Monday February 13, 2023
Marin Independent Journal —
The National Park Service is advancing its plan to remove a Tennessee Valley dam that has been classified as having a high risk of failure and threatens public safety at a nearby beach.
The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously Thursday to endorse the park service’s proposed project, which also includes restoring acres of wetland habitat that has been affected by the dam over the decades.
“We have the removal of a dam for public safety but also to restore some of this natural process in the Tennessee Valley,” Kate Huckelbridge, the commission’s executive director, said before the vote.
Built in the early 1960s by the former landowner to attract waterfowl for hunting, the earthen dam was one of the many artificial structures inherited by the National Park Service after the Golden Gate National Recreation Area was founded in 1972. The dam and its holding pond are accessible on the Tennessee Valley Trail and are about 900 feet from Tennessee Beach.