. Click on the map below for a more detailed view of the map and an explanation of the geological factors that impact East Palo Alto and the adjacent Baylands:

The creek was redirected to flow toward East Palo Alto and to accomodate the construction of the Palo Alto Golf Course and Airport, both of which were built on top of the marshland habitat.

The Faber and Laumeister Tracts are the principal tracts of land that comprise the Baylands adjacent to East Palo Alto.

(Excerpt from the Palo Alto Baylands Master Plan - large PDF document allow adequate time for downloading)

What we now call the Faber Tract is part of the 230 acres of Palo Alto Baylands within East Palo Alto/San Mateo County. Peter Faber diked his tract and used it for cattle grazing and in 1944, when the City purchased it, the land was considered a potential site for industrial development.

However, that changed in 1965 when the City dedicated it as parkland. By then the original dikes were broken and the land open to tidal action but it was re-diked to accommodate dredge spoils during the 1968 dredging of the harbor by the County. (Although the County was operating the harbor, and dredging it, the City was responsible for providing a place to put the dredge spoils).

The County planned to use this as a disposal site for two more dredgings but in 1971 the BCDC required the County to reopen the dikes and encourage reestablishment of the marsh. Volunteers helped replant marsh grass. (For more about BCDC, see "Harbor Area"). 

Endangered Salt Marsh Mouse (photo above)

In 1972, the City formally stated as its policy that the area was to remain in its natural state and not be used for future deposition of dredge spoils. The Faber Tract has been planted with pickleweed, but ultimately became a fine cordgrass marsh. As cordgrass grows where there is more inundation, its success in this area indicates that the elevation in this area is lower than originally thought. 

The Laumeister Tract is partially within San Mateo County. Palo Alto dedicated the area as park in 1965 and in the 1970s, San Mateo County was leaning towards designating it as a "resource management zone" to conform with their Open Space and Conservation Element. Agreement with Fish and Game to patrol the Faber Laumeister Tract Although the Palo Alto rangers are responsible for trail maintenance, weed control, and resource management, they cannot issue citations for law violations outside of Palo Alto. For this and other reasons, the City has a cooperative agreement with the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service to "patrol" the Faber-Laumeister tract as part of the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge complex. There is no cost to the City for this service. 

In 1976, when the Baylands Master Plan team did the site analysis they observed that marshland vegetation had established itself over about 75% of the Faber tract under a program established by Dr. Tom Harvey, and expected that the process would continue. They determined that although it was in a younger stage of development and had received fill material (dredge spoils), this area was similar to the marsh preserve. They even thought it could provide an opportunity to research the results of planting marsh vegetation on dredged material and the correlation of marsh development and tidal elevations. The Laumeister tract was deemed similar to the Faber tract and both were acknowledged as providing food for wildlife in the Bay. 

In 1976, the Natural Unit comprised the Faber and Laumeister Tracts, the Sand Point area, Hooks Island, the Inner Harbor Marsh, and the Flood Basin. Since then three areas have been restored and may be considered to be part of the natural unit. They are Harbor Point, the harbor itself, and the Emily Renzel Wetlands. Because of the high biological value of these areas, only a few changes are proposed. They include: 

Improvements 1.Maintain the trails described in the Access and Circulation sectionas policies stated for the surrounding areas. 

Management Plan 2. Complete the management plan for these areas as well as the entire Baylands that is currently underway. (The Open Space and Parks Division is currently working with ESA consultants to develop a "Comprehensive Conservation Plan" for the natural unit of the Baylands.) 

This page is currently under construction. If you like to volunteer your assistance in this effort, please contact Wolfram Alderson by clicking here.

San Francisco Bay and Baylands Organizations

San Francisquito Creek Watershed Council

San Francisco Bay Watershed Database and Mapping Project

Save The Bay
Only Five Percent of Bay’s Original Wetlands Remain. Mass urbanization has drastically altered the Bay. People have diked and drained marshes to create agricultural fields and salt ponds and filled wetlands for development. Today, only five percent of the Bay’s original wetlands remain. View "Greening the Bay," Save the Bay's visionary plan for financing wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay.

Cooley's Landing

• Invasive Spartina Project
• Public Use of Cooley Landing, 2003
• Salt Pond Restoration Project -Plan
• Salt Pond Restoration Project - Overview
• City of EPA Status Memo, 2003
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Official Shut Down of Romic

The Levees

• Eshoo Applauds Levee Repairs
• San Francisquito Watershed and Alluvial Fan Map

East Palo Alto Baylands Trails

City of East Palo Alto Bay Access Plan

Economics of Parks and Open Space

Environmental and Community Organizations

The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement
The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement provides a range of programs, including environmental programs that engage youth in the environment.

Bay Area Open Space Council
The Bay Area Open Space Council is a collaborative program of public and non-profit agencies and organizations, providing regional leadership and expertise for the preservation and professional management of important open spaces in and around the cities of the San Francisco Bay Area. A primary objective of the Council is to enhance the region's quality of life, by articulating the region's vision of which lands should be protected as open space through public ownership or conservation easements, and by developing financial and organizational resources to implement this vision.

Center for Eco Literacy
The Center for Ecoliteracy was founded in 1995 by Fritjof Capra, Peter Buckley, and Zenobia Barlow. The Center for Ecoliteracy is a public foundation that supports a grantmaking program for educational organizations and school communities, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area; convenes networks of its grantees; sponsors projects consistent with its mission; administers donor-advised funds; and manages a publishing imprint, Learning in the Real World®.

Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative
The WALC vision is that “low-income, inner-city students of color achieve greater academic success and grow into an interconnected community of activists as a result of their engagement in a transformative educational model that integrates environmental education and ecological principles with ethnic studies and social justice principles. We envision the dissemination of this model contributing to diversification within the field of environmental education and the environmental movement.”

Sustainable San Mateo
Sustainable San Mateo County (SSMC) was established in 1992 by a group of San Mateo County citizens who sought to create a broader awareness of the sustainability concept. SSMC is an independent non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to educating the community about sustainability.

Conexions
Conexions develops and promotes win-win solutions for the environment, the economy, and for social systems through programs and by working in collaboration with other organizations and institutions.

1% For The Planet
Collective Roots is proud to be selected as one of the environmental organizations supported by 1% For The Planet, an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet. Members recognize their responsibility to and dependence on a healthy environment and donate at least 1% of their annual net revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. The alliance aims to prove that taking environmental responsibility is good for business.

Environmental Volunteers
Environmental Volunteers (EVOLS) promotes the understanding of, and responsibility for, the environment through hands-on science education. EVOLS has provided exceptional support to Collective Roots over the last few years. This partnership has leveraged our joint organizational efforts to reach as many children as possible with environmentally based life science activities.

Canopy
Canopy is a Palo Alto-based non-profit advocate for the urban forest and works to educate, inspire, and engage the community as stewards of young and mature trees. Canopy is supporting Collective Roots with technical assistance involving tree selection and donating trees for planting at our school garden sites.

Hidden Villa Farm and Wilderness Preserve
Hidden Villa is a nonprofit educational organization that uses its organic farm, wilderness, and community to teach and provide opportunities to learn about the environment and social justice. Hidden Villa's mission is to inspire a just and sustainable future through it's programs, land and legacy. Hidden Villa currently provides programing for Collective Root's K-8 students and the organizations are working together to expand the partnership to other areas, as well.