saving the marin-sonoma coast - l. martin griffin · marincello on the marin headlands,...
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S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
SavingtheMarin-SonomaCoastThe Battles for
Audubon Canyon Ranch,
Point Reyes, and
California's Russian River
by L. Martin Griffin, M.D.F O R E W O R D BY H A R O L D G I L L I A M
S w e e t w a t e r S p r i n g s P r e s s
H E A L D S B U R G , C A L I F O R N I A
First Edition
Copyright © 1998 by L. M artin Griffin, Jr., M.D.
Reprinted 2000
All rights reserved.
No part o f this w ork covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced
or used in any form or by any m ean s-g rap h ic , electronic, or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, taping o r inform ation storage and retrieval
sys tem s-w ithou t the w ritten perm ission o f the publisher.
ISBN 0-9661680-2-X Cloth
ISBN 0 9661680-1-1 Paper
Library o f Congress N um ber 97-062072
Published and distributed by
S w e e t w a t e r S p r i n g s P r e s s
P.O. Box 66
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707)431-1910
(707) 433-8162 f a x
Available from
A udubon Canyon Ranch Bookstore
4900 Shoreline Highway
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
(415) 868-9244
(415) 868-1699 f a x
http://www.egret.org
Designed by Robert Cooney
C om position by Archetype Typography
Logo by D ebra Turner
Printed in Canada
Cover p hotograph by Robert Campbell.
Back cover photographs by Clerin Zumwalt and Julia Macdonald.
Photographic credits can be found on page 274.
To m y dear family, and to those in grassroots
organizations who are attempting to bring
environmental sanity to their counties
S CA LE IN 'M I L E S
> Lake [Mendocino
COYOTE DAM
UKIAH
CLOVERDALE f
> GUALALASonomaK
> SEA RANCH.’ARM SPRINGS D A M
xJVff. St. Helena
~ ~ —-D IGG ER BENDHEALDSBURG
GUERNEVILLE p
JENNER Sa n t a r o s a
SEBASTOPOL ♦
NAPASONOMA ♦DILLON BEACH
)♦ ♦ TOMALES PETALUMA
RUSSIAN RIVER
NOVATOTOMALES BAYSanPablc B a y
POINT REYES V STATION
BOLINAS LAGOON SAN \ RAFAEL*.
M t . x ' TamalpaisBOLINAS San ;
y FranciscoG BayRICHARDSON BAY
♦ OAKLANDSAN FRANCISCO,
C O N T E N T S
L IS T O F O R IG IN A L M A P S BY D E W E Y L IV IN G S T O N viii
F O R E W O R D BY H A R O L D G IL L IA M IX
T H R E A T S T O T H E M A R I N -S O N O M A C O A ST X tt
P R E F A C E Xiii
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S XV
A W A K E U P C A LL TO T H E H E A L T H P R O F E S S IO N X v i i
S U M M A R Y O F A U D U B O N C A N Y O N R A N C H L A N D A C Q U IS IT IO N S XvUi
i n t r o d u c t i o n Awakening to D anger 2
Part One: Richardson Bay, 1957-1960
1. The Saving o f R ichardson Bay 14
Part Two: Bolinas Lagoon, 1961-1969
2. “Flashing the Cash” for A udubon C anyon Ranch 3 0
3. The Picher-Griffin Team 4 6
4. Saving Bolinas Lagoon 54
5. Rescuing the Gateway to the N ational Seashore 7 0
6 . Z u m ie -T h e Sage o f C anyon R anch 8 0
7. Training the Troops 8 8
Part Three: Tomales Bay, 1966-1974
8 . The Tide Turns for M arin 9 6
9. Yellow Ribbons T hreaten Tomales Bay 112
10. Clifford C only’s C row n Jewel: Cypress Grove 122
11. A W ater M o ra to r iu m Stops Sprawl 138
Part Four: Sonoma and the Russian River, 1961-1998
12. David Bouverie’s Gift: A S onom a Creek W atershed 154
13. W ild R ivers-W ho Needs ’Em? 1 6 0
14. The S onom a Coast an d the Russian River in Peril 174
15. H ow to Build a W ater Em pire 1 8 4
16. The Russian River Gravel Wars 2 0 4
17. C om ing H om e: Saving O u r Creeks and Rivers 2 3 2
e p i l o g u e C hanging California’s Land Ethic 2 4 8
a p p e n d i x 253
B IB L IO G R A P H Y 26l
IN D E X 2 6 6
L I S T O F O R I G I N A L M A P S
by D ewey Livingston
California’s North Coast vi
Richardson Bay Watershed 12
Reeds Port D evelopm ent o n Richardson Bay 19
Bolinas Lagoon Watershed 28
A udubon C anyon Ranch Purchases, Gifts and Leases
on Bolinas Lagoon 4 0 , 5 8 , 7 4
Tomales Bay Watershed 94
Proposed S onom a-M arin Russian River A queducts 9 9
Land Investors Research Speculative Land Purchases
In an d A round the Incom plete Point Reyes
N ational Seashore, 1 9 6 5 -1 9 7 1 115
A udubon C anyon Ranch Strategic Acquisitions on
Tomales Bay (by A ne Rovetta) 130-131
M arin C o u n ty Zoning Changes 1 4 8 -1 4 9
Russian River Watershed 152
D am m ing the Eel River 172
The Russian River: An U nm anaged an d U npro tected
W atershed 198
Threats to Public H ealth on the M iddle Reach
o f the Russian River 2 1 2 -2 1 3
M ining Pits in the S onom a-M arin Aquifer 217
W astewater M eets D rinking W ater 221
Rethinking Sonom a C o u n ty 231
U nderm in ing California 2 4 3
F O R E W O R D
by Harold Gilliam
I was lucky. I had the good fo rtune to grow u p in Los Angeles at a tim e
w hen we could hike up w ooded canyons to waterfalls in the H ollyw ood
Hills, buy fresh p roduce from farm s in the San F ernando Valley, and
drive ou t Foothill Boulevard th ro u g h mile after mile o f orange groves below
snow -capped M o u n t Baldy.
