History of Novato

This short history of Novato was taken from: http://www.novatolivewell.org/nlw-pdfs/1-NCGC%20Proposal%203.18.08.pdf

"The hills and valleys of Novato were once the hunting grounds of Miwok Indians.
Their village located north of Novato, named Olompali, is now a State Historic Park.  In
1843, Olompali was granted to a Native American, Camilo Ynitia, who raised wheat
and became a successful cattle breeder.


In 1856, Francis DeLong and Joseph Sweetser formed a partnership and
bought Rancho de Novato.  Upon finding the climate favorable, the pair set out to plant
one of the largest orchards in the world.  Fruit grown in Novato was shipped throughout
the United States and to several other countries.
In 1879, Sweetser sold most of his share of the Novato Rancho to his partner, DeLong.
When Francis DeLong died in 1885, he left his estate to his son, Frank Coye DeLon

Most of the land that is the present day City of Novato was known as Rancho de Novato
and was originally granted to Fernando Feliz, who served in the Mexican Army.


The Home and Farm Company purchased the Black Point Ranch from Frank DeLong in
1888 and divided the 6,000 acres into lots and sold them as business and residential
sites. That was the "new town of Novato".
According to Jim McNern, a native of Novato and President of the Novato Historical
Guild, “Novato was an agricultural community with small dairies and chicken ranches
and orchards dotting the landscape”.

Today, most of those dairies, ranches and orchards are now subdivisions."

Hamilton Army Airfield Wetland Restoration

I found more information on the Hamilton Army Airfield Wetland Restoration project. These quotes are from the executive summary of the project.
"There are three project objectives: (1) create a diverse array of wetland and wildlife
habitats that benefit a number of threatened, endangered and other species, (2) reduce inwater disposal of dredged material and beneficially reuse dredged materials as feasible,
and (3) facilitate the base-closure and reuse process."

"Alternatives considered
1. No action
Under the No Action Plan, a Federal project would not be constructed to restore habitat in
the study area boundaries. Pumps would continue to remove runoff water from the
airfield. The environmental benefits of the proposed project would not be realized.
2. Natural Sedimentation to restore Wetlands at the Airfield and Navy Ballfields
This would result in 668 acres of habitat.  Once outboard levees are breached, tidal
sedimentation would fill the tidal portions of the project.
3. Reuse of Dredged Material to restore Wetlands at the Airfield and Navy Ballfields
This would result in 668 acres of habitat.  Dredged material would used to accelerate
marsh establishment and raise elevations for seasonal wetlands.
4. Natural Sedimentation to restore Wetlands at the Airfield, Navy Ballfields, and
SLC Property
This would result in 988 acres of habitat.  Once outboard levees are breached, tidal
sedimentation would fill the tidal portions of the project.
5. Reuse of Dredged Material to restore Wetlands at the Airfield, Navy Ballfields
and SLC Property.
This would result in 988 acres of habitat.  Dredged material would used to accelerate
marsh establishment and raise elevations for seasonal wetlands."


"Selected Plan
Alternative 5, Wetland Restoration at the Airfield, Navy Ballfields and SLC Property Via
Beneficial Reuse of Dredged Material, was selected because it creates a natural gradient
of habitats from upland through mudflat, without internal levees and water control
structures. The plan will restore 570 acres of salt marsh habitat, considered especially
valuable due to its scarcity, and benefit Federally listed threatened and endangered
species that depend on salt marsh habitat. This alternative offers the best option for
sustaining ecological functions over time and meets the habitat objective of 80 percent
tidal and 20 percent non-tidal habitats. 10.6 million cy of dredged material will be
beneficially reused to raise elevations to support the tidal and seasonal marsh restoration.
Both the Corps and the non-Federal sponsor, SCC, support Alternative 5 because it
maximizes environmental benefits and is most consistent with regional plans.
The plan includes infrastructure features, including perimeter levees, to support the
wetland habitat areas. To import dredged materials, a hydraulic off-loader mounted on a
barge would remove material from barges (scows) positioned in the off-loading area.
Dredged materials would then be transported through a pipeline in a water slurry onto the
site. The plan includes a moniring and adaptive management plan"

