PROTECT OUR BIRDS AND WILDLIFE WITH THESE RECOMMENDATIONS AND UNDERSTANDING THE LAWS THAT PROTECT BIRDS AND WILDLIFE FROM:
BIRD FRIENDLY TREE AND SHRUB TRIMMING GUIDELINES 
LOS ANGELES AUDUBON SOCIETY:

English bird-friendly-tree-trimming-guidelines.pdf

Spanish   guide_to_bird__friendly_-_spanish.pdf ​

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Special thanks to Rebekah for hosting 
MULTI-AGENCY MEETING IN MARCH 2021 ON ARROYO CORTE MADERA DEL PRESIDIO CREEK IN MILL VALLEY 
Rebekah Helzel
·  ·  This is what collaboration to protect our streams looks like.!!! This week Laura Chariton, Watershed Alliance of Marin, www.watermarin.org, gathered several agencies in Mill Valley. Calif. Department Fish and Wildlife Wardens, with responsibilities across several counties, showed up in force(wildlife.ca.gov). Their vast Habitat protection and Fish management duties include regulating our streams. Protection of the threatened steelhead is the primary reason no fishing is allowed in our Streams. Our Mayor Sashi McEntee, MVPD Chief Rick Navarro and Public Works hero Dante Rovero play key roles in the protection of our streams. Dante is also the city' s rep. for MCSTOPP. MVPD is responsible for enforcing the regulation, while educating those who violate them. Our Public Works Dept. focus includes the prevention of pollutants flowing into the Streams. Betsy Bikle, StreamKeepers (millvalleystreamkeepers.org) is a local expert on the Streams. For many years she has worked with High School students and volunteers to teach them about our precious habitats.
Working across multiple agencies and with volunteer organizations can be challenging. Together they worked through a number of issues on protocols, regulation and enforcement. It was an impressive cooperative effort with clear results and alliances.
My husband and I continue to learn from Laura and Betsy, including what we can do (and importantly what not do) as new homeowners living on one of the Streams. We have lived in Mill Valley for 40 years and knew very little about the threatened fish species, spawning and permit process in place to protect against harmful activities. The Watershed Alliance of Marin, Mill Valley StreamKeepers and the Calif. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife have detailed information on their websites.
We encourage you to learn more about this important part of our town and surrounds, volunteer, share and donate. The streams and wildlife in and around them are part of what makes this such a special place to live.
We want to express our deep gratitude for all of these agencies and volunteers who protect them.


Watershed Damage, Excessive Vegetation Removal - not a good idea when there is free information & help available

Housing development and road projects that fail to get proper approvals before land development will be subject to review by Marin County Code Enforcement, Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (MCSTOPPP), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board and numerous other agencies charged with protecting our watercourses and wildlife.  No one wants to  get caught doing damage when there are opportunities for best management practices (BMP). 

The permitting process for projects has been made easier at Marin County with a one stop approach to permitting information. 
For properties with streams and watercourses there are a few avenues of obtaining free, project specific information.  

The Monthly  Project Coordination meetings put on by MCSTOPPP are a perfect opportunity to obtain specific information for the developer or homeowner. 

Additionally, the Resource Conservation District  has a brilliant landowner friendly referral service of assessing your issues in a non-regulatory manner on site.   Much information is provided.
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In Mill Valley California in both City and County jurisdictions we are noticing that several construction developers have cleared large sections of their property of vegetation and trees prior to receiving any authorization or permitting for development. Some have constructed roads without permits.   Many of these projects have not even gone through basic environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act.   As a result of these activities and lack of BMP, water quality and soil stability will be degraded during the rains affecting downstream residents and wildlife. 

We are monitoring these projects and apprising the relevant agencies of the environmental  issues created.  Some of the work includes clearing vegetation, exposing bare soils and disturbing wildlife and birds during nesting season which goes from mid February through mid August.  

The ramifications of these activities will require mitigation to correct. We are asking that landowners who do this in an attempt to avoid regulations and before environmental review  are creating more problems for themselves and their neighbors. 

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