Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Northern California |
Coordinates | 38°10′13″N 122°18′44″W / 38.17028°N 122.31222°W[1] |
Adjacent to | Napa River |
Highest elevation | 3 ft (0.9 m)[1] |
Administration | |
United States | |
State | California |
County | Napa and Solano |
Russ Island is a mostly-submerged island in the Napa River, in Napa and Solano Counties, California. It was reclaimed in the late 19th century, and spent many years as productive farmland; in the 1950s, however, it was purchased by the Leslie Salt Company, and deliberately submerged to serve as an evaporation pond for salt production. The company allowed parts of it to be used for duck hunting. By the 1990s, it was acquired by the California Department of Fish and Game, who turned it into a wildlife preserve, and allowed it to return to marshland; it is now managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area, and is open to hunting, fishing, birdwatching, photography and hiking activities.