(http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/hamilton/summary.pdf)

About the Author

I've lived in Marin for my whole life, and in Novato for 8 years. Before that, I lived in Tiburon, Corte Madera, and currently also live in San Rafael. I enjoy being outdoors, especially backpacking, and my family goes on daily walks around Hamilton, which I sometimes join in on. However most of my time spent outdoors is not in Novato. My favorite animal has always been dogs, more specifically Golden Retrievers, and my favorite plants are oak and willow trees. I hope to see Hamilton smoothly finish the wetland restoration in the next year or so, as they are supposed to. It would be great to close full circle, since we are restoring the ecosystem that we originally destroyed. If someone were to visit Novato I would recommend hiking in Indian Valley at Deer Island, two beautiful, overlooked places in Marin County.

Hamilton Ecology Story: News Article

Hamilton Airfield runway restoration work ends

By Mark Prado
Marin Independent Journal

Posted: 03/18/2011 05:26:17 PM PDT

Work that put the equivalent of half a million dump trucks' worth of slushy soil on the old Hamilton Airfield has been finished, marking a milestone in the massive wetlands restoration project in Novato.

"It was completed earlier this month," said Tom Gandesbery, project manager for the state Coastal Conservancy. And the work is already paying environmental dividends.

"We are seeing more birds come to the area," Gandesbery said.

Ruddy ducks, hawks and egrets are visiting the area, but work on the $104 million project is not quite done. About 250 acres of the 700-acre site still needs to be contoured to create pools, and other areas will be planted with native vegetation. A 2.5-mile Bay Trail segment that runs along the perimeter of the airfield is also planned. Most critically, the levee holding back San Pablo Bay water will be breached. That will allow bay water to rush back into the area, helping return hundreds of acres of vital, ecologically rich wetlands that were choked to death more than a century ago as land was diked for farming.

That could occur as soon as October 2012.

"The big thing will be the breaching," said Dick Wayman, conservancy spokesman. "That will allow the tidal bay action to return."

On Thursday the conservancy board approved $4 million to pay for the final work that completed the sediment work on the runway. The state Wildlife Conservation Board will reimburse the conservancy.

The airfield has received about 6 million cubic yards of sediment since material began arriving at the site in 2008, covering it in 4 to 7 feet of mud. The majority of the dredged material came from the Port of Oakland — with a smaller amount from other bay ports — through a system of temporary barges and pipes that sent the slurry some seven miles to Hamilton. That system is now being dismantled.

The military decommissioned the base in 1974 and ballfields, a polo field and even a skate park were bandied about as potential uses for the airfield over the years. But a cadre of environmental groups and state agencies, led by the Coastal Conservancy, were determined to return the area to what it used to be.

Planners studied old maps from the 1800s, historic photos and dated drawings for a better understanding of what was at the airfield before the landscape was changed.

In the North Bay, up until the mid-19th century, there were some 55,000 acres of wetlands, providing ideal conditions for migrating waterfowl, a nursery for a variety of fish species and an incubator for plants. A potent mix of wetlands — tidal marshes, tidal flats, vernal pools, streams and creeks — provided optimal conditions for a myriad of plant and animal life.

As people settled nearby, they saw the areas of shallow water as locales where water could be diked and drained and the area reclaimed for agriculture and housing.

As the wetlands dried up, so did the number of species. Legions of fish, California clapper rail, brown pelicans, California black rail, salt marsh harvest mice, red-legged frogs, snowy egrets and great blue herons were lost, and today many are listed as endangered.

When the land was diked, it not only dried but constricted as well. The sediments from Oakland were needed to raise the ground surface of the site to a level near sea level.

"I heard it is done, it's spectacular news," said Barbara Salzman, president of Marin Audubon. "I can't wait to see the tidal action come in once the levee is breached."

