Bird life on the Nature Reserve at Alameda Point

The Alameda City Council, on March 19, 2013, unanimously approved a resolution affirming support for a nature reserve at Alameda Point.  The resolution calls for a zoning designation of “Nature Reserve” for the runway area formerly proposed for a national wildlife refuge. After an impasse was reached in negotiations between the Navy and the US […]

Zone the wildlife refuge “Open Space”

Below is the draft of a city council resolution that has been introduced to the council by councilmembers Stewart Chen and Tony Daysog.  It is on the council agenda for 7 PM, Tuesday, February 19, 2013.  The community is urged to attend and voice their opinion.   The refuge has been home, harbor, and safe […]

Alameda Wildlife Refuge podcast

This interview with wildlife biologist Leora Feeney was done in 2008 as part of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture’s “Your Wetlands” series. Click here, or on image below, to access the podcast. The only updates are that the Loggerhead Shrikes are no longer seen nesting on the western shoreline following cleanup work that was performed.  […]

Color me pelican on a winter’s day at the Seaplane Lagoon

Annual Audubon Society bird count includes Alameda Point wildlife refuge

On December 16, from before dawn until dusk, hundreds of hardy volunteer birders trekked through parks, neighborhoods, wetlands, and woods to count birds during the Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count in the East Bay.  In Alameda, three teams fanned out across the city.  One team went to Alameda Point.   Carrying binoculars, spotting scopes, […]

Navy and VA ignore economics, environment in killing Alameda National Wildlife Refuge

Once upon a time there was talk about a national wildlife refuge at Alameda Point.  It was included in the reuse plan for Naval Air Station (NAS)-Alameda that was accepted by the Department of Defense.  It was added to Alameda’s General Plan.  The US Fish & Wildlife Service was poised to be the owner and […]

Runway soil cleanup underway on wildlife refuge

Some of the toxic contamination at Alameda Point is not the result of Naval operations. The Navy began cleaning up contaminated soil at five hot spots in the airplane runway area of Alameda Point in October.  Cleanup Site 33 – on the area commonly referred to as the wildlife refuge – encompasses the southern end […]

California Brown Pelicans roosting at Alameda Point

The successful recovery effort for the once endangered California brown pelican is evident every summer through fall on Breakwater Island, an area which forms the beginning of the Alameda Point Channel leading to the ship docks and Seaplane Lagoon.  The breakwater is a wall of boulders built up from the Bay floor to reduce wave […]

Least terns depart – volunteers move in at Alameda Point refuge

The least tern nesting season ended in mid-August much as it usually does – a lonely and dangerous place for young terns.  There were three of four pairs of adults flying back and forth with food for their young chicks.  These late nesters are often the ones whose eggs or chicks were attacked by avian […]

Wildlife refuge gets the ax in VA development at Alameda Point

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) received a green light from the US Fish & Wildlife Service (Fish & Wildlife) for their Alameda Point clinic and national cemetery project in late August.  Fish & Wildlife issued its biological opinion, which focuses only on the impacts to the least tern colony that nest on the […]

Ending threat of solvents in groundwater leaching into San Francisco Bay

Site 1 at the northwestern tip of Alameda Point was used as the principal disposal area for all waste generated at Naval Air Station-Alameda from 1943 to 1956.  This disposal area, which was once part of the Bay, was created by sinking pontoons and barges in the Bay and backfilling with dredge soil. Disposal of […]

Wildlife refuge activist nominated for KTVU award – Vote online

Alameda resident Leora Feeney is one of three finalists in KTVU’s annual Cox Conserves Heroes contest.  KTVU, owned by Cox Media, is partnering with The Trust for Public Land to honor local environmental activists for their work and inspire others.  The winner will be determined through online voting that is underway now through September 24. […]