Since that tim e the hills have been am p u ta ted in to pads for m ansions;
the farms in the valley have been replaced by subdivisions, freeways, and
shopping malls; the orange groves have given way to besm ogged suburbia;
an d the m o u n ta in s are seldom visible. Paradise Lost.
W hen I m oved to San Francisco, I gazed w ith am azem ent at the open
hills and valleys an d farm lands o f M arin County, and I knew then for a cer
tain ty th a t so m u ch open space im m ediately adjacent to a densely popu la ted
city could n o t long endure. I envisioned the com ing o f the bulldozers and
the Los Angelizing o f the entire region n o r th o f the G olden Gate. I was sure
tha t sprawling suburban iza tion was the inevitable fate o f all o pen land in or
near b oom ing m etropo litan centers everywhere.
As it tu rn e d out, I was w rong. Drastically, happily w rong.
I was w rong because I failed to account for such residents as Dr. M arty
Griffin, w ho had also lived in Los Angeles, had seen w hat h appened there
an d was de te rm ined th a t it w ould n o t hap p en in M arin . H e was undism ayed
w hen he was to ld th a t you can’t fight city hall o r the energetic developers
w ith their huge bankrolls an d the d e te rm ina tion to urban ize everything in
sight.
Even in M arin he could see na tu ra l areas rapidly vanishing, farm lands
sold to speculators, bays an d wildlife m arshes filled to accom m odate an
exploding popu la tion . His dander was rising steadily. In the face o f the
ongoing destruction he still held the irra tional conviction th a t it was possi
ble to contro l the inevitable forces o f “progress.”
He jo ined forces w ith o ther residents w ho shared his naive fantasy, an d
against all odds they succeeded in beating city hall, tu rn in g a ro u n d p lann ing
com m issions an d boards o f supervisors, an d forcing the bulldozers to g rind
to a halt tim e after time.
F O R E W O R D i x
They d id n ’t do it all at once. T hey d id n ’t w in every battle. But they were
u nde te rred by losses an d w on enough cam paigns to give th em the courage to
keep going w hen skeptics scoffed at the ir prospects. M arsh land by m a rsh
land, bay by b a y ridge by ridge, over a pe rio d o f forty years o f toil, sweat and
tears, they fought the developers to a standstill, expanded n o r th from M arin
to Sonom a C o u n ty and the Russian River, an d preserved som e o f the m ost
idyllic na tu ra l sanctuaries— in land and w a te r— in any m etropo litan region
on this continent.
In a series o f Perils-of-Pauline cliffhangers, Griffin tells here how it was
done. H e describes the players in the d ra m a — as colorful a cast o f heroes
and villains as you will find anyw here— the strategy, the tactics, the political
m aneuvers, the techniques o f persuasion and pressure, the coo rd ina tion o f
grassroots efforts, the struggles w ith bureaucracy an d corpora te greed, the
defeats an d the victories.
Some years back, a na tional TV netw ork broadcast a d o cu m en ta ry on
M arin County, p ic tu ring it as a place dedicated to h o t tubs, peacock feathers,
BMWs, and general decadence, an enclave p o pu la ted exclusively by wealthy
sybarites. H ow b lind can you get? O f course there are wealthy people in
M a rin — an d som e o f th em do have h o t tubs. There are also low -incom e
groups an d a popu lous m iddle class b r im m in g w ith co m m u n ity activists.
The m in ions o f the ne tw ork totally m issed the real s to ry th a t should
have been in fron t o f the ir eyes: M arin as a coun ty p ioneering in grassroots
action an d innovative techniques to defend its ow n in tegrity against the tidal
waves o f com m ercialism an d u rb an sprawl. Griffin’s story provides a m odel
w ith tools an d techniques th a t will be invaluable to residents o f every m e tro
po litan region w ho hope to preserve its quality o f life in the face o f p o p u la
tio n pressures.
The struggle is ongoing, in M arin an d S onom a as elsewhere. There is
m u ch m ore to be saved, and there are no final victories. But the story to ld
here offers the k ind o f encouragem ent th a t is bad ly needed in a tim e w hen
individuals and small groups seem powerless in the face o f forces beyond
their control.
As a physician, Griffin is convinced th a t the physical and m enta l health
o f the individual is closely related to the health o f the environm ent. Clean
air, unpo llu ted waterways, wildlife preserves, p roductive farm lands,
m arshes, w oodlands an d open hills betw een com m unities can make
im m ense con tribu tions to personal health , p rov id ing sanctuaries from the
stresses and frenzied hyperactivity o f u rb an life, sources o f refreshm ent and
renewal for the bo d y an d the spirit.
x S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
Saving the M arin-Sonom a Coast affirms a message th a t shou ld be
shouted from the housetops: citizens w orking together have the pow er to
shape the course o f events th a t affect the ir lives. In a tim e o f cynicism abou t
the workings o f democracy, there is no message m ore urgent.
