COS 79-6 - Bringing together science, policy, and community to improve conservation outcomes through the North Bay Baylands Regional Conservation Investment Strategy

Abstract: Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the North Bay Baylands (NBB) are made up of salt, brackish, and freshwater marshes, and adjacent upland habitats. This landscape provides habitat for a diverse assemblage of species, including many sensitive and protected species, and is critical stop over on the Pacific Flyway. The NBB also contains important transportation corridors that provide critical connections for the region. Both the natural and built environments are projected to be severely impacted by sea level rise. As a result, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, state and local transportation authorities, and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership are planning habitat and infrastructure improvements that aim to reduce infrastructure flooding hazards, relieve traffic congestion, and enhance recreational access, while increasing the resiliency of the overall natural landscape to climate change and sea level rise impacts. To facilitate this work, they are developing a Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) for the region. This presentation will review the components of the RCIS and describe how it is being used to improve ecological understanding and conservation outcomes.

The RCIS program is administered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and is designed to encourage regional planning for species and habitat conservation and enhancement. The NBB RCIS incorporates existing and projected future conditions to identify goals, objectives, and actions for species and habitats that can be used to guide conservation planning and decisions. This plan develops a region-wide conservation vision that integrates information from existing conservation plans and federal/state recovery plans with input from regional technical experts, regulatory agencies, other stakeholders, and the public. Once an RCIS is approved by CDFW, conservation actions can be developed into mitigation credit agreements, which can be used to fulfill project mitigation requirements.

Actions identified in the NBB RCIS could be integrated into design components of projects to reconnect and restore marsh and upland habitats throughout the NBB. Collaboration with partner organizations and agencies has been integral in identifying priority actions and locations. Implementation of RCIS actions will allow the tidal marsh landscape the opportunity to build resilience to sea level rise and flooding compatible with regional transportation improvements. As a regional planning vision, the NBB RCIS is a conceptual framework for improving climate resilience of tidal ecosystems in urban areas that could be used as an example for the greater San Francisco Bay Area and other coastal areas which also face these specific climate impacts.