Bull Island (California)

Bull Island

USGS aerial imagery of Bull Island
Bull Island Show map of California Bull Island Show map of the United States
Geography
Location	Northern California
Coordinates	38°13′20″N 122°18′24″W / 38.22222°N 122.30667°W / 38.22222; -122.30667 (Bull Island)[1]
Adjacent to	Napa River
Highest elevation	3 ft (0.9 m)[1]
Administration
United States
State	California
County	Napa

Bull Island is an island in the Napa River, in Napa County, California. From the 1880s onward, it was owned by the Money family, who constructed levees and reclaimed the land, using it to farm grain and potatoes. It was described as a "fine ranch" in 1918. After a levee failure in 1954, it gradually eroded into the water, becoming a salt marsh; for some time afterward, it was used as an evaporation pond for the industrial production of salt by the Leslie Salt Company. Beginning in the 1970s, Bull Island was proposed for inclusion in a variety of riparian preservation projects, but none came to fruition. However, in 1997, the Money family (who still owned the island) sold it to the California State Lands Commission, who turned it into a wildlife habitat; today it is administered as part of the Fagan Marsh Ecological Reserve, and hosts animals of numerous endangered species.