South San Francisco Bay is the site of a major, on-going restoration project on the scale of the Everglades: the conversion of over 15,000 acres of former salt evaporation ponds to tidal marsh and other natural habitats. Pelican Media has been documenting this restoration via still photography since 2004, creating an archive and providing photos for educational outreach as well as monitoring purposes. The goal of the project is to create an on-going visual record of the largest habitat restoration project ever undertaken on the West Coast.
Wildlife, especially bird life, has been a special focus: shorebirds, ducks, and other water birds have already benefited from the improving conditions in the South Bay. We have also been documenting restoration activities such as levee breaches, recreational enhancements such as Bay Trail extensions, and improved flood control resulting from increased acreage in tidal marsh.
The salt pond habitat restoration stills project is funded by the Resources Legacy Fund and the Coastal Conservancy. Each year we provide approximately 30 of the best photos to a variety of nonprofit organizations and government agencies involved in the restoration, such as Save the Bay, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, CA Department of Fish & Game, CA Coastal Conservancy, SF Bay Joint Venture, and Center for Collaborative Policy, for their use in web sites, fliers, press releases, powerpoint presentations, exhibits, etc. Photos of certain locations before, during, and after restoration should prove to be particularly valuable in the future.
(Read about Pelican Media's short introductory film about salt pond habitat restoration.)