Oakland Tribune: Gambling with Nature

A STONE'S THROW from Oakland International Airport, golden eagles can be spotted circling the sky and sandpipers seen probing the soft mud of Arrowhead Marsh with their slender beaks.

Despite the roar of jets and drone of Nimitz traffic, the birds and critters that flock to the 50-acre marsh and an adjoining 72 acres of restored tidal and seasonal wetlands are thriving, conservationists say.

But they worry that won't last if a 24-hour, 2,000-slot casino moves in next door.

The Lower Lake Rancheria Koi Nation Indian tribe wants to build the casino and a seven-story hotel/spa complex on a 35-acre parking lot abutting the restored marshland.

Tribal elders say every precaution will be taken to ensure the development does not hurt the marsh and its feathered inhabitants.

Daniel Beltran, chairman of the Koi Nation, said a pending environmental study for the casino will be the most stringent ever considered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Also, he noted, there will be a bufferzone between the buildings and the marsh, and the lighting will be more modern and less intrusive than what is there now.

But environmentalists who have sued to stop the Port of Oakland and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from developing some of the last remaining wetlands in San Leandro Bay say while they don't oppose casinos per se, the project shouldn't abut such a sensitive area.

They worry the casino and hotel will reverse years of hard work by dedicated volunteers who removed non-native weeds and replanted and grew seedlings of native cordgrass and pickleweed to woo the endangered California clapper rails, which have been spotted there in increasing numbers.

They say the glare of lights from 24-hour gaming activities will disrupt the birds' nesting patterns and make it easier for predators to stalk them. Add in more cars, buses, litter and noise from such an establishment and environmentalists get red in the face.

"The lights will have an impact but the business will also attract (raccoons), rats, cats and ravens," said Arthur Feinstein, conservation director for Golden Gate Audubon Society, one of four groups whose successful lawsuit brought a court order to restore 32 acres of tidal marsh and 40 acres of seasonal ponds and upland habitat.

"The activities will impact nesting for the clapper rail, and if all these other predators are here, it will be detrimental," he said.

Encroaching development

The San Francisco Bay shoreline was once fringed with marshy habitat that provided food, respite and breeding grounds for countless birds, fish and animals, and supported a million-dollar oyster industry.

There were 2,600 acres of tidal marsh where the Oakland International Airport is today. But constant filling, diking and development has all but obliterated most marsh habitat in the East Bay, and only about 10 percent remains.

Strangled as it is, San Francisco Bay remains one of the most important stops along the Pacific flyway. It is used by millions of shorebirds every winter and has been designated a site of international importance on the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

Every day, thousands of ruddy ducks, coots, gulls, wigeons and scaups dot the open waters. Plovers, avocets, stilts and willets patrol the shoreline and shallows at low tide, plucking tasty worms and other morsels from the rich organic mud.

Red-tailed hawks, kestrels, harriers and the occasional golden eagle perch in tree tops to survey the scene from on high, swooping down to scoop up an unsuspecting rodent.

First-time visitors do a double take at the clusters of odd- looking brown birds motionless in the brushy uplands, before realizing those "birds" are in fact jackrabbits.

"It's really part of a larger complex ecosystem, from Sibley Ridge to the shoreline, (offering) a predator/prey relationship," said Joe DiDonato, stewardship manager with East Bay Regional Park District. "This little stamp in the middle of the shoreline there in Oakland is not in itself isolated from the greater picture of things."

Battle for the marsh

Dismayed with the pace of shoreline development, four environmental groups including the Golden Gate Audubon Society and Save the Bay sued the Port of Oakland and Army Corps of Engineers in 1986 to prevent further filling of wetlands near the airport and Arrowhead Marsh, the last major tidal marsh in San Leandro Bay.

The lawsuits were settled in 1994 and required that $2.5 million be spent to restore 72 acres of tidal marsh, seasonal ponds and upland habitat adjacent to Arrowhead Marsh to support nesting areas for the endangered California clapper rail.

The port removed a dike built in 1969 and dredged an 80-foot- wide channel to allow tidal flows to the new marsh. As part of the deal, the port kept 35 acres of filled land, the site proposed for the casino.

The new marsh is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District as the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline Park.

Since then, Save the Bay has partnered with the park district to create a native plant nursery nearby. More than 9,200 volunteers have logged 32,200 hours nurturing and then replanting native cordgrass, pickleweed and jaumea, and removing non-native weeds and trash, said Marilyn Latta, habitat restoration manager for the organization.

Three clapper rails were spotted at Arrowhead Marsh in 1994. During a count in December, 2003, 60 were counted -- more than 5 percent of the species' estimated population world-wide.

"To get 60 clapper rails in one place is pretty spectacular," Feinstein said.

The restored areas are attracting the same variety of shorebird species as the historic marsh area. Although the variety of waterbird species counted at the restored area hasn't yet matched those found in Arrowhead Marsh, the numbers are still impressive.

During a five-year study commissioned in the settlement, bird experts observed an average of 36 waterbird species at the restored seasonal pond area and 45 species at the restored tidal marsh.

The upland areas provide four nesting sites for the threatened burrowing owl. Harriers and hawks are a common sight; golden eagles have been seen there from time to time.

The marsh is a living, breathing classroom for countless urban school children who visit to plant seedlings, watch the birds and canoe through its sloughs for a bird's eye view of things.

"We're not just speaking for the birds out there," Latta said. "It's an important resource for the community ... the schools and students are very upset. We have several schools that have adopted that site and they work it into their curriculum. They feel like it's their marsh and their restoration."

Teri Hudson, a third-grade teacher at Sobrante Park Elementary School in East Oakland, takes her classes by bus to the marsh about three times a year.

