In response to pressure to make the historic military baseeconomically self-sufficient, the park service created a plan totransform the base adjacent to Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridgeinto a conference center and leisure destination that couldaccommodate as many as 2,700 people.

Last year, the city of Sausalito filed suit in U.S. DistrictCourt in San Francisco against the park service and the Golden GateNational Recreation Area on the grounds that the Fort Baker Planwould bring thousands of tourists through the small Marin Countycommunity.

The city alleged in the lawsuit that the park service's plan didnot adequately assess the environmental impacts to Sausalito andviolated statutes such as the Endangered Species Act, NationalEnvironmental Policy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, NationalPark Service Organic Act and Omnibus Parks and Public LandsManagement Act, among others.