One of the worst companies in the world for human rights violations and environmental degradation wants to build a small city the size of Belmont in the Bay. The Trump administration brought back an environmentally destructive project by dumping the salt pond Baylands out of the Clean Water Act.

Trump has also made it easier for corporations to kill the shorebirds that nest at the salt ponds by diluting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. And Trump has further narrowed the Clean Water Act to eliminate additional bodies of water. California responded last week with a state law enshrining protection for migratory birds and a new state regulation setting definitions that expand protection to smaller wetlands and seasonal waterways.

Now we need local jurisdictions like Redwood City and Menlo Park to take similar charge of shoreline protection, including bird nesting habitat. Please save the salt ponds for open space.

Gladwyn d'Souza

Co-chair of the Conservation Committee, Sierra Club — Loma Prieta chapter