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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will host a public meeting Friday (May 30) at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., to solicit comments on its proposal to restore 1,500 acres on the Cullinan Ranch Unit of San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The meeting will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Mare Island Conference Center, 375 G Street, Mare Island, in Vallejo.

The Service and the California Department of Fish and Game are proposing a restoration plan for 1,500 acres of former hayfield farm land in the San Pablo Bay. This restoration project would combine tidal salt marsh habitat for endangered species, waterfowl, waterbirds, and fish and include features to increase public access to wildlife resources in San Pablo Bay while minimizing project-induced flood impacts to Highway 37.

Copies of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) are available on the Internet at: http://www.fws.gov/cno/refuges/cullinan/index.cfm  Members of the public who cannot attend the meeting can also forward their comments on the proposed project to Refuge Manager Christy Smith, 7715 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma, CA 94954 or by email: christy_smith@fws.gov.  The public comment period ends June 17, 2008.

 The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge lies along the north shore of San Pablo Bay in Sonoma, Solano, and Napa Counties in northern California. The refuge includes open bay/tidal marsh, mud flats, and seasonal and managed wetland habitats. The refuge provides critical migratory and wintering habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl, particularly diving ducks, and provides year-round habitat for endangered, threatened, and sensitive species like the California clapper rail, salt marsh harvest mouse, California black rail, San Pablo song sparrow, and Suisun shrew.

For more information about the project or public meeting, please contact Christy Smith at (707) 769-4200.