Richardson Bay
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Richardson Bay is a shallow, ecologically rich arm of San Francisco Bay managed under a Joint Powers Agency of four Northern California cities, after the Richardson Bay Sanctuary was purchased in the early 1960s by the Audubon Society. The bay was named for William A. Richardson, early 19th century sea captain and builder in San Francisco. Richardson Bay is considered one of the most pristine estuaries on the Pacific Coast in spite of its urbanized periphery, since it supports extensive eelgrass areas and sizable undisturbed intertidal habitats. It is a feeding and resting area for a panoply of estuarine and pelagic birds, while its associated marshes and littoral zones support a variety of animal and plant life. Richardson Bay has been designated as an Important Bird Area {or IBA), based upon its large number of annual bird visitors and residents, its sightings of California clapper rail and its strategic location in the flyway. The bay's waters are subject to a "no discharge" rule to protect the elaborate and fragile ecosystems present, including a complex fishery, diverse mollusk populations and even marine mammals such as the harbor seal. Due to its lack of depth and tricky channel structure, Richardson Bay is limited in boating uses to kayaking and small sailing craft. There are extensive hiking and bicycling paths at the bay perimeter, especially in the shore areas of Mill Valley and the town of Tiburon.
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[edit] History of the name designation
On August 22, 1822, an English whaler, the Orion, put into Yerba Buena Cove in San Francisco for supplies; the captain was William Anthony Richardson, described as tall, fair haired, blue-eyed and young, was sighted by Maria Antonia, daughter of the Commandante of the Presidio of san Francisco, Ignacio Martinez. Martinez, for whom the town of Martinez is named, no doubt influenced by Maria, invited the Captain to reside with their family. Maria soon married the captain, after he joined the Catholic Church being baptized "Don Antonio Richardson." This wedding, held at Mission Dolores on May 12, 1826 was the first great Spanish-Anglo Saxon wedding in North America.
Richardson taught carpentry, boat building and navigation at Mission Delores, served as Captain of the Port of San Francisco, and built the first significant residence in San Francisco, although it was meant to be a trading post. He had charge of several schooners belonging to the Mission Dolores and Mission Santa Clara. Richardson received an 19,500 acre Mexican land grant in 1838, Rancho Sausalito, which is all of the land north of the Golden Gate extending from bay to ocean and ranging north to Mount Tamalpais The grant contained all the land southeast of Mount Tamalpais, and included Redwood Canyon and the lands now within Muir Woods National Monument. Richardson Bay was thus named in the honor of this energetic early settler and builder.
[edit] Natural features
Richardson Bay is an important ecological area being managed by Audubon California as the Audubon Richardson Bay Sanctuary. There are significant estuarine resources, marsh birdlife, mammalian species and marsh plants.
Birds are abundant in Richardson Bay, with over one million migratory visitors each winter, many of whom utilizing the upper mudflats and Bothin Marsh associated with the area west of the U.S. Route 101. In addition to being designated a high score IBA, Richardson Bay has been dedicated as a Hemispheric Reserve of the Western Shorebird Network. Migrating birds that winter regularly at Richardson Bay include Least sandpiper, Western sandiper, Spotted sandpiper, American avocet, Dunlin, Marbled godwit, Greater yellowlegs, Willet, Long-billed curlew and Dowitchers. A special resident of Bothin Marsh, Blackies' Creek mouth and DeSilva Island is the California clapper rail, a non-migratory endangered species.
Common year around residents of the Richardson Bay Sanctuary include Great blue heron, Snowy egret, and Great egret; mallard; Red-tailed hawk and Turkey Vulture; Killdeer and Western gull; Morning Dove and Rock Dove; Anna's hummingbird. Common residents Passeriformes include Scrub jay, American crow, Chestnut backed chickadee, Common bushtit, Bewick's wren, House sparrow, Red-winged blackbird, House finch, Song sparrow, California Towhee and Song sparrow.
Fishery characteristics of Richardson Bay include a Pacific herring fishery and oyster beds. the herring fishing fleet serving all of San Francisco Bay is based in Richardson Bay at the Sausalito harbor. This herring fishing is overseen by the California Department of Fish and Game; the herring population is in a downward trend, although not from excessive fishing pressure with the net techniques in use, but rather from ocean environmental factors. Herring spend most of their lives in the open ocean and come to Richardson bay and other estuaries for winter spawning in the shallow protected waters. In Richardson Bay their eggs attach to assorted surfaces such as eelgrass, piers or rip-rap. After the eggs hatch, the herring larvae consume plankton; before hatching the eggs are subject to predation by gulls at low tide and sturgeon and other assorted estuarine fauna at higher tides.
