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New Refuge to the North
A bottleneck in the Yolo Bypass may soon be eliminated as part of the new North Delta Wildlife Refuge proposed by five federal and state agencies. The refuge, to be managed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife, would link the three main islands in the Bypass - Liberty Island (the bottleneck), Prospect Island, and the Little Holland Tract, in a 7,800-acre expanse of open water, seasonal wetlands and slow-moving sloughs. Although the refuge was originally slated to be part of the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (to the northeast), Fish & Wildlife's DC office decided the project was substantial enough to become the fifth federal refuge established in the Bay-Delta Estuary.
By removing Liberty's levees, the project's proponents say, high flows will pass through the Bypass more smoothly. "Right now it acts like a cork, backing up Sacramento River flows and damaging levees on other islands," says Geneal Chima, who represents the Liberty Island seller. Restoring Liberty Island as a tidal wetland would benefit Delta smelt, Sacramento splittail, winter run Chinook, and various species of waterfowl, says Fish & Wildlife's John Castellano, while the endangered Swainson's hawk and giant garter snake would benefit from adjoining uplands, which would remain seasonally dry. Fish & Wildlife also plans to create riparian zones to host neotropical migrant songbirds.
To address the fear expressed by some farmers during the March 4 public hearing that waterfowl will be attracted to their crops when Liberty becomes a refuge, parts of Liberty may also be planted with "wildlife-friendly" crops such as millet, corn, or wheat. In the meantime, Prospect and Little Holland have been undergoing a form of "natural" restoration over the past 10 years, after being flooded from repeated levee failures.
With all the controversy over converting ag land to habitat, Fish & Wildlife was surprised when the owner of Liberty Island approached them two years ago offering to sell. They were even more surprised when other landowners asked why they were stopping with Liberty, says Castellano. Fish & Wildlife is considering changing the scope of the refuge proposal to include not only the three islands within the Bypass (the core of the refuge), but also much of the area between Rio Vista and the bottom of the Yolo Basin Wildlife Area.
Margit Aramburu of the Delta Protection Commission says the Yolo Bypass islands, traditionally farmed in row crops, may be more suitable than others for conversion to refuges because they are subject to flood easements: unlike some Delta islands, these islands are intentionally flooded if necessary when flows are too high in the Sacramento River and Bypass. For that reason, no one is allowed to live or build structures on them. "But," Aramburu adds, "I think it's vitally important we have a management plan, that we'll know exactly what the refuge will look like. The feds bought Prospect in '94, but to date, we haven't seen a budget, staff or program for managing it."
The second public meeting was held in a workshop format on July 28, and Fish & Wildlife will now complete a draft environmental assessment that incorporates comments from the meetings and proposed alternative refuge boundaries. A final decision will be published in January 1999, after additional public input.
Contact: John Castellano (916) 979-2085
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