(http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_17647463?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com)

I was very interested by this story because for a while in the immediate past, I would see a lot of trucks driving towards the marshes but I could never see what they were actually doing, until one day I walked up Ammo Hill, looked down and saw new marsh I had never seen before. I'm also very interested in Hamilton's history as an Air Force Base during WWII, and to me, that's all the history of Hamilton was. I never thought about what it looked like here before the Air Force base, but I'm glad to see that we made efforts/ are still making efforts to restore what it used to be. These wetlands will be very beneficial to this areas biodiversity, and will bring back marine species that live in wetlands, as well as many other animals. 

Strawberry Challenge!

I wish that I had more to say about my strawberry plant than I do. I admit that it may not have been watered as much as it should have been, but I believe that it did so well because of significant rains we've had in the past month or so. My plant was outside in almost full sunlight the entire time it was with me. It was watered once every two days, and occasionally watered daily.

It took my plant a long time to actually produce any strawberries. For the first week or two it just grew at a slow pace, until a couple flowers showed up. All of a sudden there were 8 flowers, but then it slowed down again as it grew the strawberries. It took from the time the plant bloomed (about a week in) until a couple days ago for a full strawberry to grow. I ate that strawberry and it tasted delicious. There are still 7 strawberries on my plant that are growing, although one is almost done and became a little deformed in the process.

A challenge of this project was knowing how to take care of a plant. This was a new experience for me, and going into it I knew that different plants need different treatment, but I had no idea what kind of treatment a strawberry plant needed. I just chose to put my plant in direct sunlight and water it as much as I could - which was ideally once a day. This of course did not happen as I did not water it daily, but it still survived and flourished. At the end of this project, I researched what conditions are ideal for a strawberry, and a gardening website told me to put it in direct sunlight with minimal wind. My plant was in direct sunlight next to a fence that blocked almost all of the wind, so this may have been a reason that it was so successful. (http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_february_2_strawberry.asp)

Community Information

Come to Novato!

Are you a goat looking for a great place to settle down? Not enough hay and moss where you live? Do you need more food to snack on, and room to stretch your legs? Come to Novato! Not only do we have seemingly endless amounts of uninhabited space, but we have goat food galore! Our surplus of Oak trees grow plenty of moss on them, which I know you goats favor. There is also enough shrubs and weeds for you to munch on for years without pause. Look at this happy goat chewing on some fresh grass. Or at this smiling Novato resident posing in front of her barn. This cute baby goat moved to Novato, and is getting along quite well with her neighbors.
Whether you are looking for a place to settle down, or a temporary place to rest from your travels, Novato is the place to be if you are a goat! Come see for yourself what the excitement is all about!

Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur Cycle

Carbon Cycle

Sulfur Cycle
 

Nitrogen Cycle

Phosphorus Cycle

All of these cycles tie back to the Law of Conservation of Matter, which states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. In each one of these diagrams, the matter is being moved through a cycle, not being destroyed and recreated. One example of one of these cycles in Novato is right near Hamilton where a large group of dairy cows live. There is a big green field with a lot of cows (you may have seen it, it is on the side of the freeway). These cows contribute to the nitrogen cycle, because they eat grass, which contains nitrogen, then it travels through them and they release it in their waste, where it again enters the ground and is taken up by plants, and the cycle restarts.

Images:
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/images/carboncycle_sm.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs109-03/images/fig6.jpg
http://www.kidsgeo.com/images/nitrogen-cycle.gif
http://whoooaaa.wikispaces.com/file/view/phosphorus-cycle.jpg/185445119/phosphorus-cycle.jpg

Ecological Services of Wetlands

This small picture is what most of the marshes in Hamilton look like:

(http://mapping2.orr.noaa.gov/portal/sanfrancisco
bay/sfb_html/pics/hamilton_overview.jpg)

Here are several reasons that wetlands are beneficial, according to the EPA:

1. Wetlands yield fish for the nation. They serve as spawning grounds for many fish.

2. Wetlands provide recreational opportunities, such as hunting, bird watching, and photography.

3. Wetlands improve water quality. They filter out pollutants that would otherwise enter water sources.

4. Wetlands help control floods. They hold a lot of water (around 12 inches per acre) during storms. 

(http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/facts/fact4.html)

The wetlands in Hamilton definitely help to do all of these things as well. 

