This year the Napa Group was awarded $5000 from the Rolhoff Bequest to partner with the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation (ACCPF) and provide educational materials on sea level rise. It will also demonstrate how the Sierra Club is working for the protection and preservation of San Francisco Bay. (Photo credit: Nick Cheranich)

This article describes what we’ve learned about the importance of local efforts to restore tidal wetlands in Napa County. The first opportunity to share these stories with our community took place at a trailside “pop-up” event on July 25 at Wetlands Edge trail in American Canyon. The event featured ACCPF’s trailside learning center, the “Outdoor Connection”.

Napa Group’s student intern, Paulina Zambrano, along with ExCom members Scott Thompson and Nick Cheranich, were at the event on a beautiful afternoon, helping happy hikers understand the importance of restoring the Wetlands in order to help combat climate change. (Photo credit: Nick Cheranich)

Wetlands Edge trail is an ideal location to provide information about the importance of restoring wetlands. It serves as a multi-use trail that winds its way along approximately 180 acres of restored tidal marsh wetlands and connects to the Napa River Bay Trail, part of the San Francisco Bay Trail, and is heavily used by residents of all ages (and their dogs!).

Joy Hilton, Education Program Director for ACCPF, wanted to showcase information from the Sierra Club’s Bay Alive campaign at Wetlands Edge because “so many people use the wetlands trails recreationally but don’t have a good understanding of why this is such a special place.” (Photo caption: Ribbon-cutting ceremony in May of the Outdoor Connection trailer. Photo credit: Nick Cheranich)

When we started gathering information to present, we spoke with Dani Zacky, the Chapter Organizer for the San Francisco Bay Chapter. Dani works on shoreline campaigns, and she provided information about the Club’s Bay Alive campaign. This program started in 2020 with a bequest from the Rohloff estate for the protection and preservation of San Francisco Bay. The Rohloff Bequest provides funds to the Loma Prieta, SF Bay, and Redwood Chapters, as well as Sierra Club California, for Bay protection.

Bay Alive is the region-wide Sierra Club campaign to protect and enhance Bay ecosystems and build community and regional resilience to sea level rise. Representatives of each of the three chapters that surround the Bay have formed the Three-Chapter Sea Level Rise Committee, headed by Arthur Feinstein, to work on regional advocacy. The Three-Chapter Committee hosted a webinar in May 2021 on Nature-Based Adaptation Strategies to address Sea Level Rise (SLR), which provided the historical background and the most promising ways to prepare our estuary and its surrounding communities. (Photo caption: American Canyon Wetlands. Photo Credit: Scott Thomason)

How Tidal Marshes Protect against Climate Change

Tidal marshes are needed now more than ever with the quickening rate of sea level rise caused by global warming. Warming atmospheric temperatures not only melt glaciers and ice sheets adding more water to our oceans, but they also cause ocean water to warm and expand, increasing the volume.

San Francisco Bay has risen 8 inches since the mid-1800s, increasing flood risk during big winter storms. Recent studies by the U.S. Geological Survey and other scientific organizations estimate that the bay will rise up to another 2 feet by 2050, and up to 5 feet or more by 2100.

Tidal marshes serve as a Nature-Based Adaptation to sea level rise by:

• Protecting against flooding by dampening wave action during storms—and to keep this protection we must allow space for marsh migration inland as sea level rises.
• Removing CO2 from the atmosphere--50% of CO2 stays sequestered in the soil (mud)
• Filtering out pollutants from groundwater--complex biogeochemistry removes excess nitrogen, metals, and complex pollutants (PCBs, pharmaceuticals, microplastics)

Tidal wetlands also provide other beneficial services that keep our estuary healthy (Photo credit: Nick Cheranich):

• Serve as a vital habitat for over 1,000 species of animals and plants
  • More than a million shorebirds and waterfowl use San Francisco pro habitat at the height of migration, and the area includes twelve spots designated as Important Bird Areas due to the high number of rare and endangered bird species as well as the sheer number of birds supported by the bay and surrounding wetlands.
  • American Canyon’s wetlands are part of the San Pablo Bay Wetlands, a Global Important Bird Area
• Provide natural open space to recreate for physical and emotional health
  • Especially important during the pandemic

So, get out and explore the beautiful American Canyon wetlands and appreciate their role in helping us adapt to the threats of a warmer world.