Letter from Eminent Scientists Urging the End of Hunting in the TBER
California Fish and Game Commission
1416 Ninth Street, Room 1320
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Fish and Game Commission,
The undersigned scientists and naturalists recognize the connectivity and importance of the wetland habitats within the Giacomini Marsh Wetlands Restoration Site (GMWRS) and adjacent Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve (TBER) in providing breeding and overwintering habitat for at least 94 native bird species (National Park Service files). Therefore, in order to provide continuity of the management of waterfowl and other species across these areas at the southern end of Tomales Bay, we support an end to hunting of waterfowl in the TBER. This action would uphold the original intention of TBER to provide protection for wildlife species and also benefit the ongoing monitoring of the wetland restoration site.
“The ecological reserve system, authorized by the California Legislature in
1968, is designed to conserve areas for the protection of rare plants, animals
and habitats, and to provide areas for education and scientific research.” --
Outdoor California, December-January 2001(p.3)
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/articles/docs/ecores1.pdf
The vast majority of the seventeen State Ecological Reserves in the San Francisco Bay/Delta Region prohibit hunting (13 of 17 in Region 3) and provide effective refuge for wildlife. Tomales Bay was designated as a “Wetland of International Importance” by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (September 30, 2002) due to its importance for wintering waterfowl and other birds, and it is one of the six most biologically diverse areas in the U.S. The federally endangered California Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) is present in the TBER and the state-threatened Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) has been documented nesting there. The TBER supports 13 endangered and threatened species, 74 waterbird species, bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons, merlins and river otters. The original intent of the creation of the TBER was to provide wildlife refuge, an intent that should be respected and restored.
The 483-acre TBER was established in October 1973 to protect the wildlife within a wetlands refuge that banned hunting, but a special exemption to allow waterfowl hunting was granted in April of 1974. In 2000, the National Park Service (NPS) acquired the adjacent 550-acre Waldo Giacomini Ranch. In 2008, NPS completed wetland restoration construction work and began population monitoring of waterbirds that use the newly created habitat. The GMWRS project increased the extent of wetlands within Tomales Bay by over 50% and eliminated waterfowl hunting in this southernmost reach of the Bay.
The peak bird use period of these interconnected wetlands is mid-November to mid-February, with many waterbirds commuting through TBER to GMWRS during peak hunting season (allowed 100 days, October to January). Waterfowl hunting within TBER conflicts with the NPS wildlife management policy within adjacent GMWRS. The disruptive influence of hunting in TBER could be significantly undermining data gathering efforts at GMWRS. The disturbance caused by hunting undermines the goals of the restoration projects and the original intent of the establishment of TBER.
We urge the Fish & Game Commission to support action to remedy the current situation, either through reversal of the exemption that allows hunting in the TBER, through new policy prohibiting hunting within the TBER, or through transfer of wildlife management responsibility within the TBER to federal oversight such as that provided in the neighboring GMWRS.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Baye, Ph.D., Coastal Ecologist, Annapolis, California
Giacomo Bernardi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz
Jules Evens, Principal, Avocet Research Associates, Point Reyes Station, California
Martin Griffin, M.D., Founder: Audubon Canyon Ranch, Environmental Forum of Marin; Author: "Saving the Marin-Sonoma Coast, California"
Frances Gulland, Vet. M.D., Ph.D., Senior Scientist, The Marine Mammal Center, California
Megan Isadore, Naturalist, Co-Founder & Director, Outreach and Education, River Otter Ecology Project, Forest Knolls, California
John P. Kelly, Ph.D., Director, Conservation Science, Audubon Canyon Ranch, California
Jeff Miller, Director, Alameda Creek Alliance, Inverness, California
Joe Mueller, M.S., Professor of Marine Biology, Director of Bolinas Marine Laboratory, College of Marin, California
John Pearse, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Christopher Pincetich, Ph.D., Turtle Island Restoration Network, Forest Knolls, California
Peter Pyle, Biologist, The Institute for Bird Populations, Point Reyes Station, California
Russell Ridge, M.A., Biology Professor Emeritus, College of Marin, California
David Wimpfheimer, Professional Naturalist, Inverness, California
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From the San Francisco Chronicle — Letters to the editor, Dec. 7, 2012
REFUGE IS TO SAVE, NOT KILL WILDLIFE
We keep guns out of schools to protect kids; let's keep guns out of our state's ecological reserves to protect wildlife ("Time to silence the guns?" Dec. 5). Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve should prohibit all taking of wildlife, like the majority of ecological preserves across the state. Their purpose is to provide wildlife refuge. The current situation is an outdated exemption to California code that should be repealed, as killing of waterfowl in the ecological reserve undermines the intent of its founders and the restoration and monitoring goals of the adjacent Giacomini Wetlands. When the exemption to allow hunting was passed decades ago, the preserve was adjacent to a private commercial ranch. Now it borders the largest wetland-restoration effort in Northern California. The campaign to end hunting in Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve is timely and justified.
