Bay Area voters in 2016 voted to approve Measure AA, called the Clean and Healthy Bay ballot measure, which will create a $12 per parcel tax for the next twenty years. The $500 million it is expected to raise will leverage additional state and federal funding for bay restoration.

Save the Bay, the Bay Area Council and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group – along with Audubon California – were part of a broad coalition of environmental and business groups supporting Measure AA. Every Bay Area Audubon chapter endorsed the measure and joined Audubon California in working to ensure its passage.

More than a million shorebirds and waterfowl use San Francisco Bay habitat at the height of migration, and the area includes twelve spots designated as Important Bird Areas due to the high number of rare and endangered bird species as well as the sheer number of birds supported by the bay and surrounding wetlands.

Tidal marsh restoration funded by Measure AA will improve water quality and control pollution by reducing the trash and other toxins that flow into the Bay and ocean. It would increase natural habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife beyond birds, including Pacific salmon and Dungeness crab, porpoises, sea lions, and shorebirds.

Restoring San Francisco Bay’s wetlands will protect shoreline communities from rising waters attributable to climate change. More than $60 billion in homes, businesses, and crucial infrastructure is at risk, including ports, airports, roads, office buildings, and entire neighborhoods at or below sea level.