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Conservationists Rush to Save Endangered Species in Redwood Creek Watershed

Conservationist Groups Rush to Save Endangered Coho Salmon and Northern Spotted Owls in Biodiversity Hot-Spot in Redwood Creek Watershed

Marin County’s processing of a proposal to develop up to four luxury single-family homes, four Accessory Dwelling Units and four Junior units on dedicated open space land in the Dipsea Ranch violates environmental protections under CEQA.The Dipsea Ranch proposed development site is an environmentally significant property in the same watershed as Mount Tamalpais State Park and Muir Woods National Monument. The proposed housing development threatens wildlife, habitat and public safety.

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In 1992, the Tamalpais Community Plan designated 8.29 acres of land in the Dipsea Ranch as protected open space. The property is bounded by 1500 feet of significant headwater creeks. It is connected to Mount Tamalpais State Park through an undeveloped parcel owned by the same developer, and it is entirely within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). The Redwood Creek watershed is internationally recognized, by the United Nations, as a biodiversity hotspot of wildlife habitat, containing endangered Coho Salmon, Red Legged Frogs, Northern Spotted Owls and a multitude of other species.

Salmon habitat recovery is currently a priority of multiple public land and wildlife agencies. NOAA (the National Marine Fisheries Service) and California Fish and Wildlife have spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars creating recovery plans, guidelines and projects for Central Coast Coho and Steelhead.These projects include the multi-million-dollar restoration at Muir Beach and of riparian habitat in Muir Woods National Monument, directly downstream of this property.

150 community members, the “Friends of Muir Woods Park,” Watershed Alliance of Marin, and Sierra Club Marin Group, have appealed the County Planning Commission’s approval of a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Tentative Map Subdivision (dated July 27, 2020). This approval was based, in part, on unexplainable, glaring errors by the developer in his favor, without adequate consideration of the significant, unmitigated environmental impacts. Therefore, the County’s decision to not prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), is without factual or legal justification.


There will be an appeal hearing before the Marin County Board of Supervisors on this item on October 6, 2020.

Please CLICK HERE to sign our petition


The issues:

The Sierra Club Marin Group and Watershed Alliance of Marin have requested that the County comply with CEQA by preparing an EIR that would clearly and scientifically provide disclosure of impacts based on facts, not speculation and unsupported assumptions. Community members in “Friends of Muir Woods Park” are demanding that the illegal roadwork be removed and that further subdivision and development be prevented by requiring deed restrictions.

Environmental organizations and the community support District Attorney Lori Frugoli’s request for hiring an Environmental Investigator, as other counties have done, to provide the County with the tools it needs for an adequate evaluation of environmental impacts and to ensure enforcement of local, state and federal environmental laws.


Please support protection of the Dipsea Ranch property in open space.


Media Contact:

Laura Chariton, Watershed Alliance of Marin, watermarin@comcast.net