Features

East Bay park district to dedicate bird preserve

Daily Planet Wire Service
Saturday November 02, 2002

The East Bay Regional Park District will hold a dedication ceremony for the Waterbird Regional Preserve near Martinez on Saturday. 

The heart of the 198-acre preserve is the Al McNabney Marsh, situated on land owned by the park district and the Mountain View Sanitary District. 

The marshland is part of the Pacific flyway for migratory birds and home to many species of native waterfowl. The completion of the preserve is the result of restoration and rehabilitation of a habitat damaged by an environmental spill in 1988. 

The marsh is part of a larger wetlands area connected by Peyton Slough, which empties into Suisun Bay. 

Speakers at Saturday's ceremony are scheduled to include U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, state Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg, Contra Costa County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema, and Will Travis, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.