Native and Nonnative Species

Although it was really hard to find any information on native/ nonnative species in Novato, i wanted to learn about the importance of native species, so I read the below articles:


"As open space disappears, it becomes increasingly necessary to look at our own landscapes as a refuge for biodiversity. Native organisms including plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, and insects create an intricate web of life. This is a wonderful natural orchestration with each species’ life cycle highly dependent on the others.

For example: Spring wild flowers are pollinated by and provide nectar to tiny flies. These flies become food for early spring birds. The timing is orchestrated perfectly. It is not a coincidence that the local native plants have seeds and berries ready just when the birds need them. Bird droppings are the best way to get their seed dispersed. Plants and animals that have evolved together depend upon each other for survival.

Unfortunately, native plants, a vital part of the natural web of life, are being lost at an alarming rate. Removing a certain native plant from the landscape will likely remove the insect that feeds on that plant, which in turn may eradicate the bird that feeds on that insect. And this is just a simplified example. The loss of a species can quickly escalate to affect an entire ecosystem. To paraphrase Paul Ehrlich, author of Native Plants: Relationship of Biodiversity to the Function of the Biosphere, removing native species from an ecosystem is like taking rivets out of an airplane wing; it is impossible to know which one will be the last one that was holding the whole thing together." (http://nativeplantsocietyneohio.org/importance.htm)

Another source gave me information on nonnative species: 

"When non-native species from other ecosystems are introduced, they can upset that balance and bring harm to the established plants and animals, and the whole ecosystem.   Non-native species come from somewhere else and they are not natural to the ecosystem they have been introduced to.  They may be harmless and beneficial in their natural surroundings, but they can totally devastate different environments.  When alien species enter into an ecosystem, they can disrupt the natural balance, reduce biodiversity, degrade habitats, alter native genetic diversity, transmit exotic diseases to native species, and further jeopardize endangered plants and animals.  When there are no established natural controls, such as predators to keep the non-native harmful species in check, there can be a population explosion of the invasive non-native species causing an ecological catastrophe." (http://www.eco-pros.com/invasive_non-native_species.htm)

Hikes

My two hiked were pretty similar, although I went to different places. Hamilton is a small area, and things generally look the same everywhere. The first day was a warm sunny day, approaching sunset. I walked out on a path that runs behind the houses, which all have very similar backyards with potted plants and small fields. The hill to my right was covered with fresh grass, and it looked like it looks every spring, with new California poppies and other flowers growing, and the grass becoming green again. This picture is from my first hike (the tree is an Oak tree, which are very common in Hamilton/ Novato):

My second hike was by Ammo Hill. This manmade hill has a flat top, with bunkers built into it. It is in the area where the marsh restoration project is going on, so the wildlife has improved significantly over the last few years. There is a path designated for walking, as well as a concrete road (used by work trucks working on the marsh restoration) that form a loop around a marsh for walking. The marsh/ area looks similar to the grass in the picture above, but a little more swamp-like. My walk was calm, there was almost no noise. I saw an owl, which is not an uncommon thing in this area, as there are plenty of mice. 

Animals in Novato!

(http://www.cabap.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/foodweb.gif)

This food web is not entirely specific to Novato, but it is fairly accurate. Other consumers that are not shows here are coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons. Raccoons have become a problem in Marin, and have strayed from there normal diet of invertebrates, plant material, and the occasional bird or small mammal and now often eat human garbage along with other foods. Novato has many jack rabbits, deer, squirrels, mice and turkey.

Soil and Geology

Most of the vegetation in the area of Novato I live in (Hamilton) is bay marsh and wetlands, as it is right next to San Pablo Bay. This land was used as an Air Force Base, so there is a man made hill with hidden bunkers. This is mostly covered in grass, and the area has plenty of oak trees. The soil on this hill and around a lot of Hamilton is very dry and hard. People amend their soil in order to grow their gardens, because most of the soil is not ideal to grow anything in. Novato's soil overall is richer than that of Hamilton's.

