Postscript : Buena Vista Lagoon Islands Still Barren

In 1983, the state completed a $1-million project to dredge the silt-choked Buena Vista Lagoon and form four small islands out of the gooey gumbo lining the bottom of the wetland.

As local and state officials envisioned it then, nature would soon ring the man-made islands with a pleasing mix of lush natural vegetation--cattails, tules and other flora.

They’re still waiting.

After three years, the islands are still mostly bare. Nearby residents have grown impatient, griping that the islands look like oversized mud clods jutting from the waters of the lagoon. One local wag even compared the dirt piles in Buena Vista to infamous Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

Such grousing, however, hasn’t deterred the enthusiasm of state and local naturalists. They say the project achieved its prime goal: to clear the silt that threatened to clog the lagoon.

“The islands represent a successful project,” said Ron Wootton, president of the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation. “Probably a lot of the lagoon would have been dry by now if the dredging wasn’t done. But many people don’t appreciate that. All they see is lumps of mud out there.”

Indeed, Wootton and other lagoon stewards contend that the environmental beauty of the islands is in the eye of the beholder.

Several species of birds--among them the endangered California least tern--have found the islands habitable, even nesting in the hard-pan soil, according to Earl Lauppe, wildlife management supervisor for the state Department of Fish and Game.

The islands make prime nesting grounds because they’re inaccessible to predators. Birds such as terns scoop out a hollow in the earth and lay their eggs. If the nests are built on the shoreline, they become easy targets for everything from cats to coyotes.

“I know there are a few folks concerned because of the aesthetics,” Lauppe said. “But that isn’t our principal goal. We’re concerned first with the preservation of natural resources. Aesthetics come second.”

Nonetheless, state and local officials concede that the islands do need some work, both to make them more habitable for birds and more visually acceptable to humans.

Recently, state officials agreed to budget $90,000 to place a coat of sand on the two largest islands and plant new vegetation.

The project, which is still in the planning stages and probably won’t begin until at least mid-1987, will make it easier for least terns to dig nests on the islands, according to Lauppe. Since the terns typically nest along the beachfront, the sand will more closely match their traditional habitat.

Aside from advantages for our feathered friends, the work should make the islands more palatable to residents and motorists who buzz by the lagoon on the crisscross of highways that ring its shores.

“I don’t think there’s any question the islands will be more aesthetically pleasing,” Wootton said. “But by the same token, they’re not going to look like a park.”

Wootton said future plans call for construction of a public access area at Jefferson Street and Marron Road, where visitors will be able to feed the ducks that flock in the shallow wetland. An existing access along Jefferson Street has been a problem due to a dearth of parking and troubles with motorists speeding along the nearby thoroughfare.

Even if the planned improvements don’t prove perfect, Lauppe said residents should practice patience. Mother Nature works slowly.

“I think we have to let nature take more time in trying to heal the scar,” Lauppe said. “People get very impatient. The lagoons have been there for a long time and I hope they will be there for a long time to come. This is an intermediate thing.”