F O R E W O R D X I
Threats to the Marin-Sonoma Coast
During the post-w ar b o o m in California in 1957, a m aster po liti
cian, G overnor-elect Pat Brown, together w ith his developer
friends, set o u t to fulfill his cam paign prom ises to bu ild one th o u san d
miles o f freeways an d d am the w ild rivers o f the N o rth Coast. In the
next decade developers descended o n M arin and S onom a counties to
urbanize the ir baylands an d coastline spu rred by plans for:
■ A giant nuclear reactor to p roduce electricity at Bodega Bay
■ A large dredged m arin a o n Bolinas Lagoon
■ Two h u n d red miles o f coastal an d c ross-county freeways
■ W arm Springs D am on the Russian River, w ith large pipelines to
deliver unlim ited , subsidized w ater to any city th a t w ould buy it
from the p ro -g row th S onom a C o u n ty W ater Agency
Eight sprawling new cities were p lanned th a t w ould scar the bays
an d coast, destroy wildlife habitats, cut off public access, an d essen
tially d o o m the proposed 53,000-acre Point Reyes N ational Seashore:
■ Reeds P ort on R ichardson Bay, San Francisco Bay— 6,000 people
■ M arincello o n the M arin H eadlands, M a r in — 25,000 people
■ S tinson Beach and the Bolinas Ridge an d Mesa, M a r in —
50,000 people
■ D illon Beach, Oceana M a r in — 10,000 people
■ Point Reyes Peninsula, L im an tou r Bay, an d the east shore o f
Tomales Bay, M a r in — 150,000 people
■ Bodega Bay, S onom a — 10,000 people
■ Jenner an d W illow Creek, S o n o m a — 5,000 people
■ Sea Ranch on the M endocino border, S o n o m a— 15,000 people
M illions o f tons o f gravel an d sand for concrete and asphalt
needed for this construc tion were to be dredged from the gravel
aquifers o f the Russian River, im periling d rink ing w ater quality for
b o th counties and killing one o f the state’s finest steelhead fisheries.
x t I S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
P R E F A C E
Few Californians realize how narrow ly the N o rth Coast counties o f
M arin and S onom a escaped becom ing tentacles o f S ou thern C alifor
nia and its no to rious w ater schemes. In 1957, fifteen years before vo t
ers created the California Coastal C om m ission , a few conservationists in
M arin began p lo tting a revolution to save its bays, birds, tidelands, and
coastline, and to help pro tect the Point Reyes Peninsula from being su b u r
banized by the state’s aggressive freeway, water, and real estate lobbies.
T heir de te rm ina tion led to a citizens revolt against dam s an d im p o rted
water, unprecedented in sem i-arid California. Voters shattered M arin ’s “old
boy” politics and transfo rm ed its land-use ethic. By “designing w ith n a tu re”
M arin protected its beauty, wildlife, an d econom y to becom e one o f Califor
nia’s best p lanned and slowest grow ing counties.
For years m y friends have urged m e to tell this s to ry o f the creation
o f the three A udubon C anyon Ranch wildlife preserves in M arin and
Sonom a Counties, an d the years o f struggle to p ro tec t California’s coastal
watersheds and to keep the Russian and Eel Rivers wild. M y h ope is th a t this
h istory can serve as a m odel for o ther counties where dam aging grow th is
d ictated by developers.
As a boy grow ing up in the spraw ling p o r t city o f O akland, I idolized
M arin and Sonom a counties across San Francisco Bay. T heir salt-scented
baylands and coastline supported m illions o f birds an d u n co u n ted species o f
m arine life. H er majesty, M t. Tamalpais, loom ing above the fog, guarded the
unbridged G olden Gate and California’s virgin treasure, the gravel-bedded
rivers o f the n o r th coast where I had fished for silver sa lm on and steelhead
w ith m y father. These rivers held forty percent o f the state’s w ater and, trag
ically, m uch o f the river gravel coveted for construction .
W hen I com m enced m y m edical practice in M arin C o u n ty at the end o f
the second W orld War, San Francisco Bay was labeled the “largest open sewer
in America.” O n m y rounds, I was angered as I saw the hills o f M arin being
bulldozed to fill its sparkling bays, while tidelands were ringed w ith b u rn in g
garbage dum ps. Having been tra ined in p lan t and an im al ecology as well as
m edicine, I knew tha t such a savage assault on the co u n ty ’s env ironm enta l
P R E F A C E xi ii
health posed an intolerable th rea t to the health o f m y patients, m y ow n fam
ily, and o u r com m unities.
To best tell this story, I have div ided it in to four parts, each one covering
a separate yet often overlapping w atershed an d wildlife battle. I s tart w ith
developm ent th rea ten ing R ichardson Bay, a vital a rm o f San Francisco Bay,
in 1957, then m ove on to Bolinas Lagoon and Tomales Bay o n the coast in
the 1960s an d 1970s, an d end w ith the Russian River in the 1980s an d 1990s.
Lest the public forget and let th em erode, I’ve recorded here the grass
roots political victories w on in M arin an d S onom a C ounties th a t have
p ro found ly shaped recent California history. Here are the reasons why two-
th irds o f M arin , including its encircling bays an d m arsh lands an d the Point
Reyes Peninsula, are p e rm an en t open space, wildlife preserves, parks, and
farm land; why there are no freeways on the M arin -S onom a-M endocino
coast; w hy the sa lm on rivers o f the N o rth Coast (except the Russian) are p ro
tected as W ild an d Scenic Rivers; w hy every California river now requires a
w atershed m anagem ent plan; w hy all the state’s tidelands are now legally
preserved; and why the public has access to m u ch o f the eleven-hundred-
mile California coast.
This is a p ro u d legacy to leave for fu ture generations— and one th a t
we should p ro tec t vigilantly at all costs. For as the late conservationist Peter
Behr w ould rem ind us, “C onservation victories can be tem porary , while the
losses are perm anen t.” The battle is never over.
x i v S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Wr hen storyteller Ane Rovetta referred me to Robert Cooney, graphic designer
in Point Reyes Station, this memoir sprang to life. Excited, I retraced the
course of each land and water battle by foot, canoe, car, photo, my files, and inter
views with compatriots and friendly enemies.