Regarding the oyster beds, an experimental program is underway as of 2006, in which foreign oyster shells (biologically inert) are bagged and emplaced in underwater locations to serve as larval substrates, in order to assist the native oysters in propagating. Locally oysters are preyed upon by the bat ray and certain crabs.
Mammals visiting Richardson Bay include the Harbor Seal, who hauls out on DeSilva Island and the Tiburon shore near the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary headquarters. The endangered species Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse is also thought to be present.
Flora include intertidal and upland species. Probably the most notable feature is the extensive eelgrass population at the tideland perimeter of Richardson Bay. This eelgrass occurrence in Richardson Bay is considered one of the most sizeable stands in Northern California, and it is also currently undergoing restoration, leading to further extent of this habitat. There is also an extensive pickleweed habitat at the western end of the bay, where many acres of mudflat areas are exposed to shorebirds at low tide at the efflux of Pickleweed Creek. Upland plants found at the perimeter of Richardson bay include toyon, coast live oak, California bay, and native California bunch grasses.
[edit] Sequence of modern events
After the death of William Richardson, who never really gained legal control of the land grant, the entirety of the Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio was owned by John Thomas Reed. Through the latter 19th century and early 20th century the land was extensively subdivided into public and private ownership encompassing hundreds of parcels fronting on Richardson Bay. the cities of Tiburon, Mill Valley, Belvedere and Sausalito have enacted strong shoreline development policies to protect the perimeter of Richardson Bay, even though considerable development has occurred. One parcel deeded from Reed to Rosie Verall, who worked for the Reed family is now the core of the Audubon Richardson Bay Sanctuary. Verall donated this land of approximately 13 acres to be held in permanent trust as a wildlife santuary. The Audubon Society purchased this upland parcel along with the entirety of the subtidal and intertidal lands of Richardson Bay in 1960. the Audubon Society manages the whole Richardson Bay Sanctuary subject to governance by the Joint Powers Agency of the four peripheral cities. The Lyford House built in 1876 occupies the Verall parcel, even though the house was originally built at a different location in the vicinity known as Strawberry Point. The house is furnished in period style and is presently used by the Audubon Society for special functions and events.
[edit] Channel and boating data
Richardson bay joins San Francisco Bay where the water depth becomes twenty feet, demarcated by a highly irregular boundary connecting the southern end of the Sausalito Marina with the southern tip of Belvedere, sometimes called Peninsula Point. At this line of demarcation the depth increases rapidly on the San Francisco Bay side, becoming 100 feet in depth almost immediately. This portion of San Francisco Bay is also known as Raccoon Straits, which possesses highly turbulent waters. While boating in Richardson Bay is limited to small sailing craft and kayaks due to limited draft available, the bay is closed entirely for several months of the year to provide protection for the ecological system.
[edit] Bibliography
- ↑ E. Clement Chute Jr. and Ailetta d'A. Belin Regulations Report fot Richardson Bay Special Area Plan, prepared for the Richardson Bay Special Area Plan, September, 1983
- ↑ 'Richardson Bay Area Transportation Study, prepared for Marin County by Harris and Associates, February 1,1977
- ↑ Robert Ryal Miller, Captain Richardson, Mariner, Ranchero, and Founder of San Francisco Berkeley: La Loma Press, 1995 [Call number at SSU: Regional Room F869 .S353 R546 1995]
- ↑ Arthur Clayton Smith, Introduction to the natural history of the San Francisco Bay Region. Berkeley:University of California Press, 1959. Ref Wild Calif QH105.C2 S55 1959.
- ↑ Courtney Buechart, Todd Olson, Margaret Schaeffer et al., Checklist of birds of the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary, National Audubon Society (1996)
[edit] External links
- Richardson Bay Audubon Center
- Richardson Bay Boating and Map Information
- Richardson Bay Aerial Photo from Google Maps
- Richardson Bay Topographic Map from Topozone
- Discussion of the term Important Bird Area
- San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission Richardson Bay Special Area Plan
