Marin Audubon Purchased & restored property to Augment Petaluma Marsh Wildlife Area

Ducks now paddle where cattle once trod, thanks to the Bay Area's latest wetland restoration.
The new marsh is just north of Novato near the Redwood Sanitary Landfill on San Antonio Creek, a tributary of the Petaluma River. Dikes surrounding the former pasture were breached earlier this month.
Though it's only a few weeks old, the wetland already is attracting wildlife. On a recent blustery day, various shorebirds wheeled across the open water. A great blue heron stalked the shallows, and a northern harrier soared close to the newly planted shoreline vegetation.
The marsh, which is still undergoing restoration, is one of dozens of projects to restore the tidal marshes and seasonal wetlands that once ringed San Francisco Bay. About 80 percent of the Bay Area's wetlands, which once covered 300,000 acres, have been destroyed by development and agriculture.