I especially want to thank the staff and board of Audubon Canyon Ranch for
their help and support. Individuals who read all or part of the manuscript included
George Peyton, Clifford Conly, the late Clerin Zumwalt, Skip Schwartz, Tom Baty,
Len Blumin, Jack Harper, and biologists Ray Peterson and John Kelly.
The manuscript was reviewed by Pat and Pete Arrigoni, former supervisor, who
also researched the Marin County Supervisors minutes from 1967 to 1974 for dates
of Marin’s astounding land-use revolution, and Harold Gilliam, author of Island In
Time on the Point Reyes National Seashore, who generously wrote the foreword.
The late Senator Peter Behr and former Resource Secretary Ike Livermore offered
corrections and lent me their State Oral Histories; Tom Thorner lent me his files for
the crucial years he was attorney for the Marin Municipal Water District; and Bev
erly Bastian, founder of the Landmark Society of Belvedere-Tiburon, provided
advice and photos, as did Beth Huning and Dr. David Steinhardt of the Richardson
Bay Sanctuary.
Also critiquing the book were former Marin County Planning Director Marge
Macris, Joan Bekins of the Elizabeth Terwilliger Foundation, Becky Hayden, Susan
Brandt-Hawley, Dick Day, Gail Jonas, Bill Kortum, Peg Ellingson, Don Emblen,
Scott Whitaker, and the late Suzanne Lipsett. I am very grateful to Jerry Friedman,
Martye Kent, Jane Arnold, Jean Schulz, Max Shaffrath, Frank Keegan, Ida Egli, Peggy
Wayburn, Sally Behr, and Tom Roth for their help.
I am indebted to Steve McNamara of the Pacific Sun, Beth Ashley and Carol Far-
rand of the Marin Independent Journal, Christine Taccone of the San Francisco Daily
Journal (Legal), Sonoma journalists Barry Dougan and Dan Stebbins, luliana Doms
of the Sonoma Environmental Impact Reporter, Rita Haberman of River Network in
Portland, and Malcolm Margolin of Heyday Press. I also thank Gary Snyder for the
use of his watershed prose and Gaye LeBaron for her Sonoma County history
columns in The Press Democrat.
My thanks to Dolores Richards, curator of The Bolinas Museum, for the pre
viewing and videotaping of this history for seventy museum members, and to Joce
lyn Moss of the Anne T. Kent Room of the Marin County Library, Sue Baty of the
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S X V
Inverness Library, Marie Djordjevich of the Healdsburg Museum, the staff of the
Healdsburg County Library, and JoAnne Black of Santa Rosa lunior College Library
for their help.
I would also like to thank Jerry Edelbrock and the Marin Conservation League
for the 1997 Ted Wellman Water Award. Ted got me into the water fight.
This book benefits from the close ties with members of organizations I’ve been
involved with since their start, including Marin Audubon Society, Richardson Bay
Sanctuary, Audubon Canyon Ranch and its Docent Council, The Environmental
Forum of Marin, the Russian River Environmental Forum, Friends of the Russian
River, and the Russian River Task Force.
While this is not a scientific book, it has benefited from my ties with river
experts Bob Curry, Aldaron Laird, Matt Kondolf, Laurel Marcus, Philip Williams,
and many others.
Finally, I thank designer and editor Robert Cooney, mapmaker and West Marin
historian Dewey Livingston, and illustrator Ane Rovetta for their work on this book;
Nancy Adess, Helen Blakesly, and Becky Hayden for their editing help; and Julia
Macdonald for critique and indexing. I thank my daughters for their constant
encouragement, and, above all, my wife Joyce for her untiring help, suggestions, and
support.
S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
A W A K E U P C A L L T O T H E H E A L T H P R O F E S S I O N
D uring m y career as a public health officer for the State o f California, I
consulted in counties where the exploding p o pu la tion grow th had
severely degraded the na tu ra l env ironm en t while creating the n a tio n ’s
largest, and m ost costly, psychiatric, developm ental disabilities, an d prison
systems.
Over the years I’ve been dism ayed by the n o n -p artic ip a tio n o f health
professionals at countless public hearings where the fate o f o u r life-giving
resources— rivers, watersheds, bays, oceans, an d even p rim e fa rm lan d s—
was decided by developers, by co-opted, o r too often co rrup t, coun ty su p er
visors, and by em pire-build ing w ater and sewer agency chiefs.
M any people, I fear, have too narrow a view o f health , unaw are o f the
im portance and benefits o f Land Use Planning. This is a pow erful tool
which, skillfully employed, can preserve the true fou n d a tio n o f health: the
ecological in tegrity o f each coun ty ’s na tu ra l resources.
This key to sustainable health is n o t to be fo u n d in m edical textbooks,
b u t in reports like M arin ’s battle-tested C ountyw ide Plan. If its lessons on
environm ental quality and econom ic o p p o rtu n ity were taugh t in grade
schools, colleges, and m edical schools, I believe tha t w ith in a generation ou r
counties could be transfo rm ed into Edens, providing a p ride o f place in o u r
dissatisfied, overly m obile society.
Therefore, this bo o k is in tended as an u rgen t w akeup call in a state tha t
is overburdened w ith a ha lf m illion new people each year. It is a call to
mobilize o u r patients, colleagues, an d neighbors as we in M arin did, to
re tu rn to ou r roots as naturalists, to help elect the right coun ty supervisors,
and to su p p o rt and create grassroots organizations th a t will defend, c o n
serve, and restore the counties where we practice.