Christopher Pincetich, Ph.D.
Outreach & Education Manager
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/letterstoeditor/article/Letters-to-the-editor-Dec-7-4098159.php#ixzz2HbiCHdMI
Here is a link to the front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2012
TOMALES BAY HUNTING SEASON PROTESTED
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Tomales-Bay-hunting-season-protested-4091775.php
IT IS APPROPRIATE TO END HUNTING IN THE TBER
Hunting seems to be in direct conflict with the goals of the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife's Ecological Reserve program. Given the small amount of remaining wetlands in California, and the importance of these habitats for many wildlife species, including waterfowl, as well as the local interest in West Marin in promoting sustainable recreational use of the area's ecosystems, it's definitely appropriate to end hunting in the Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve. The vast majority of the state's Ecological Reserves don't allow hunting, and I can’t see an argument to make a special exception for this in the case of Tomales Bay. Ending hunting seems even more important given the support of adjacent landowners such as the National Park Service.
John Callaway, Ph.D., scientist and wetlands expert at USF
1416 Ninth Street, Room 1320
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Fish and Game Commission,
The undersigned scientists and naturalists recognize the connectivity and importance of the wetland habitats within the Giacomini Marsh Wetlands Restoration Site (GMWRS) and adjacent Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve (TBER) in providing breeding and overwintering habitat for at least 94 native bird species (National Park Service files). Therefore, in order to provide continuity of the management of waterfowl and other species across these areas at the southern end of Tomales Bay, we support an end to hunting of waterfowl in the TBER. This action would uphold the original intention of TBER to provide protection for wildlife species and also benefit the ongoing monitoring of the wetland restoration site.
“The ecological reserve system, authorized by the California Legislature in
1968, is designed to conserve areas for the protection of rare plants, animals
and habitats, and to provide areas for education and scientific research.” --
Outdoor California, December-January 2001(p.3)
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/articles/docs/ecores1.pdf
The vast majority of the seventeen State Ecological Reserves in the San Francisco Bay/Delta Region prohibit hunting (13 of 17 in Region 3) and provide effective refuge for wildlife. Tomales Bay was designated as a “Wetland of International Importance” by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (September 30, 2002) due to its importance for wintering waterfowl and other birds, and it is one of the six most biologically diverse areas in the U.S. The federally endangered California Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) is present in the TBER and the state-threatened Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) has been documented nesting there. The TBER supports 13 endangered and threatened species, 74 waterbird species, bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons, merlins and river otters. The original intent of the creation of the TBER was to provide wildlife refuge, an intent that should be respected and restored.
The 483-acre TBER was established in October 1973 to protect the wildlife within a wetlands refuge that banned hunting, but a special exemption to allow waterfowl hunting was granted in April of 1974. In 2000, the National Park Service (NPS) acquired the adjacent 550-acre Waldo Giacomini Ranch. In 2008, NPS completed wetland restoration construction work and began population monitoring of waterbirds that use the newly created habitat. The GMWRS project increased the extent of wetlands within Tomales Bay by over 50% and eliminated waterfowl hunting in this southernmost reach of the Bay.
The peak bird use period of these interconnected wetlands is mid-November to mid-February, with many waterbirds commuting through TBER to GMWRS during peak hunting season (allowed 100 days, October to January). Waterfowl hunting within TBER conflicts with the NPS wildlife management policy within adjacent GMWRS. The disruptive influence of hunting in TBER could be significantly undermining data gathering efforts at GMWRS. The disturbance caused by hunting undermines the goals of the restoration projects and the original intent of the establishment of TBER.
