County, Audubon Center Kick Off Aramburu Island Restoration

A $1.5 million ecological restoration project that drew the ire of Strawberry residents in years past kicks off Tuesday, as the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Marin County Parks begin work on Aramaburu Island off the eastern edge of Strawberry.

The county hosts a kick-off event Tuesday at 4 p.m., with Marin County Supervisor Kate Sears and Bruce Wolfe from the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Board in attendance, at the center's Lyford House in Tiburon.

The 17-acre island, owned by the county and named for former Marin County Supervisor Al Aramburu, is a man-made creation that dates back to the construction of 62 single-family homes on the southern end of Strawberry Spit in the mid-1980s. The developer of those homes granted the island to the county as part of its efforts to mitigate the loss of wildlife habitat, as mandated by county supervisors in 1983.

The county declared the island an open space preserve in 1997. The last major work done on the island was in 2006, when a major cleanup effort sought to remove trash and other marine debris that had washed up on the island over the years.

When county supervisors gave the restoration project the green light in 2010, it sparked criticism from some Strawberry residents who said the create of new habitats could draw in the endangered California clapper rail, a bird whose presence would potentially jeopardize residents’ dredging that enables boat access.

A consultant's plan calls for the creation of “short, turfy high tidal marsh habitat” that would be unsuitable for the clapper rail, however. The plan also calls for not impacting sediment in the dredging channels, not impacting views in the area or allowing increased public access to the island.

The project is largely funded by an $850,000 state grant secured by the Richardson Bay Audubon Center, in partnership with Marin County Parks. The grant comes from the state Water Board's cleanup and abatement fund, which is made up of fines levied statewide. That includes fines paid by the in the aftermath of its two sewer spills into Richardson Bay in 2008.

Restoration work on Aramburu Island began last week and continues through October 15. The second phase of work begin in the summer of 2012.