A W A K E U P C A L L T O T H E H E A L T H P R O F E S S I O N x v i i
Summary of Audubon Canyon Ranch Land Acquisitions
T he land battles recounted in this b o o k were the result o f four
N ational A udubon Society C hapters band ing together to buy up
w aterfront acreage whose developm ent th rea tened to su rro u n d the
Point Reyes N ational Seashore w ith sprawl.
Led by myself an d Stan Picher, som e th ir ty strategic parcels o f
tidelands and uplands, to taling m ore th an 1,600 acres, were acquired
by purchase and gift at a cost o f abou t one a n d on e-h a lf m illion do l
lars in private donations. M ost parcels are now ow ned an d m anaged
by A udubon Canyon Ranch as wildlife preserves. The M arin C oun ty
O pen Space D istrict m anages Bolinas Lagoon an d Kent Island.
To acquire an d m anage these lands, and tra in supporters, these
groups were started: the A udu b o n C anyon Ranch Project, A udubon
Canyon Ranch Inc., the A udu b o n C anyon R anch V olunteer Council
an d the D ocent Training P rogram , the Kent Island F und Drive, the
E nvironm ental Studies o f Bolinas Lagoon an d Tomales Bay, an d The
E nvironm ental F o rum o f M arin .
Bolinas Lagoon Preserve
1. A udubon C anyon Ranch (headquarters) — 503 acres, 1961
2. Kent Island, Gift from Alice an d Roger K ent— 9.6 acres, 1961
3. Kent Island Park, w ith M arin C onservation League an d The
N ature Conservancy (now ow ned by the C o u n ty O pen Space
D istrict) — 111 acres, 1967
4. Galloway R anch— 278 acres, 1968 an d 1971
5. T h o m p so n Ranch (now V olunteer C an y o n )— 234 acres, 1968
6 . State tideland lease (now O pen Space D istrict) — 1,200 acres, 1969
7. A ssorted Bolinas Lagoon tide land parcels— 40 acres
8 . M onarch Butterfly Groves at Bolinas an d M uir Beach
(Terwilliger Grove)
X V 111 S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
Tomales Bay Preserve
1. Shields M arsh near Inverness— 4 acres, 1970
2. Johannson shoreline parcels along 4 miles o f bay f ro n t—
32 acres, 1970
3. Cypress Grove (headquarters), Gift from Clifford Conly, Jr.—
10 acres, 1971
4. Livermore M arsh adjoining Cypress G rove— 26 acres, 1971
5. Cerini Ranch Parcel— 57 acres, 1972
6 . Hall Ranch Parcel— 40 acres, 1972
7. M arshall Creek D elta— 14 acres, 1972
8 . H og and D uck Islands— 8 acres, 1972
9. Delta o f W alker C reek— 97 acres, 1972
10. O lem a Freshwater M a rsh — 42.5 acres, 1972
11. Toms Point, Gift o f M argaret Q uig ley— 70 acres, 1985
SeeA ne R ovettas M ap on pages 130-131.
Bouverie Audubon Preserve
Bouverie A u d u b o n Preserve (Sonom a C ounty), Gift from David
Bouverie— 570 acres, 1979 and 1994
Additional Key Gifts of Land
R ichardson Bay Rosie Verrall S an c tu a ry (M arin C oun ty ), Gift o f 4
acres from H arry M arshall to the N ational A udubon Society, 1968
Griffin Russian River R iparian Preserve (Sonom a C ounty ), Gift o f
100-acre conservation easem ent from Joyce and M artin Griffin
to the S onom a Land Trust, 1991 an d 1998
S U M M A R Y OF A U D U B O N C A N Y O N R A N C H A C Q U I S I T I O N S x i x
A watershed is a marvelous thing to consider: this process o f rain
falling, streams flowing, and oceans evaporating causes every mole
cule o f water on earth to m ake the complete trip once every two
million years. The surface is carved into watersheds— a kind o f
fam ilia l branching, a chart o f relationship, and a definition o f place.
The watershed is the firs t and last nation whose boundaries, though
subtly shifting, are unarguable.. . . B u t we who live in terms o f cen
turies rather than millions o f years m ust hold the watershed and its
com m unities together, so our children m ight enjoy the clear water
and fresh life o f this landscape we have chosen.
G ary Snyder, A Place in Space
2 S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
I N T R O D U C T I O N
Awakening to Danger
By the laws o f N ature these things are com m on to all m a n k in d —
the air, running water, the sea and the shores o f the sea.
— The Justinian Code, 533 AD
My love o f u n tam ed rivers an d bays started in m y paren ts’ cabin
overhanging the banks o f the O gden River in a w ild W asatch
M oun ta in canyon in U tah. I was b o rn in th a t cabin in 1920. At
age three I recall being intoxicated by the cool desert canyon scent o f trou t,
willow and sage while m y fa ther’s m ando lin and the m u rm u rin g river waters
pu t m e to sleep.
By the tim e I was four, m y parents Frances an d Loyal h ad m e fly fishing
w ith a little b am b o o pole an d h an d -tied fly. By th en a p re-D epression b ank
failure in O gden had forced th em to sell the ir h o m e an d dairy supply b u s i
ness an d to relocate in Portland , O regon. This m ove pleased m y father, an
accom plished fly fisherm an; w ith in a tw o -h o u r drive over w ashboard roads
were a half-dozen o f the finest steelhead and sa lm on fishing stream s in the
west.
O n weekends betw een 1924 an d 1926 we explored an d cam ped o n wild
tim ber-lined stream s in so u th e rn W ashington an d O regon while m y father
patiently taugh t m y b ro th e r an d m e cam ping and fishing lore. This was still
Ind ian country, b u t the Ind ian wars h ad ended an d the Ind ian w o m en were
barely getting by selling gooseberries, w hich m y m o th e r b o u g h t for her pies.
