State commission clears Tomales Bay vegetation removal plan

A plan to improve the ecological health of 1,590 acres in Tomales Bay State Park has cleared its last administrative hurdle, although a lawsuit against it is still pending.

The project, which would be implemented in phases over a 10-year period, involves removing trees and other vegetation by a variety of means, including chainsaws, masticators, grazing animals, pesticides and fire.

Project supporters say the work is necessary because the area is overgrown, and trees would be at risk if an uncontrolled fire were to break out. Opponents say the forest is not overgrown and warn that trees and wildlife will be harmed by the aggressive remediation planned.

California State Parks approved the plan in July. On Thursday, the California Coastal Commission voted to affirm that the project is consistent with a public works plan for the park that the commission approved in April, a necessary step before work can begin.

Erin Prahler, a commission planning manager, detailed the rationale for the project prior to the commission’s vote.

“As a result of past fire suppression, there is a heavy accumulation of dead and downed woody material, dense understory and thick layers of litter and duff,” Prahler said. “Disrupted fire patterns have resulted in dense thatch accumulation and shrub encroachment into native grasslands, where the habitat is now being converted and is increasingly occupied by invasive species.”

Bree Hardcastle, an environmental scientist for the state parks department, told commissioners that “the habitats in Tomales Bay State Park have been negatively impacted by human actions and climate change, and the current conditions in the park leave these habitats and the species that rely on them at significant risk of impacts from wildfires.”

Six members of the public commented during the hearing, three in favor of the project and three in opposition.

“Managing this wild forest is an oxymoron,” said Jack Gescheidt, founder of the TreeSpirit Project, who spoke on behalf of the Tomales Bay Forest Keepers.

“You can’t restore a forest with chainsaws, masticators and herbicides,” Geschedit said. “This lush, fog-damp, coastal forest will be rendered less green, hotter, drier and windier, and thus more prone to wildfire ignition.”

Tomales Bay Forest Keepers and the California Chaparral Institute have sued the parks department, asserting that environmental review of the project as required by the California Environmental Quality Act has been inadequate. Instead of preparing an original environmental impact report on the plan, they alleged, the state parks department simply added an addendum to an vegetation treatment program that was approved in 2019.

According to the suit, nothing in the addendum “addresses the particular aspects of the Bishop pine forests within the park, including its current condition, present wildlife, fire history and environmental and disease threats in western Marin County.”

“We’re very concerned that an adequate CEQA review has not been done,” said Nancy Okada, a Sierra Club member. “It’s a working ecosystem and to go in and disturb it and destroy it is not ecologically friendly.”

Susan Kirks, president of the Madrone Audubon Society, said, “There are species which depend on the condition that this forest and grassland are currently in to live safely.”

Kirks said those include the northern spotted owl, the dusky-footed wood rat and the American badger.

Proponents of the project were equally passionate.

“As somebody who grew up in the county and experienced displacement from our 2017 Tubbs fire, I understand the urgent need for effective wildfire management in our vulnerable communities,” said Alexandra Smith.

Felix Chamberlain said, “As longtime neighbors of the state park we have taken the time to understand its unique history and environment. We know the area within this park has not been either wild or uninhabited for hundreds of years.”

Chamberlain said that since the state parks department began managing the land, meadows first created by Miwoks have filled back in with thick underbrush of coffeeberry, huckleberry and other plant species.

“This new environment is not native,” Chamberlain said. “It is choking out the forest trees, the Bishop pine, madrone and coastal live oak.”

Carlos Porrata, who worked as a ranger at the park before retiring, said, “Our Bishop pine forest is in trouble, so please approve moving ahead with this project. It will reduce fire danger and restore the ecological functions of the park.”

Marin County Supervisor Katie Rice, the county’s representative on the commission, paved the way for its unanimous project approval.

“This work can’t happen too soon,” she said.