The Navy’s repeated attempts to establish native vegetation on cleanup Site 1 at Alameda Point have finally borne flowers this spring. Previous efforts struggled through drought, only to produce a hodgepodge of invasive weeds. Vegetation was stripped more than once and re-seeded over the past eight years.
The accompanying photo collage features highlights of this year’s spring flower show:
In addition, the Navy constructed an access road for future maintenance vehicles along the western shoreline of Site 1 and landscaped the shoulder of the road. The road will someday double as the Bay Trail. It could even be utilized today as a destination for city-led guided walks.
The adjacent seasonal wetland at cleanup Site 32, however, has been in limbo since 2019, when a regulatory agency abruptly halted the cleanup plan that would have upgraded the entire site, including re-engineering and expanding the wetlands. Even though the work stoppage was eventually rescinded by the agency after members of the Restoration Advisory Board challenged the rationale for the stoppage, the Navy decided not to resume work on its approved plan. Realizing the hassles it had encountered trying to grow native vegetation on the nearby Site 1 wetland, the Navy became concerned about the unanticipated costs of re-doing a wetland.
Instead, the Navy is now contemplating destroying the wetlands by covering them with soil, if it deems the price tag for total restoration too expensive. A consultant is undertaking a financial feasibility study later this year on the pros and cons of the new wetlands at Site 32 versus paying money into a wetland mitigation bank somewhere else in the Bay Area. A decision is not expected until 2025.
Back in January of 2024, the croaking of frogs, possibly Pacific Tree Frogs, could be heard throughout this area. (Audio recording above.)
In the meantime, wildlife continue to utilize this seasonal wetland as they have since it came into existence more than half a century ago between the runways. The accompanying photos and video show black-necked stilts foraging in the wetland as a group of short-billed dowitchers take a break. Overhead, barn swallows darted back and forth to catch insects in flight. The calls of the black-necked stilts were joined by the songs of red-winged blackbirds and killdeer, adding the sounds of Spring to the sights on this wild corner of Alameda Point.
Field note
A rusty chain-link fence provides a handy bird blind for observing and photographing birds without disturbing them, as it did here.
Contributing writer Richard Bangert posts stories and photos about environmental issues on his blog Alameda Point Environmental Report. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Richard-Bangert.