N ear B attleground Lake in w estern W ashington, on a tr ib u ta ry o f the
th e n -u n d am m ed C olum bia River called Turn Turn M o u n ta in Creek, I
beheld a sight I have never forgotten. I crawled to the edge o f a rocky b ank
and looked dow n in to a crystal clear poo l benea th a waterfall to see a n u m
ber o f ocean-reared steelhead tro u t, m ost tw enty inches long, charging the ir
gills w ith oxygen-laden water, p reparing to ascend a series o f falls in a
crescendo o f runs and tail-tw isting leaps.
Thirty-five years later, I b ro u g h t m y four daughters to th a t same
A Great Egret soars up
fro m its nest near the
Bolinas Lagoon. The
beauty a n d grace o f
these birds was a key
to w in n in g popu lar
support to save the
Lagoon fro m
developm ent.
A W A K E N I N G T O D A N G E R 3
Here, in this cabin in
the w ilds o f the W asatch
M o u n ta in s in Utah, m y
brother Bob a n d I were
born. The Ogden River
gurgled under the porch
where we all slept o u t
side m ost o f the year to
be “closer to nature,”
as m y m other said.
waterfall. The waters were choked w ith logging debris an d silt, an d the
C olum bia River dam s had ended forever the runs o f an ad ro m o u s fish—
steelhead and sa lm o n — up this stream an d a th o u san d sim ilar tributaries.
Am erica had sacrificed this great fishery for surp lus electricity an d ir r i
gation water. This was m y awakening to the dangers facing the waterways o f
the west.
The Land Grab Begins
I began learning o f California’s dangerous grow th before the Great
Depression w hen my dad lost his job in 1927 an d we m oved from Portland
to Los Angeles. The roads we drove along were lined w ith thousands o f m en
stream ing dow n from the p layed-out m ines, logging tow ns, an d fisheries o f
the northw est looking for work. I could see the desperate look in the ir faces
as they hudd led by campfires along the road.
O u r family was p a r t o f a great h u m a n m igra tion . At th a t tim e California
had abou t four m illion people; today it has th irty -tw o m illion, far m ore than
its ill-equipped counties can m anage. The th irst for land has opened the
G olden State to reckless real estate developm ent, w ith nearly everyone h o p
ing to get rich by speculating in ranches, forests, deserts, m arshes, an d even
underw ater lots in tidelands. The on-going California land grab has
degraded the w orld ’s richest trove o f ecosystems and p lan t an d anim al
species in to m illions o f assessor’s parcels.
4 S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
M y parents enrolled m e in the E ighth Street G ram m ar School in d o w n
tow n Los Angeles, where the clear view o f palm trees in the fo reground and
snow-covered peaks b eh ind was th a t o f a M editerranean paradise. I cringe
at the sprawl an d po llu tion there today. Ironically, we lived w ith an uncle
w ho designed concrete channels fo r the city’s rivers.
M y m o th er gave m e tra in ing in self-reliance at the age o f seven. We lived
near Westlake Park where an opu len t m ovie thea te r had been
com pleted. “If you d o n ’t earn som e m oney, no movies,” she
said, so I got a rou te selling Liberty magazines at five cents each.
If I d idn’t sell enough to buy m y m ovie ticket she said, “G o back
and try again.” I’ve always adm ired m y m o th e r ’s persistence.
She was reared on the plains o f N ebraska an d never com plained
abou t life’s hardships, even w hen she lost her vision from glau
com a at age forty-five. At age ninety-five she still held m ore
than twenty-five ph o n e nu m b ers and the family genealogy in
her head. We celebrated her 102nd b irthday in 1997.
In 1928 we m oved to O akland, where m y d ad th o u g h t he
had finally found a good job. We lived for a few m o n th s w ith an
au n t w ho ow ned the Fenton Cream ery, w hich was fam ous for
its toasted a lm ond sundaes. In m y a u n t’s h o m e m y fu ture asso
ciation w ith M arin C o u n ty began, a lthough I d id n ’t know it at
the time. I m et m y a u n t’s son-in-law , Sam G ardiner, w ho later
becam e an a tto rney and Superior C o u rt judge in M arin where
ou r paths forcefully collided.
The End of the Wild, Wild West
D uring o u r b o y hood sum m ers, m y m o th e r drove m y b ro th e r Bob and
m e to visit o u r g randparents, George and E m m a Stoddard , in Rochester,
Nevada, a silver-m ining tow n deep in a desert canyon p u n g en t w ith sage
brush. Pop Stoddard was the Justice o f Peace, electrician for a pow er c o m
pany, an d had the only good well in tow n. Here I learned to value tha t
precious gift— safe, pure, na tu ra l d rink ing water. Before setting o u t to
explore the desert, we carefully filled canvas canteens w ith delicious w ater
and strapped them to the sides o f his M odel T p ickup to stay cool. In the
soft, starlit evenings we gathered a ro u n d his well, passing the d ipper a ro u n d
while we thrilled to his yarns ab o u t extending the railroad telegraph lines
from U tah into Idaho.
Pop died at age n inety-three w ith me, his doctor, at his side at his farm
Just hom e fro m serving
in France a t the end o f
W orld W ar I, m y fa th e r
Loyal took his new bride
Frances cam ping and
fish in g in U tah in 1919.
The w hite stripes are
rice throw n as they
departed on their
honeym oon.
A W A K E N I N G T O D A N G E R 5
east o f Sacram ento. H e’s bu ried in a p ioneer cem etery th a t I can hard ly bear
to visit. His farm an d the cem etery are engulfed in the post-w ar u rb an
sprawl. The nearby A m erican River is dam m ed , th e sa lm on are gone, the
farm s and orchards o f the foothills and great Sacram ento Valley are being
paved over. It’s the end o f Pop S toddard ’s wild, w ild west.
