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PERMIT NO. 6-94 . (Issued on July 24, 1996, As Amended Through March 4, 2010) AMENDMENT NO. SIX (Exclusive of Amendment No. Four) City of Redwood City and Keech Properties, LLC Page 18 USFWS. The permittees also believe that the alternative inland access route is consistent with the Bay Plan Policies on public access which state that "public access to some natural areas should be provided to permit study and enjoyment of these areas (e.g., by boardwalks or piers in or adjacent to some sloughs or marshes). However, some wildlife may be sensitive to human intrusion. For this reason, projects in such areas should be carefully evaluated in consultation with appropriate agencies to determine the appropriate location and type of access to be provided." The Commission staff reviewed the information that the USFWS relied on to support their recommendation that public access on the exterior levee be restricted. Surveys conducted since 1990 and anecdotal observations indicate the presence of the California Clapper Rail in the tidal marshes outboard of the levees at the tip of Redwood Shores peninsula and the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse in the vicinity of the project. The 1984 recovery plan for both endangered species identifies the tidal marshes in and around Bair Island (immediately south of the Redwood Shores peninsula), including Bird Island and the marshes at the mouth of Steinberger Slough, as habitat essential to the survival and recovery of the clapper rail and harvest mouse. The recovery plan also identifies the need for effective management of marshes supporting rail and mouse populations within the Refuge as a requirement for reducing the likelihood of extinction. The USFWS recommendation that access be restricted is based on the assumption that the strengthened levees would not only protect existing development, but would also allow future development. It is the USFWS' opinion that the likely future development would eliminate the current! y existing buffer space between endangered species habitat and adjacent urban space, lead to increased human disturbance to the clapper rails and harvest mice along the rebuilt levee, and increase food availability and habitat for predators, such as rats, feral and domestic cats, raccoons and red fox which all could prey on the rail and harvest mice. A key concern is that encroa'chment of urban development increases the population of potential predators, while limiting the ability to control predators. Recognizing the potential risk of increased human use of the levee on the California Clapper Rail and the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, Commission staff explored a number of design and management solutions with the USFWS in an effort to maintain access to all, or at least a greater portion, of the levee. Alternatives proposed included: (a) seasonal closure of portions of the trail during breeding season or periods of high tide; (b) construction of predator control fence with self- closing gates to limit predator access to sensitive wildlife areas; (c) closure of the access areas during predator control operations; (d) a requirement that dogs be on leash; (e) a prohibition against dogs on the levee trail; and (f) allowing closure of levee segments III, IV, VI, and most of VII, where large inland buffers would remain and where rails have been frequently sighted, while allowing continued access on levee segment V adjacent to Lido parcel one, where the proximity of homes to the levee would hamper predator control. These and other suggested alternatives did not satisfy USFWS concerns regarding the impacts of public access on these two endangered species.