WASHINGTON—The Navy on Thursday officially begins the demolition of more than 100 structures at the former Skaggs Island Navy facility, a milestone in the transfer of the Sonoma County property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife refuge.

Military and government officials will attend a ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. to mark the start of the demolition.  Plans for the event call for the demolition of a water tower.

The 3,300 acre Skaggs Island property served as a major communications station for the Navy before it was decommissioned in 1993.

Since 1994 Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) has worked to facilitate the transfer of the property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for inclusion in the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2008, Woolsey introduced legislation to negotiate the land transfer and allow the Navy to use more than $8 million in state funds to demolish more than 100 buildings. Working with Senator Feinstein, language that would accomplish the legislation’s goals, was passed in that year’s Defense bill.

"With this ceremony we honor the past and the service of the thousands of Navy men and women who once served at Skaggs Island, and with the demolition, we begin returning these lands to the wild creatures of the bay lands with which we share our future,” said Woolsey. “We also celebrate the cooperation of the Navy and Fish and Wildlife Service and all those agencies organizations that have worked with a passion to move us toward the goal of inclusion into the San Pablo Bay Wildlife Refuge.”

Skaggs Island is a key property in restoring 25,000 acres of former wetlands on San Pablo Bay (North San Francisco Bay).  These wetlands are critical feeding, wintering and resting areas for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl traveling along the Pacific Flyway and provide food and shelter for salmon migrating through the Bay-Delta ecosystem. More than 20 species classified as threatened or endangered under state and federal laws are found in this area.

If the demolition proceeds on schedule and all environmental work is completed, the transfer could take place this summer.

Skaggs Island is north of Highway 37, midway between Vallejo and Highway 21 in southern Sonoma County.