As a Boy Scout in
O akland I worked as
an assistant to Brighton
“Bugs” Cain, a superb
naturalist who taught
m e the wonders o f
p lan ts a n d animals,
and the geology o f the
Sierras and the coast.
H e advised m e to go
to m edical school.
“I Love You, California”
O akland in the 1930s was an exciting place to grow up. The
schools were excellent. M y teacher at P ied m o n t G ram m ar
School, Miss Olin, insisted the entire class s tand u p an d sing “I
Love You, California” each m o rn in g after the “Pledge o f Alle
giance to the U nited States o f America.” As a Boy Scout I was
inspired by the spell-b inding naturalist, B righton “Bugs” Cain,
an accom plished w histler an d storyteller, w ho excited hundreds
o f boys w ith his love for the ou t-o f-doors . A S tanford -tra ined
entom ologist, he u rged m e to prepare for m edical school at his
alm a m ater by taking courses in b o tan y an d zoology.
As Bugs softly w histled the ir calls, we stalked birds at daw n
in the Scout’s C am p D im o n d in the O akland foothills. We
explored the gravel roads along the rugged Big Sur coast in the
Scout C ouncil’s fat yellow bus w ith Bugs at the wheel, b inoculars at the
ready. In a h igh Sierra cam p we ran th ro u g h fields o f blue an d gold wild-
flowers as we searched for his favorite p lant, the stately green gentian. At
Yosemite Valley, we stood w ith Bugs in aw estruck silence stra in ing to hear
the cry o f “Let the fire fall!” from Glacier Point th ree th o u san d feet above the
valley floor before the m o o n rose over H alf D om e.
In 1937 the G olden Gate Bridge was built, connecting the city o f San
Francisco w ith the fertile valleys o f M arin an d S onom a counties. T h a t same
year I enrolled as a p re -m ed s tu d en t at the w orld -renow ned University o f
California cam pus at Berkeley, w ith a tu itio n o f ju s t twenty-five dollars a
semester.
In 1940, d u ring a b ird ing course (n o t a p re -m ed course) taugh t by Alden
Miller, a fam ous orn itho log ist o f his day, we visited the egret h e ro n ry on
Bolinas Lagoon th a t is now p a r t o f A udubon C anyon Ranch. The Lagoon
was a welcom e con trast to the stench o f the p u ru len t tideflats an d garbage
d u m p s o f the East Bay shoreline.
I first learned o f the w ord “ecology” in 1938 from a b o o k I have carried
w ith m e to nearly every rich botanical region o f the state, The Flowering
6 S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
1 WORDS TO t m I t
Plants o f California, by the fam ous University o f California
bo tan ist Willis L inn Jepson for w h o m the Jepson Bishop
Pine Preserve at Tomales Bay State Park is nam ed. I have sat
on m o u n ta in tops and by the sides o f m arshes fascinated by
his descriptions o f the m ore th an 1,400 native species
found only in California.
Ecology th en was a b ran d -n ew field; the in te rd ep en
dence o f the tidal m arshes an d aquatic and b ird life was
only dim ly perceived by biologists an d n o t at all by the gen
eral public.
In the sum m ers o f 1940 and 1 9 41 ,1 was in troduced to
the g randeur o f the forests and the salm on rivers on the
fog-bound redw ood coast n o r th o f M arin County. I jo ined
five rugged UC class m em bers, all S onom a C o u n ty farm
boys, in a logging cam p venture on the N avarro River in
M endocino County. We spent m ore tim e exploring an d fishing the heavily
forested Eel, Trinity, and K lam ath rivers th a n we did splitting fence posts and
railroad ties, b u t we m ade enough m on ey to enroll for an o th e r sem ester at
UC.
We d id n ’t know then th a t o u r cam p was the last gasp o f the ben ign era o f
h an d saws and selective logging, o r th a t w ith in a few years the m agnificent
o ld-grow th forests w ould be p lu n d ered w ith m ach ine logging and clear c u t
ting for the w ar effort an d for the endless dem ands o f California’s postw ar
growth.
I was a yo u n g and
rather naive physician
in M a rin C o u n ty a t the
end o f W orld W ar II.
M y grandfather, Pop
Stoddard, predicted I ’d
either be a preacher or
a doctor, or both.
Trained as a Medical Sleuth
In 1941 I enrolled in S tanford M edical School in an A rm y Specialized
Training Program . After three years I in te rned at the old S tanford Hospital
in San Francisco u n d e r the prestigious Dr. A rth u r Bloomfield, an expert
diagnostician. After g radua tion I spen t tw o years as a C apta in in the US
A rm y M edical Corps, ho n in g m y skills in psychiatric diagnosis at a large
receiving hospital where m y task was to get pa tients back to the ir ho m e states
as quickly as possible.
After the war, I w atched as tens o f thousands o f soldiers re tu rn in g from
the w ar never m ade it hom e. First land ing in seductive California, they
stayed, adding to the state’s crush ing post-w ar p o p u la tio n growth.
After leaving the A rm y I re tu rn ed to S tanford H ospita l for an o th e r year
o f tra in ing as Dr. Bloom field’s special resident in in te rna l m edicine. “The
A W A K E N I N G T O D A N G E R 7
Chief,” as we called h im , tra ined us to be m edical sleuths. I used this tra in ing
later to diagnose an d trea t env ironm enta l ills. For example, I’d take a careful
h istory o f a tide land dredging project, m ake a th o ro u g h inspection o f the
site, talk w ith people it affected, read everything available, study m aps, visit
the agencies in charge, an d com e up w ith a diagnosis an d a plan o f attack for
tha t particu lar problem . T hen I’d pred ict the ou tcom e, o r prognosis.
