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San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
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San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Bldg 505 -zuar & 1 Street
Vallejo, 94592
National
Park Overview
The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge lies along the north shore of San Pablo Bay in Sonoma, Solano and
Napa Counties in northern California. The refuge includes open bay/tidal marsh, mud flats and
seasonal and managed wetland habitats.
The Napa-Sonoma marshes in San Pablo Bay have been greatly impacted by human activities such as hydraulic mining, salt production, water diversions and
diking, draining and
filling for agricultural and industrial uses. About 85 percent of the historic tidal marshes of San Pablo Bay have been altered, negatively affecting the ability of the remaining tidal marshes to accept winter rainfall and purify water in the bay.
The refuge provides critical migratory and wintering habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl, particularly diving ducks and
provides year-round habitat for endangered, threatened and
sensitive species like the California clapper rail, salt marsh harvest mouse, California black rail, San Pablo song sparrow and
Suisun shrew.
Numerous other threatened, endangered and
sensitive species require tidal marsh habitat for their survival, including 11 fish species that swim through San Pablo Bay to reach their fresh water spawning grounds.
History of the Area
Less than 150 years ago, the Napa-Sonoma marshes surrounding San Pablo Bay comprised one of the most extensive wetland systems along the Pacific coast. This system provided habitat for millions of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds as well as resident wildlife. Plants specialized to live in aquatic habitats grew bountifully, sheltering and feeding a rich diversity of species.
Rapid development of the area began with the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills in the 1850s. Hydraulic mining operations contributed huge amounts of sediment to the San Francisco Bay Estuary. For the next hundred years, the marshes were filled, diked, or drained to support the bays development as a major center of commerce.
Today, only 15% of the bays historic tidal lands remains. Since the 1960s, conservation agencies, non-profit organizations and
local grassroots efforts have worked to protect the Bay. Largely comprised of thousands of acres of tidelands leased from the California State Lands Commission, the refuges ultimate plans include protection and conservation of more than 20,000 acres of critical wildlife in northern San Pablo Bay.
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