She described how one student, who was not a native English speaker and was having trouble reading and keeping up in class, thrived after the field trip.

"I had pointed out some of the larger birds, Canada geese, surf scooters and such, and when we got back to school he was very excited and wrote about it, the best writing he's ever done," Hudson said. "And then he pointed to my bird chart, to two smaller birds I hadn't mentioned, the pie-billed grebe and a coot, and said how he had seen them, diving under the water. I had seen them too."

Growing opposition

Nearly every environmental agency and municipality in the East Bay is opposed to the casino development. The cities of Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley and San Leandro have passed resolutions against it, as have the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and East Bay Regional Park District board of directors.

The Port of Oakland informed the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the project is not consistent with the standards and restrictions of the airport business park area, said Vivian Neal, deputy port attorney.

Bob Doyle, assistant general manager for the park district's land division, said everyone has invested too much time, money and sweat in the successful restoration to risk everything for a massive development.

"The settlement (resulted) in the creation of a $10 million marsh, one of the biggest successes on the flyway," Doyle said. "When that lawsuit settled, it did say there would be buildings near the marsh, but there wouldn't be buildings like this. Whatever is built is supposed to be industrial."

The Port of Oakland last year sold the 35-acre property, currently used as a surface parking lot, for $16 million to a group headed by Legacy Partners. The land is within the port's Airport Business Park, and development is restricted to industrial and commercial uses.

Except that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is not subject to the same local zoning restrictions as everyone else. Nor is the federal agency subject to the same stringent state environmental laws as a public or private development, said Feinstein of the Golden Gate Audubon Society.

Most development is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act, but tribal lands fall under the purview of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Tribal chairman Beltran said that many people mistakenly have the impression that the tribe can come in and do whatever it wants. That is not true, he said.

AES, the Sacramento firm hired to complete the environmental study, has met with the park district and already is working to allay concerns and address issues raised in public meetings, he said.

"We're not looking at (creating) the exterior of a Las Vegas casino per se, we're looking at something complementary to Oakland," Beltran said. "Not big neon flashing signs, more subdued. We're very understanding to the situation there and dedicated 100 percent to making sure we take (the right steps)."

John Rydzik, acting chief of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Sacramento division of environmental cultural resources management and safety, said his agency has been flooded with calls, letters and e-mails from people concerned about the casino's impact on the marsh, traffic, business and local economy.

All that information will form the basis for the areas considered within the draft environmental impact study, he said.

The bureau will consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about potentially detrimental biological impacts to the endangered California clapper rail and other species from the casino project, he said. Feedback from other federal, state and local agencies will be included as well.

The complex process will take at least two years and the public will have many opportunities to comment on the draft, the proposed impacts and the recommended mitigations, one of which will include the option of not building the casino at all, he said.

Rydzik said some tribes in California have opted to impose stricter environmental standards on themselves to appease the public, but he does not know whether that would be the case in Oakland.

"It was their choice," he said of the other projects.

Tribal chairman Beltran said the tribe was aware that the casino site sits adjacent to the marsh, but considered it attractive because it's in an industrial area.

"There are thousands of cars already parked there every day, it's not close to schools or churches, and from OPD's standpoint, it's an area that is definitely patrolable," he said.

It is also no secret that Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown has said many times that a casino would bring badly needed revenue to the cash- strapped city.

Beltran said the tribe has committed $30 million a year to Oakland, to fund the kinds of programs the city needs. In return, the casino would help the landless tribe become self-reliant and build a secure future for its people.

"The tribe has been going through its own poverty and struggles," he said.

Opponents won't go quietly, even if they have no hard and fast evidence that a casino will create an unfriendly environment for the clapper rail and other species.

"Public awareness of the necessity of wetlands has grown over the last 20 years, and even non-environmentally aware people are upset about this because it impacts their enjoyment of the park," DiDonato said. "It's a pleasant place. To put in something like a flashing, mega casino is an insult. I don't mind casinos, but this isn't the place for it."

IMPORTANT DATES IN ARROWHEAD MARSH HISTORY

-Historians believe Arrowhead Marsh was created after work began on Chabot Dam in 1874, when a breach in the partially built earthen dam washed 21,000 cubic yards of clay and soil down San Leandro Creek. Through the years, additional sediment has built up the marsh.

-Four environmental groups sue the Port of Oakland and Army Corps of Engineers in 1986 to stop filling in 26 acres of wetlands near the airport and 100 acres at Arrowhead Marsh.

-The settlement, reached in 1994, requires the restoration of 71 acres at the marsh to create about 31 acres of tidal wetlands and 40 acres of seasonal wetlands and unflooded habitat.

-The 1994 settlement allows the port to keep the acreage near the airport and a 35-acre parcel that had been filled in near the marsh, land that is the proposed home for the proposed Koi Nation casino.

-From 1997 to 1998, the port prepares the site for restoration, including removing landfill and a dike built in 1969, and dredging an 80-foot wide channel to allow tidal flows. Site management is turned over to the East Bay Regional Park District.

-In October 1998, the Golden Gate Audubon Society begins a five- year bird monitoring program at the site.

-In 2000, Save the Bay partners with the park district on restoration planning, action and education activities that continue to this day.

-In 2003, the port sells the 35-acre parcel adjacent to the marsh, which has since been paved for a surface parking lot, for $16 million to a group headed by Legacy Partners.

-In October 2004, the Lower Lake Rancheria Koi Nation proposes to build a 2,000-slot casino resort complex, including a seven-story hotel/spa and four-story parking garage, on the 35-acre parking lot.