We urge the Fish & Game Commission to support action to remedy the current situation, either through reversal of the exemption that allows hunting in the TBER, through new policy prohibiting hunting within the TBER, or through transfer of wildlife management responsibility within the TBER to federal oversight such as that provided in the neighboring GMWRS.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Baye, Ph.D., Coastal Ecologist, Annapolis, California
Giacomo Bernardi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz
Jules Evens, Principal, Avocet Research Associates, Point Reyes Station, California
Martin Griffin, M.D., Founder: Audubon Canyon Ranch, Environmental Forum of Marin; Author: "Saving the Marin-Sonoma Coast, California"
Frances Gulland, Vet. M.D., Ph.D., Senior Scientist, The Marine Mammal Center, California
Megan Isadore, Naturalist, Co-Founder & Director, Outreach and Education, River Otter Ecology Project, Forest Knolls, California
John P. Kelly, Ph.D., Director, Conservation Science, Audubon Canyon Ranch, California
Jeff Miller, Director, Alameda Creek Alliance, Inverness, California
Joe Mueller, M.S., Professor of Marine Biology, Director of Bolinas Marine Laboratory, College of Marin, California
John Pearse, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Christopher Pincetich, Ph.D., Turtle Island Restoration Network, Forest Knolls, California
Peter Pyle, Biologist, The Institute for Bird Populations, Point Reyes Station, California
Russell Ridge, M.A., Biology Professor Emeritus, College of Marin, California
David Wimpfheimer, Professional Naturalist, Inverness, California
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From the San Francisco Chronicle — Letters to the editor, Dec. 7, 2012
REFUGE IS TO SAVE, NOT KILL WILDLIFE
We keep guns out of schools to protect kids; let's keep guns out of our state's ecological reserves to protect wildlife ("Time to silence the guns?" Dec. 5). Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve should prohibit all taking of wildlife, like the majority of ecological preserves across the state. Their purpose is to provide wildlife refuge. The current situation is an outdated exemption to California code that should be repealed, as killing of waterfowl in the ecological reserve undermines the intent of its founders and the restoration and monitoring goals of the adjacent Giacomini Wetlands. When the exemption to allow hunting was passed decades ago, the preserve was adjacent to a private commercial ranch. Now it borders the largest wetland-restoration effort in Northern California. The campaign to end hunting in Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve is timely and justified.
Christopher Pincetich, Ph.D.
Outreach & Education Manager
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/letterstoeditor/article/Letters-to-the-editor-Dec-7-4098159.php#ixzz2HbiCHdMI
Here is a link to the front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2012
TOMALES BAY HUNTING SEASON PROTESTED
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Tomales-Bay-hunting-season-protested-4091775.php
IT IS APPROPRIATE TO END HUNTING IN THE TBER
Hunting seems to be in direct conflict with the goals of the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife's Ecological Reserve program. Given the small amount of remaining wetlands in California, and the importance of these habitats for many wildlife species, including waterfowl, as well as the local interest in West Marin in promoting sustainable recreational use of the area's ecosystems, it's definitely appropriate to end hunting in the Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve. The vast majority of the state's Ecological Reserves don't allow hunting, and I can’t see an argument to make a special exception for this in the case of Tomales Bay. Ending hunting seems even more important given the support of adjacent landowners such as the National Park Service.
John Callaway, Ph.D., scientist and wetlands expert at USF
Science/Biology Overview
Tomales Bay— One of the 6 most biologically diverse areas in the US and
one of the top 100 shorebirds areas in the world
-injury, crippling and death of migrating birds
-hunting disturbance on non-target, non-game species in feeding, flocking and roosting routines.
one of the top 100 shorebirds areas in the world
- Tomales Bay: a Ramsar Listed Wetlands of International Importance. The site fulfills all eight Ramsar Criteria. Located on the Pacific Flyway, which makes it an ideal staging ground and stopover site for migratory birds, the temperate climate provides wintering habitat for a wide array of ducks, geese, and shorebirds— 94 species in all. The site supports more than 13 endangered or threatened plant and animal species, and is an important waterbird migratory stopover site and over-wintering ground along the Pacific flyway.
