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Current Conservation Efforts

These are current issues that the Marin Chapter of CNPS is following, and may have submitted comments on, because of their potential impact on California native plants especially in Marin County.
The Martha Property Saved as Open Space

The Martha Property Saved as Open Space

Jan 30, 2025

By Eva Buxton, Conservation and Invasive Species Chair (retiring)
After half a century of preservation efforts, 110 acres of land at the tip of the Tiburon Peninsula is now public open space.

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Report to CNPS Membership on CNPS et al. v. MMWD

Report to CNPS Membership on CNPS et al. v. MMWD

Oct 30, 2024

By David Long, Co-President CNPS Marin Chapter The California Native Plant Society (CNPS), Marin Audubon Society, and Marin Conservation League (MCL) have challenged the approval by the Board of Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD, aka Marin Water) for e-bikes to...

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Articles Index

The Martha Property Saved as Open Space

By Eva Buxton, Conservation and Invasive Species Chair (retiring)
After half a century of preservation efforts, 110 acres of land at the tip of the Tiburon Peninsula is now public open space.

Case Against Marin Water’s Bicycle “Pilot Programs” Settled

By David Long, CNPS Marin Chapter Board Member In September 2024, CNPS, Marin Conservation League (MCL), and Marin Audubon Society brought an action against the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD, aka Marin Water) for approving, without CEQA* review, two pilot...

Report to CNPS Membership on CNPS et al. v. MMWD

By David Long, Co-President CNPS Marin Chapter The California Native Plant Society (CNPS), Marin Audubon Society, and Marin Conservation League (MCL) have challenged the approval by the Board of Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD, aka Marin Water) for e-bikes to...

Planning for Biodiversity in the Urban Corridor

by Paul da Silva

Marin County’s 1973 General Plan has been considered visionary and largely responsible for saving most of the County from the rampant development that has caused so much damage to the native plants and their ecosystems in California.

Tiburon Middle Ridge Open Space Parcel on the Radar Again

by Eva Buxton

Tiburon Middle Ridge composed of serpentine grassland and outcrops is the most biologically and ecologically valuable of the Town of Tiburon’s preserves (26 parcels in all). Tiburon hired consulting firm LSA Associates, Inc. to update the Open Space Resource Management Plan (OSRMP) which I co-authored for that same firm in 2010.   Although I am retired, I had the opportunity to accompany the authors of the plan update on a field visit to the Middle Ridge (MR) parcel and give input into the new plan.  The updated plan, the Short-term Implementation Plan (STIP), is being reviewed by Tiburon’s Parks, Open Space & Trails Commission. After review, comments, and possible revision it will eventually be adopted by the Tiburon Town Council.

Genetic Diversity

by Dr. Paul G. da Silva

As we humans have learned more about the world around us, we have become increasingly aware of complexities that were previously unknown. In the process, we have gained new insights that can help us protect our environment more effectively.

Bothin Marsh: A Test Case for Impacts of Sea Level Rise

by Eva Buxton and Ann Elliott

Sea level rise threatens to inundate Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve. Following studies of its geomorphology, ecology, and options for conserving the natural environment, public comments were invited on proposed plans for conserving the marsh and locating its multi-use trails.

Threat to Marin County Rare Species

by Doreen Smith, Vernon Smith, and Ann Elliott

In May 2002, Betty and Jack Guggolz, members of Sonoma County’s Milo Baker CNPS Chapter, discovered a large population of Contra Costa goldfields, Lasthenia conjugens (CNPS List 1B.1 and Federally Endangered) in a sheep pasture immediately east of Highway1 in north Marin County bordering Sonoma County at the Estero Americano.

Concerns About Milkweed and Monarch Butterflies

By Laura Lovett, Gardening with Natives Committee Chair

As recently as the 1980s, millions of monarch butterflies over-wintered at sites along the California coast, including in Marin. In recent years, citizen scientists have documented a plummeting population, now less than 3% of its historic size.

California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Vegetation Treatment Program Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report

Marin CNPS criticized the California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Vegetation Treatment Program Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for taking a one-size-fits-all approach to fire management that ignored the uniqueness of Marin’s Mt. Tamalpais’ great biodiversity.  The Chapter also identified a series of questions the EIR needs to address.

Marin County Parks and Open Space District Road and Trail Management Plan Draft Tiered Program Environmental Impact Report (DTPEIR)

Marin CNPS commented on a recent Draft Tiered Program Environmental Impact Report (DTPEIR) for the Road and Trail Management Plan prepared by Marin County Parks and Open Space District.  The Chapter praised aspects of the Plan that would reduce impacts on native plants and identified additional issues the DTPEIR needs to address.

Further comments and concerns were expressed in a letter sent by the Conservation Committee of the Marin Chapter of CNPS in 2015.