Dr. Bloomfield in troduced m e to m any o f the o ld -tim e families, som e
w ould call th em elite, o f M arin County. A m ong these longtim e residents
were a few w ho were already w orking to p ro tec t M arin from ra m p a n t
growth. But there were m any m ore ready to exploit M arin ’s po ten tia l for
developm ent. By the end o f the war, all the efficient electric ra ilroad lines in
M arin had been ripped up to m ake way for freeways and autos. By 1946
M arin was already at risk o f being Los Angelized.
Welcome to Marin
Right after the w ar ended, m y wife M im i a n d I settled in Sausalito, a
charm ing backw ater on R ichardson Bay, an a rm o f the San Francisco Bay
just n o r th o f the G olden Gate. We had m et as classmates in m edical school
an d had four daughters: Linda, Anne, Carol, an d Joan.
A young orthoped ist, Calvin Terwilliger, an d his wife Elizabeth were ou r
neighbors. O ne day she p h o n ed a n d said, “M arty, I w an t you to com e right
over to the Valhalla Restaurant. I’m m eeting the City C ouncil there and
Elizabeth Terwilliger,
a neighbor in Sausalito,
led tours to instruct both
yo u n g a n d old about the
wonders o f salt marshes
and tidelands. Th irty
years later she taught
President Reagan how
to fla p his arm s like a
duck, a vulture, and
a gull on national
television.
8 S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T
we’re going to walk th em th ro u g h the tow n an d show
them there’s n o t a single decent p layground for o u r
children. I’ve also found a vacant lot th a t w ould be
ideal and we sim ply m ust persuade the City Council
to buy it and equip it!” I w ent, overw helm ed by her
e no rm ous energy. Needless to say, the C ouncil bo u g h t
and equipped the little park. For years M im i and I
rem ained the Terwilliger family physicians.
This was m y first step in to the conservation politics
o f M arin. A busy family an d professional life in te r
vened for m any years before I to o k another.
D uring the fifties m y m edical practice, w ith fre
quen t house calls, p u t m e in touch w ith all parts o f
M arin County, where the p o pu la tion was starting to
increase dramatically. I w atched w ith grow ing anxiety
as the extensive salt m arshes o f R ichardson Bay, C orte
M adera Bay, an d San Rafael Bay were slowly filled and
tu rn ed into housing and shopp ing developm ents. O ne
day I noticed th a t the beautifu l m arsh where the C orte M adera Town S hop
ping C enter now stands was for sale for only $200 per acre. “Suitable for Fill
ing,” the sign said. I was heartsick because I knew the large egret he ro n ry
h igh in a Larkspur redw ood grove just to the west d epended on this m arsh
for its food supply.
A friend was pa rt o f an investm ent group th a t was opera ting a garbage
d u m p on the tidelands o f San Rafael Bay w hich had been purchased from
the state som e years before. “It’s the greatest investm ent in the w orld!” he
said. “We get pa id to take the garbage a n d we are given a depletion allowance
tax break o n the tidelands as they are filled in.”
B a y or R iver?
The w h i t e a r e a , a c c o r d in g to a n A r m y Eng i n e e r ’s s tu d y , s h o w s w h a t w o u l d b e lef t if all s h a l l o w p a r t s w e r e fi lled.
Tidelands on San
Francisco B ay were
being filled a t an
alarm ing rate as this
1960 m a p suggests.
Terminally 111, Prognosis Hopeless
To me, R ichardson Bay appeared to be term inally ill. I jo tted dow n m y
diagnoses: tidal arm s severed by roads and railroad tracks, po isoned by the
dum ping o f m ash from a whiskey distillery, sm othered w ith sewage sludge
du m p ed in cover o f darkness by the developers w ho ran the san itary d is
tricts, and dying from toxic wastes d u m p ed d u rin g four years o f w ar effort.
In 1957, R ichardson Bay faced ex tinction from filling by one o f m y own
medical colleagues w ho was also a developer. It looked hopeless for the bay
and, by extension, for all o f M arin County.
A W A K E N I N G T O D A N G E R 9
O w ners o f this garbage
d u m p on San Rafael
B ay go t a ta x w riteo ff
in 1952 as they filled
in the rich marshlands.
M arin M unicipa l W ater
D istric t annexed these
a n d other San Francisco
B ay tidelands to supply
w ater fo r the an ticipated
developm ent. Offshore
are the M a rin Islands,
h om e o f the B ay A rea’s
largest colony o f Great
Egrets a n d Snow y
Egrets.
In 1957 I received an urgen t call from Elizabeth Terwilliger. “Marty,” she
said, “M rs. L ivermore and I have started the M arin A udubon Society to try
to save R ichardson Bay from being filled for housing. We’d like you to be on
the Board o f Directors. I w on’t take ‘n o ’ for an answer.” I ju m p ed at the
o p p o rtu n ity o f learning from these tw o dedicated w om en w ho were the
heart and soul o f the conservation m ovem en t in M arin.
M y repu ta tion as a physician had preceded me. “We’ve all heard o f your
m edical accom plishm ents,” Caroline Liverm ore said w hen we m et. “But
d o n ’t you th in k it’s equally im p o rtan t for people’s health th a t we save the
m arshes and bays a n d establish parks an d open space?” I agreed heartily w ith
this wise w om an.
Thus began m y long association w ith C aroline Livermore, w hich lasted
un til she died in 1968. I literally appren ticed myself to her. I recognized tha t
she and her “ladies,” as she called them , had the vision, connections, and
clout to be effective; and I eagerly m obilized m y m edical practice and col
leagues to jo in th em in helping save the bays an d lagoons o f M arin County.
10 S A V I N G T H E M A R I N - S O N O M A C O A S T