November 20, 2004 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (Petaluma) today, secured $29 million to protect the environment, bolster the local economy, & ensure the continued well-being of the people of Sonoma and Marin Counties in the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report. The spending bill passed the House of Representatives 344-51. “We are protecting Sonoma County’s environment and improving the local economy responsibly by restoring wetlands, enhancing social services that benefit the community and supporting a multi-modal transportation system,” said Rep. Woolsey. The project funding secured by Rep. Woolsey that benefit both Sonoma and Marin Counties are: · $1 million – Highway 101 Corridor Widening Project: To plan and develop the widening project of the Highway 101 Corridor at the Marin-Sonoma narrows. · $440,000 – Marin County Breast Cancer Research: To continue research into the causes of the high incidence of breast cancer in the North Bay. · $5 million – Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project: To secure funding for the Golden Gate Bridge retrofit project. Rep. Woolsey has been working with Reps. Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco) and Mike Thompson (St. Helena). · $90 million - The Pacific Salmon Recovery Fund: A multi-state Salmon recovery project. Rep. Woolsey secured funding for the following Sonoma County projects: · $525,000 - Santa Rosa Creek Ecosystem Restoration: Additional funds for the restoration of this important urban creek and tributary to the Russian River that serves as an important steelhead salmon passage. · $97,000 – Valley of the Moon Children’s Home: To expand the facility for an additional 68 beds for child victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. · $200,000 – Monte Rio Sanitation Project: To upgrade their septic systems to ensure the health of the citizens of Monte Rio and protect the Russian River from contamination. · $200,000 - Laguna de Santa Rosa: To continue studies on sedimentation and watershed improvement so that the Laguna can be restored as both a flood control basin to protect lower Russian River communities, and rich wildlife habitat. · $250,000 - Russian River Ecosystem Restoration: To continue the operations of the citizen-led Russian River Watershed Council and to develop a comprehensive management plan for the watershed. · $300,000 – Sonoma County CNG Fueling Facility: To modify Sonoma County’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) systems so that the County can continue to accommodate the fueling needs of its CNG fleet. · $3 million – Petaluma River Flood Control Project: To replace reprogrammed money through the Army Corps of Engineers to help finish the project. Rep. Woolsey secured funding for the following Marin County projects: · $6 million - Hamilton Wetlands Restoration: To restore approximately 1,000 acres of wetlands using more than 10 million cubic yards of clean dredged material from various San Francisco Bay dredging projects, including the Port of Oakland. · $2 million – Marine Mammal Center: To improve hospital’s facilities to improve laboratories and animal treatment, modernize infrastructure, and create new space for visiting scientists, veterinarians, and students. The Marine Mammal Center is the nation’s leading marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation and research organization. · $1.189 million - San Francisco Bay Delta Model: For operations and maintenance of this Bay Area educational tool located in Sausalito. · $275,000 - Corte Madera Creek Flood Control: The Corps has completed three phases of the four-phase project. The final phase is critical to ensuring the entire flood control project function as originally designed. · $50,000 - Bolinas Lagoon Ecosystem Restoration: For the Army Corps of Engineers to work with the County of Marin and local residents to reformulate a project to stop accelerated sedimentation of the lagoon and preserve open water wildlife habitats. · $150,000 – Santa Venetia Flood Control: To control flooding along Las Gallinas Creek. · $1.278 million – Muir Woods Visitor Access: To develop a park-in ride facility and a shuttle bus system to Muir Woods. Will alleviate heavy recreational traffic during weekends and summer months to the Muir Woods National Monuments as well as other federal parks in Marin County. · $570,000 – Center Point: To improve the Adolescent Residential Treatment Facility and develop a re-entry and supportive case management project for substance abusers involved with the criminal justice system. · $250,000 – Project Avary Camp Expansion: To expand services to children of incarcerated parents. Reps. Lynn Woolsey and Mike Thompson (St. Helena) worked together to secure funding for the following regional projects: · $400,000 - San Pablo Bay Watershed Plan: A major effort to restore wetlands in four counties along the San Pablo Bay. This restoration will provide habitat for endangered species, including delta smelt, Chinook salmon, and the salt marsh harvest mouse. · $274,000 – Sonoma Creek and Tributaries: This project encompasses a 170-mile watershed and focuses on controlling flooding in the Schellville area and restoring wetlands and riparian habitat. · $5.5 million - Lake Sonoma/Warm Springs Dam: To continue the operations of the wild salmon captive brood fish hatchery critical to restoration of salmon runs. · $250,000 - Napa-Sonoma Salt Marsh Restoration:To continue work on transforming 9,460 acres former commercial salt ponds into wetlands. Securing project funds has become increasingly difficult as the Bush administration has turned a historic budget surplus into a federal budget deficit of over $400 billion. The Omnibus bill is a combination of the nine remaining appropriations bills that include Foreign Operations, VA-HUD, Labor-HHS-Education, Commerce-Justice-State, Transportation-Treasury, Legislative Branch, Interior, Energy-Water and Agriculture. Rep. Woolsey voted against the spending bill because this legislation underfunded elementary and secondary education, special education and Pell grants; failed to protect the rights of over 8 million American workers to overtime pay, failed to protect the health of American women by curtailing their right to reproductive choice and allowed the construction of new logging roads in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.