Save The Bay Charts a Course to Fund Wetland Restoration
Photo: Russ Juskalian
Steady, sufficient funding is the main hurdle preventing us from realizing 100,000 acres of tidal wetlands. Our 2007 report Greening the Bay: Financing Wetland Restoration in San Francisco Bay charts a path on how we can get there.
Restoration managers estimate that it will cost $1.43 billion to restore 36,000 acres of restorable wetlands already protected. Polling shows overwhelming public support for Bay restoration and willingness to bear the cost. With a modest annual average investment over 50 years – equivalent to $4 annually for each Bay Area resident – we can restore thousands of acres of thriving wetlands on the shoreline and reverse more than a century of degradation that reduced the size of our Bay by one-third.
We work with the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, a new regional special district established by Assembly Bill 2954 (Lieber), to raise and grant funds to restore shoreline wetland habitat around San Francisco Bay. The creation of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority was the principal recommendation of Save The Bay's Greening the Bay report.
To reach the 100,000 acre goal, an additional 24,000 acres still must be purchased and restored. We are working to protect restorable wetlands, such as stopping a massive development project on the Redwood City salt ponds owned by Cargill to ensure our Bay will be healthy for future generations.
Generous support for Greening the Bay has been provided by: Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, Eucalyptus Foundation and Smart Family Foundation