By Anne Henny and Vicky Hoover
Sierra Club members in the San Francisco Bay Chapter have an opportunity to work with their Chapter’s new 30 by 30 Task Force — part of the Club’s statewide campaign to protect 30 percent of our lands and coastal waters by 2030! There is a rising global movement — now echoed strongly by the State of California and our national government — to fight the grave crises of species loss and climate change by conserving more lands and waters to benefit both nature and our communities. The 30 by 30 goal is a stepping stone toward preserving “Half Earth”, or 50 percent of the planet, for nature as part of the broad global movement known as “Nature Needs Half.”
Alan Carlton, longtime volunteer for wilderness and federal lands, heads the new SF Bay Chapter Task Force and is the Chapter representative for the Statewide Task Force. Also on the Chapter Task Force are Arthur Feinstein and Mike Painter, San Francisco Group; Marisol Rubio, Tri-Valley Group; Martha Kreeger, Southern Alameda County Group; and Josh Borkowski, Northern Alameda County Group. Chair Alan Carlton seeks additional task force members to have representation from every regional group in the SF Bay Chapter.
The group’s first task was to participate in the San Francisco Bay Area-specific public workshop held by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) on April 21st, with the team advocating for protection priorities centered around Bay wetlands restoration. The CNRA hosted similar workshops for regions across California to seek public input on what actions must be taken to comply with Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-82-20 that made California the first state to adopt “30 by 30” as a state mandate. The Executive Order also strongly promotes environmental justice goals and nature-based solutions to the climate crisis.
The Sierra Club, whose volunteers and staff have been working on land conservation, biodiversity, environmental justice, and climate crisis issues for a long time, has valuable expertise and can play a key role alongside our conservation partners to help guide the state process. And since the Biden administration has made 30 by 30 a national goal as well, California’s trailblazing efforts are of national significance to help inspire federal and other state leadership across the U.S.
There is much to do to ensure the Executive Order yields real conservation and ecosystem restoration gains, while also improving equitable access to nature and its benefits. The Club’s Statewide Task Force has sent out a priorities survey to each Chapter to identify its local land-conservation priorities. Alan Carlton and the Chapter Task Force submitted a list of Bay Area lands needing protection, listed below. If you have questions about submitted areas, please contact Alan at carltonal@yahoo.com.
- Tesla Park
- Point Molate
- N3 Cattle Ranch
- Bay Trail Point Pinole to Point Wilsom
- DePave Park Alameda Point
- Niles Canyon Trail
- Newark Area 4 Marsh
- Baylands Shore and Tidal Wetlands for all Marin: Corte Madera Marsh; Richardson Bay; Bothin Marsh; San Pablo Bay (Novato Marsh); Gallinas Creek Marsh; St. Vincent’s / Silveira Marsh; Tomales Bay
- Green Belt Protection: Donahue Highlands; Martha Property; Dipsea Ranch; San Rafael Oak Woodlands, etc.
- San Geronimo Valley, Lagunitas Creek
- Point Reyes National Seashore Water Quality Ranch Management Plan
- Ruby Street, Castro Valley
- Pacific Commons, Fremont
If you’d like to get involved in this effort, please contact Sierra Club CA 30 by 30 Volunteer Co-Leads Anne Henny and Vicky Hoover at anneth16@sbcglobal.net and vicky.hoover@sierraclub.org.
Photo credit: Mount Tamalpais from Corte Madera Marsh by Michael Pujals.