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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

August 8, 2003

Environmental groups join casino fight

News: Front News

The 2,000 acres surrounding the intersection of Highway 37 and Lakeville Road has seen its share of skirmishes between developers and open-space advocates.

Due largely to county zoning and state environmental regulations, development - including a waterfront subdivision, county dump and industrial park - has been kept out, and thousands of acres of wetlands have been quietly restored with $600 million of public funds.

Concerns regarding the potential destruction of wetlands, the threat to rare and endangered species and wildlife habitat, increased pollution and limited freshwater resources in the area have drawn these groups together in a united front.

"We don't want our efforts to be destroyed by this project," said Barbara Salzman, president of the Marin Audubon Society and a boardmember of No Las Vegas in the North Bay. "We call upon the Indians of Graton Rancheria to withdraw this proposal."

Larry Fahn, national president of the Sierra Club, said he was impressed by the coalition of environmental groups and he spoke on the importance of the land itself.

"(These wetlands) are more than beautiful," Fahn said. "They are bountiful. There are many other lands in California that are suitable for development, but these are environmentally fragile."

The proposed casino development would seriously compromise efforts under way to restore the wetlands, Fahn added.

"As citizens we have an obligation to protect these resources," Fahn said. "This project would be detrimental to San Pablo Bay restoration and a vital part of a safe, healthy bay will be gone forever."

The joint environmental resistance to a tribal project is unique, Fahn added, but may be the beginning of what could become common.

"This is the first one where environmental groups are fighting a particular site," Fahn said.

However, he added that he's hoping to work cooperatively with the tribe. Through the Sierra Club, Fahn has worked numerous times with Native Americans protecting sacred lands throughout the country from mining and sprawl.

"We have a long history of working with and for the self-sufficiency of Native Americans," Fahn added. "We have to draw a line here, to protect wetlands and baylands. We urge the tribe to seek an alternative to this devastating process."

Wetland preservation is also a high priority for the Audubon San Francisco Bay Restoration Program, said its representative, Susan DeVico.

"The 2,000 acres are a terribly environmentally sensitive area and have been already identified that they can be restored," said DeVico.

The restoration project is the largest in the United States, according to Marc Holmes of the Bay Institute, and the proposed casino rests right in the middle.

"It's in the heart of the restoration area," Holmes said. "It should not be here. It's an entirely inappropriate location and was ill-conceived from the outset."

The area has been the target of preservation for more than 30 years, said Kelly Brown of the Greenbelt Alliance.

"We are concerned with the growth-inducing impacts," Brown said, "the widening of highways 37 and Lakeville will increase development pressures and jeopardize millions of dollars of public investment."

The groups officially joining the casino opposition included Audubon San Francisco Bay Restoration Program, Bluewater Network, Greenbelt Alliance, Madrone Audubon Society, Marin Audubon Society, Marin Conservation League, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, Sierra Club, Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, Marin Group of the Sierra Club, Sonoma Conservation Action, Valley of the Moon Alliance, WaterKeepers Northern California, West Marin Conservation Alliance, the Bay Institute and Sonoma Ecology Center.

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