By Susan P. Williams

Skaggs Island, a former Navy base in eastern Sonoma County that served as a communications center during the Cold War, provoked a tug of war recently between the Navy and the Department of the Interior. The two agencies tried to reach an agreement on terms for transferring the 3,300-acre base over to Fish and Wildlife for wetlands restoration—and failed. According to Fish and Wildlife’s Dave Paullin, the Department of the Interior thinks the Navy should be liable for any post-transfer contamination that may be discovered in the future, while the Navy does not want liability for unforeseen problems. Now with this issue unresolved, the two agencies have walked away from the deal, and the Navy is looking for another entity to take the property.

Skaggs Island is a keystone in North Bay wetlands restoration plans. It lies between two publicly-owned areas, the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge and the Napa-Sonoma Marsh Wildlife Area, where restoration projects are already underway. A restored Skaggs Island could enhance these other projects and complete a Bay marsh complex of more than 20,000 contiguous acres.
With so much at stake, the failed negotiations rankle environmentalists. “The situation is unconscionable,” says the Bay Institute’s Marc Holmes who adds, “The base closed in 1993, so the transfer issues could and should have been resolved years ago.” Save-the-Bay’s David Lewis says the problem is that the two agencies see the Skaggs agreement as a precedent for other Department of Defense property transfers. “But Skaggs is the wrong place to set a precedent,” he says, “because it’s so unlikely that Skaggs has undiscovered contaminants. A lot of folks are trying to get the two agencies to compromise.”

At this point, however, Skaggs Island’s future is uncertain. Navy spokesperson Ohene Gyapong is noncommittal: “[The Navy] is continuing discussions with appropriate California state agencies as well as conservation organizations that may be able to play a role in the restoration and management of the property.” Lewis fears that with Fish and Wildlife on the sidelines, and the Navy under pressure to dispose of the property, Skaggs Island could go to an organization that doesn’t plan to restore it, and “an opportunity could be lost.”

For more information contact: David Lewis, dlewis@savesfbay.org, (510) 452-9261 or Dave Paullin, david_paullin@fws.gov, (916) 414-6464.

Reprinted via the kind permission of ESTUARY, a bimonthly publication dedicated to providing an independent news source on Bay Delta water issues, estuarine restoration efforts and implementation of the S.F.Estuary Project’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). It seeks to represent the many voices and viewpoints that contributed to the CCMP’s development. ESTUARY is funded by individual and organizational subscriptions and by grants from diverse state and federal government agencies and local interest groups. Administrative services are provided by the S.F. Estuary Project and Friends of the S.F. Estuary, a nonprofit corporation. Views expressed may not necessarily reflect those of staff, advisors or committee members.