Article Written by Jessica Garces (SPAWN Intern)
SPAWN has made incredible progress on the Chicken Ranch Beach Wetland Enhancement Project! Thanks to the hard work of SPAWN staff and interns, dedicated volunteers, and the West Coast Wild’s restoration crew, 4,400 flourishing plants have been planted at the restoration site. Planting will continue in the lower basins of the site once the water level recedes- check out our volunteer calendar if you’d like to get involved!
The Chicken Ranch Beach Wetland Enhancement Project is a roughly 1-acre restoration effort spearheaded by the Tomales Bay Foundation to improve water quality, protect public health and restore critical wetland habitat. The property adjacent to Chicken Ranch Beach, located in Inverness California, has historically been impacted with high levels of fecal coliform and E-coli bacteria. The shallow ditch on the property intercepted shallow groundwater flows and conveyed water across the surface of Tomales Bay with bacteria counts routinely exceeding state limits for recreational water contact. In 2025, Heal the Bay rated Chicken Ranch Beach as one of the 10 most polluted beaches in California. Despite this, the public beach continues to be a very popular destination near Tomales Bay.
The project is funded by the US Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Coastal Conservancy, Marin County, Inverness Association and the Tomales Bay Foundation. The total cost of the project is about $1.3 million. The project aims to restore high-quality wetland habitat for special-status species such as the California red-legged frog, Western pond turtle, and tidewater goby, while also improving water quality and preventing contaminated flows from reaching the beach. In August 2025, a team from the California Conservation Corps removed the highly invasive acacia trees which previously dominated the project site. Subsequently, a team from PCI Ecological excavated a new channel, and re-engineered a meandering water course with 3 basins designed to slow and hold water, settling out harmful bacteria.
SPAWN was contracted to provide and plant 7,631 California-native wetland plants for the project. Roughly 2,500 of the plants were propagated and cared for at our in-house Native Plant Nursery in Olema, California and the remainder were sourced from The Watershed Nursery in Richmond, California. Starting December 2025 Kristen Hopper, SPAWN Nursery Manager, began leading “volunteer work days” on Wednesdays and Saturdays. SPAWN interns and staff, TBF partners, dedicated volunteers and restoration professionals have planted and watered the California native plants and worked to remove the invasive plants emerging in the area.
“When you visit the project you’ll see logs anchored strategically in place for turtle basking spots. The addition of rushes, sedges and other important wetland vegetation to the less saline upper basins will provide forage, cover, and breeding habitat for the red legged frog. And on the eastern edge of the lowest basin closest to the beach where the salinity is a little higher, there is a sandy substrate preferred by the tidewater goby.”- Kristen Hopper
This project has been extremely successful, with the help and support of all involved. We’re proud to be a part of such an incredible project and excited to continue supporting the long-term health of this newly restored public beach!
