Vegetation Communities Report Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project, Golden Gate National Recreation Area/Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

Parsons, Lorraine; Allen, Leslie

This report provides background information regarding vegetation communities in the Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project area. The purpose of this report is to provide background information regarding vegetation communities, including sensitive ones such as wetlands, riparian areas, serpentine areas, and coastal prairies that might occur within the Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project Area. Point Reyes National Seashore (Seashore), a unit of the National Park Service (Park Service), will be preparing an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for this Project. Background information in this report will be used to guide development and assess potential environmental impacts of the Project. As part of the EIS/EIR, the Seashore must consider whether this Project could impact sensitive vegetation communities, as well as special status wildlife and plant species. This study addresses not only the Project Area, but areas adjacent to the Project Area (Study Area). Some preliminary mapping of vegetation communities within the Project Area occurred as part of the Seashore’s Park-wide mapping efforts during the late 1990’s. Additional vegetation mapping was performed in 2002-2003 within the Study Area to increase the resolution and scope of these preliminary mapping efforts. This information was used to determine the extent and location of sensitive vegetation communities such as wetland riparian areas, as well as rare Natural Communities designated by the California Natural Diversity Database (NDDB).