by Scott Thomason

Sea Level Rise Presentation
Three of the Napa Group’s Executive Committee members, Scott Thomason, Paulina Viera Zambrano and Rich Richardson, presented a slide show on Sea Level Rise at the American Canyon Library on January 14th. Their efforts were part of an evening focused on conservation, hosted by the Audubon Society and its Conservation Chair, Yvonne Baginski.  

The Napa Group’s slide show, produced with the help of the Sierra Club’s Bay Alive Campaign, focused on various aspects of sea level rise, including causes, its impact in the Bay Area and within American Canyon, nature-based solutions and what people can do to protect the wetlands which serve and will continue to serve as a buffer against impending sea level rise that will likely occur during the remainder of this century.
Mark Stevenson, president of the Napa Solano Audubon, started the evening with a slide show on birds of the American Canyon wetlands and the need to preserve and protect native habitat from surrounding development.  

The event was featured in the Napa Register newspaper and the entire article can be found here.

 American Canyon Community & Parks Foundation Update
At press time, Congressman Mike Thompson is expected to announce within days an additional $2 million in federal funding for the Napa River Ecology Center’s (NREC) renovation.  The Foundation occupies the NREC and will break ground sometime this year to begin renovating the facility and the land surrounding it. (Photo: The Eco Center, before and after)

The money was initially approved several years ago before Donald Trump was elected President in 2024. Once he took office, Trump eliminated the funding from the federal budget last year. However, Thompson put the $2 million put back into this year’s budget that was recently approved.

The funding will represent a large part of the overall $9 million budget needed to complete the make-over of the Ecology Center which originally housed the American Canyon maintenance facility for many years.  ACCPF is awaiting approval of another $2.5 million grant submitted to the California Coastal Conservancy. That decision is due next week. 

American Canyon Initiative L—Green Island Vineyard Update

In 2022, private landowners in American Canyon introduced a ballot measure J which would have allowed them to convert the 157-acre, Green Island Vineyard from agricultural land to industrial so that the owners could sell the property to developers who would then in turn build on it. When it came to a vote, residents rejected J. (Photo: AC wetlands next to Green Island Vineyard)

Several months ago, the same owners reintroduced a new initiative—L—seeking enough signatures to place it on the ballot in 2026.  This latest measure proposed a 20 acre “sports complex” and another 15 acres of “open space,” as part of the conversion of the property to industrial development. (Photo: another view of the wetlands near the property)

Learning of this, a group of American Canyon residents began distributing “No On L” leaflets throughout the City, canvassing door to door on virtually every street in American Canyon. The group cited increased traffic congestion, increased carbon emissions, the poor location of the proposed sports complex and the threat to wildlife habitat as some of the reasons L should not be approved. (Photo: wetlands near Napa Airport and Green Island Rd.)

As a result of opponents’ efforts, the property owners have decided to at least temporarily pull back on submitting L to the voters, instead hoping to strike a compromise agreement with the City Council. Article continues here.