Geology:
The San Andreas Fault line runs through San Francisco and the bottom of Marin, through Point Reyes. Over time, all land left of the fault line will shift north (moving approximately 2 inches a year). See this picture to see how the San Andreas fault is able to shift the land.  However, Novato is on the right side, so it will gradually move south. This has been occurring for many many years, so the land around Novato has been constantly changing, and will continue to change in the future. Hamilton has always been a pretty flat area, excluding the man made hill, called "Ammo Hill" and one other small hill.

Sources: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1127/chapter1.pdf
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/3126130459_e642be0405.jpg

Interview with my Dad

How has the landscape changed?

The biggest change is the return of the wetlands, because when I was a kid it was an airforce base. On top of that, the biggest developments were the turning of the military housing into a luxury housing development. There's been a lot of development in northern Novato as well.

What animals/plants have come and gone?

The one animal I've noticed that has disappeared in the last few years was a frog that used to live in the wetlands. Besides the change in the marsh lands, most plants have remained pretty much the same.

How has traffic and population changed?

Population has increased greatly. Novato has had one of the greatest population increases in
Marin County, because of more room for development. There's been much more traffic. Traffic was the worst in Marin until they opened another lane, which allows for more cars with more efficiency.

What policies have been put into place to regulate growth?

There are policies in western Novato about open space that prevent growth to a certain extent, I'm not sure the full details of this though.

What is your favorite thing about your town? Why?

Probably a combination of great running trails and having convenient stores such as Cosco closeby.

Climate and Air Quality!

Novato has a mediterranean climate. This means that it has mild, cool winters and hot/ warm dry summers. Novato is fairly flat, and further away from the SF Bay than a lot of Bay Area cities, so there is not as much wind, and it is generally warmer. The below graph shows average high and average low temperatures for Novato. These averages are higher than San Francisco, Tiburon, and slightly lower than in San Jose.

This graph shows average rainfall per month, with the inches of rainfall listed above each bar. These are much higher than the average in San Jose slightly higher than San Francisco. They are much lower than Tiburon's which have averages around 9 inches for January and February, and around 7 inches in November and December.

This chart shows the air quality of Novato. PM2.5 is Particulate Matter Pollution, which are fine particles in the air. "Sources of fine particles include all types of combustion (motor vehicles, power plants, wood burning, etc.) and some industrial processes. Particles with diameters between 2.5 and 10 micrometers are referred to as "coarse". Sources of coarse particles include crushing or grinding operations, and dust from paved or unpaved roads."

"The pollutant 'bad' ozone forms near Earth's surface when the ultraviolet light in sunlight triggers a chemical reaction with "precursor pollutants" emitted by cars, power plants, and industrial sources. These precursor pollutants consist of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic hydrocarbons (VOC). Ozone near ground level is a harmful pollutant. Ozone levels are carefully monitored during the summer months when the weather conditions are perfect for it to form. Sunshine, hot temperatures, and high emissions of NOx and VOC pollutants lead to high levels of ozone."

(http://www.wunderground.com/resources/health/ozone.asp)

(http://www.wunderground.com/resources/health/pm.asp)

Sources : http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA0783

California Population Info

California Major Landforms
My House

Population of California = 36,961,664 (Jul 2009, U.S. Census Bureau)
Population of Bay Area = 7.15 million
Population of Novato = 52,311 (2009)

Population Change in Novato

Population growth has environmental effects because it demands a need for more houses and other buildings in order to support more people. Because of this, many plants and habitats are destroyed to make room for these houses. Where I live, Hamilton, used to be large marsh lands. They were filled in in order to build houses, and the area is now a suburban one. However, efforts are now being made to restore the marsh. In the time I've been living there, I've seen a large quantity of frogs killed. They used to be around everywhere at night when their homes were destroyed, and now they are nowhere to be found.