Point Buckler Island: Rescuing a keystone of the California Delta

Point Buckler lies in an area where the fresh water of the Sacramento River and its tributaries surrender to the salty water of the Bay and the Pacific Ocean This mostly flat mostly barren dollop of marshland perched on the edge of Suisun Bay might not look like much but the vitality of the Bay is riding on the Delta island s acres of decaying vegetation Related Articles Walkabout Bay Area island hikes well worth the trek gorgeous Bay Area waterside restaurants to discover Here are films set on Bay Area islands Which one is your favorite Treasure Island Hidden art and a historic trial among its glorious past and future Visiting Alcatraz These dazzling birds are worth the price of admission For the last decade Point Buckler Island has been embroiled in a battle involving county state and federal regulators At issue was what several state personnel call egregious environmental violations and the actions by its owner entrepreneur and former America s Cup competitor John Sweeney to turn a completed tidal wetlands project into a playground complete with new levees helipads restrooms and a lounge for the ultra wealthy Point Buckler Island owner John Sweeney walks along the levee near Bay Point Calif on Wednesday March In January the island was auctioned to the nonprofit John Muir Land Truston Kristopher Skinner Bay Area News Group That chapter ended in January when the island was sold at an auction on the Solano County Courthouse strategies Its new owner the nonprofit John Muir Land Trust hopes the island will build a connection to the future Researchers who assessment the Great California Delta see the marshland islands as a crucial part of a connected evolving and continuous estuary that affects not only the vitality and welfare of marine life but life on the lands that extend far beyond For centuries Northern California s snow-fed rivers have made their way to the ocean flowing mostly unimpeded through the Delta into Suisun Bay through the Golden Gate and out to the Pacific But the water flows both solutions with the ocean tides causing ebbs and flows in the inland waters The islands were formed naturally by the sediment and material coming down the river says John Callaway UC San Francisco professor emeritus and former lead scientist for the Delta Stewardship Council It built up freshwater marshes wetlands with rivers flowing through them The islands teemed with life as fish determined food sources and safe places to spawn and mammals and birds made homes there That system began to change after the Gold Rush As greater part miners failed to hit the mother lode and their gold fever cooled countless turned back to their previous professions farming and uncovered that the islands of the Delta contained a different type of gold in the form of rich loamy soil People realized the soils were highly productive for farmland Callaway says as long as they got the water off And so was born the levee system more than miles of earthen structures that dominate the Delta and surrounding lands By keeping the river water away farmers could cultivate crops and communities could grow That was great for humans but the effect on the Delta and the animals who live there was immediate The once free-flowing water to the marshland was cut off leaving fish with fewer safe places and food sources The changes have proved disastrous for migratory fish such as the salmon that spawn in freshwater but live majority of of their lives in saltwater Crisscrossed by levees Point Buckler Island is akin to a giant cork that is stopping the flow The channels through the island are blocked and the vegetation so major to both marine and mammal life is dying California has the unfortunate distinction Callaway says of having lost the the greater part wetland acreage of any state in the continental United States About percent of wetlands here have been lost to urban and commercial advance and agriculture The John Muir Land Trust was deep into its restoration of nearby Pacheco Marsh and further upstream Bethel Island s Hoover Ranch when Point Buckler Island went on the block Having dipped a toe in wetlands restoration the trust was ready for another project says executive director Linus Eukel especially one as key to the habitat as Point Buckler Peter Baye a consultant working for authorities researchers walks near the shore of Point Buckler Island in the Delta near Bay Point Calif on Wednesday March Kristopher Skinner Bay Area News Group The island s past is as brackish as the water that surrounds it Point Buckler already appeared on wetlands survey maps as a completed tidal marsh project in but Sweeney who bought the island seven years later alleges not to have known it was protected He originally planned to build a private duck hunting club there but after bringing friends to the island for kiteboarding he pivoted to plans for a private kiteboarding club for the wealthy He built helicopter pads and brought in shipping containers to convert into buildings He hurriedly ran afoul of the California Water Board the Bay Conservation and Progress Commission and other agencies which accused him of environmental atrocities and violations of the Clean Water Act among other things In dispute was a levee that surrounds the island Sweeney reported he had only repaired the existing levee state and county authorities noted he had built a new levee and dike With fines rising to more than million and Sweeney facing jail time for contempt of court an order was made to auction the island to someone who would restore it In late January Point Buckler was purchased by the Land Trust for million Regime researchers survey Point Buckler Island in the Delta near Bay Point Calif on Wednesday March Kristopher Skinner Bay Area News Group Eukel says it will cost far more than that to return the island to its former state but adds that it will be worth it Callaway says Point Buckler is a keystone in the overall soundness of the estuary and the surrounding Bay Area Its place in the Suisun Bay means it will be the last sanctuary for fish heading toward the ocean a place where they can find food rest and a spawning place These islands are an indicator of the overall vitality of the entire watershed and ecosystem Callway says Those ecosystems provide marine life habitat but also provide flood protection and reduce contaminants The more we can protect those ecosystems the better