Michael Gottlieb

18 Meadow Dr

949491

415-388-4350

May 30, 2001

Charles J. Houghten

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

911 NE 11th Avenue

Portland, 0R 97232-4181

RE: Marin Refuge – St. Vincent’s Silveira and Canalways

Dear Mr. Houghten:

For almost tow decades I have been in the property management business in Marin. Throughout those decades I have watched Marin’s interesting diversity fade. No longer is it easy to mix with working class folks, zany and interesting artists and salty characters. They have been priced out of this exclusive county. In today’s high tech era, I guess I can live with that loss by substituting videos and interesting television – ah, now isn’t that a compelling life style! However. this loss of diversity has also effected my business, and perhaps that has prompted my to write this letter. Without diverse people living in Marin, property service costs escalate.

Only recently have I learned of your agency’s plan to put 17,600 Marin acres into a wildlife mapping area. Some have explained to me that having property placed in your mapping area will not have any detrimental effects on a property owners desired use of his/her land. However, we who live in Marin, know that well-organized Marin pressure groups who use environmental name tags effectively use any governmental overlays to stifle land uses that could benefit more than one class of people in Marin. Your proposal will only add costs and problems – especially for those larger parcels such as St. Vincent’s Silveira and Canalways -- that you presently have in your mapping zone. With 85% of Marin land undevelopable and only a small portion of the remaining 4% of undeveloped land likely to have any development, I urge you to take your program to some other county where land prices and the need for setting aside land for a wildlife reserve is more needed.

By causing more headaches for land owners and developers you exacerbate Marin’s diversity problem. Today I have to go to the East Bay to find semi-skilled and skilled workers, while immigrants, some perhaps illegal, stand around on San Rafael street corners and share rentals with 10-12 others in the Canal area of San Rafael. This is not the American way to make and keep our communities diverse and our labor supply at reasonable costs for businesses. We need to supply these hard workers affordable housing.

Will you be considering how your plan will negatively impact our community diversity and escalating labor costs by including parcels in the Wildlife Refuge Mapping Zone when those parcel owners oppose placement in it for the problems they recognize it will cause?

I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Michael Gottlieb

CC:

Gale Norton, Department of Interior

Julie Bornstein, Cal. Housing Dept.

Bill Pavao, Cal. Dept. Housing

Mel Martinez, U.S. Department of HUD

Marge Kolar, Project Mgr. USFWS

Mike Spear, Regional Director USF&WS

Dan Ashe, USF&WS , Regional Refuge Director

Cathy Osugi, USFWS

Novato Council

San Rafael Chamber

Congresswoman Woolsey

Senators Feinstein & Boxer

Marin & Sonoma Supervisors

Bay Planning Coalition

San Rafael Council Members

Assemblyman Joe Nation