- Population Action International describes this portion of central California as one of the 25 most biologically rich but threatened areas in the world. The American Bird Conservancy named Tomales Bay/Point Reyes as one of the 100 Globally Important Bird Areas in 2001.
- The Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve (TBER) is the geographic ‘entrance’ to the restored Giacomini Wetlands (GW) — the marsh, wetland and waterway immediately to the north of the GW. 91% of California’s wetlands have been destroyed by development, and the GW represents an increase of 12% of the wetlands along the central California coast.
- 98 bird species (64 breeding and 74 waterbird species) observed in the Giacomini Wetlands (GW) utilize the Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve (TBER) as well.
- The peak bird use period is mid-November to mid-February.
- Waterfowl hunting is allowed 100 days, October to January. The peak hunting period is mid-November to mid-January. Hunters are allowed to kill 7 ducks and 30 geese per day (37 birds) per hunter.
- The most compelling visitors to the GW and the TBER have been the bald eagles and the California black rails which have all but disappeared from many of their historic habitats. Both the threatened CA Black Rail and the federally endangered CA Clapper Rail have been observed in both the TBER and the GW, and are target species of the GW restoration, with re-colonization of the Black Rail a goal of the GW restoration.
- Black Rails nest in the tidal marsh of the TBER, and for successful restoration access into their habitat (pickleweed zone) should be limited and hunting disturbance eliminated.
- The integrity of wildlife monitoring is compromised for the duration of the 3 month hunting season, and the disruptive influence of hunting has not been factored in to wildlife reporting.
- Effects of hunting during the height of migratory bird season:
-injury, crippling and death of migrating birds
-hunting disturbance on non-target, non-game species in feeding, flocking and roosting routines.
- The Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve was established by California in 1973 on behalf of its citizens to protect the this area and its wildlife due to its high value as a wetlands refuge with no hunting allowed. (CA Fish and Game) A special exemption to allow waterfowl hunting was established only after a local hunting group hired a lawyer to petitioned Fish and Game to create a special regulation allowing hunting there.
- Neither the Tomales Bay Ecological Reserve nor the Giacomini Wetlands will achieve their fully restored habitat value while hunting prevents birds from using it. Habitat value for birds is measured by the number of birds and number of hours they are in it. Hunting clears birds out, scares away non-target birds, reduces bird use, and degrades habitat value.
- The TBER is at the exact spot popular with hikers and kayakers, and additionally is adjacent to heavily traveled roads and a permanent residential community.
- Waterfowl hunters have legal hunting for most of the length of Tomales Bay —from the southern end to Ducks Cove, Marshall—over 10 miles.
- From the December 7, 1973 CA Fish and Game Commission meeting minutes establishing regulations for the TBER: "The Commission was advised that the Department recently had been given administration of approximately 482 acres of land located at the mouth of Lagunitas Creek in Marin County. This property [the TBER] has unusual wildlife and aquatic features, and to date no hunting has been permitted on it. In order to continue management of the area in the same manner in which it was held by the former owner, it would be necessary to keep the area closed to hunting and preserve its value as an ecological reserve to retain its unusual wildlife and aquatic features. Emergency action was requested to prevent duck shooting on it when the season opened on October 20. The Department recommended approval of this request on an emergency basis in order to retain the status quo."
"The Fish and Game Commission finds that an emergency exists and that the foregoing order is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety or general welfare. A statement of the facts constituting such emergency is: The Department of Fish and Game has been given administration of lands that have unusual wildlife and aquatic features and has verbally agreed that it will keep the area closed to hunting. In order to prohibit shooting when waterfowl season opens on October 20 (1974) an emergency closure is necessary. The said order to add is therefore adopted as an emergency order to take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as provided in Section 11422(c) of the Government Code. Passed Unanimously. The Fish and Game Commission has determined that there are no new costs to local government, pursuant to Section 2164.3 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.”
The special exemption allowing hunting was only put in place after a lawyer and hunters were able to successfully lobby CA Fish and Game to overrule the above in 1974.
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