After an investigation lasting almost a year, the US Army Corps of Engineers has cited Bolinas organic farmer Warren Weber for a series of dikes and ditches at his Star Route Farms.

The Army Corps contends that the dikes and ditches, which are on an 11-acre piece of property across Olema-Bolinas Road from Bolinas School, amount to an illegal conversion of a sensitive transitional marsh next to Bolinas Lagoon. As such, they violate the federal Clean Water Act.

"It's vindication for a lot of people who are worried about it," reacted Bolinas resident Drake Jordan, one of a handful of people who have been pressing the issue with the Army Corps since last fall.

"I know [Weber] has a sterling reputation, and I know he considers himself a steward of the land," Jordan said. "But in the case of the lagoon, I disagree with his stewardship."

Weber was out of town this week, and calls to an out-of-town phone number were not returned. The grower has contended all along that the dikes and ditches predate his purchase of the property in 1981, and that the land has been used for agriculture - mostly grazing - for decades.

However, the Army Corps, primarily through aerial photographs, determined that the dikes date back to 1988. The dikes, which are at the southern and eastern borders of the property, keep salt water from inundating Weber's field at high tides.

Also bothering the Army Corps are ditches, one on the northern border apparently dug in 1990 and one on the eastern border that predates Weber's ownership but was widened in 1988. The installation of culverts and flapgates are also violations.

The maximum fine is $250,000 or 15 years in prison, wrote Calvin Fong, chief of the Army Corps' regulatory branch, in a letter to Weber.

"These activities have effectively altered the reach and flow of waters of the United States within the farmed area," Fong wrote.

"With regard to discing and plowing that has occurred and continues to be performed on the property, we have not finalized our conclusions at this time," Fong's letter continued.

The decision follows a spate of vandalism targeting Weber's operation and those of fellow Bolinas organic farmers Don Murch of Gospel Flat Farms and Peter Martinelli of Paradise Valley Farms.

Vandals have damaged a portable water pump at Star Route Farms, cut a drip-irrigation line at Gospel Flat Farms, and at Paradise Valley Farms, someone cut off irrigation water to a cornfield and stomped on about half the crop.

Martinelli said he doesn't believe the vandalism amounts to a "conspiracy" against Bolinas' farmers, and he doesn't blame the group who approached the Army Corps about Weber's property.

But "it was a very deliberate message from someone." Martinelli said. "I think we're looking at a fringe element who might be inspired by what [those complaining about Weber] are doing."

For their part, Weber's critics say they have no idea who's doing the damage, and they denounced any retributive vandalism. "I would solidly condemn it," said Donald Guravich.

Added Rudy Ferris, "It's utterly unfortunate, completely the wrong way to go about things."

Weber's critics this week speculated that the farmer won't have to pay any fines or go to prison, but he will likely be asked to remove the dikes and fill the ditches.

That's all they want anyway, they said. Jordan, Ferris, and Guravich said they feel no personal animosity toward Weber, and all said they buy Star Route Farms products.

However, "the wetland is not the place to be conducting this [farming] operation," Ferris said.

Left alone, the marsh provides habitat for birds such as the black rail, the salt marsh yellow throat, and the Marin song sparrow, all of which are formal candidates for the federal endangered species list.

"It's a small piece of land, but it's an important piece of land," Guravich explained. Considering that California has lost 90 percent of its wetlands, he said, "saving any wetland is important."

Ferris, Jordan, and Guravich said their main grievance is with the local agencies with jurisdiction over the lagoon: the Bolinas Lagoon Technical Advisory Committee and the county Planning Department and Open Space District.

"I find it incredible that [our] group was not able to handle this locally," said Guravich. "BLTAC really dropped the ball on this one."

It was Dogtown resident John O'Connor who first asked the advisory committee to look at the wetland issue, and at a committee meeting last year, he was scolded by some committee members for pressing the matter, Guravich noted.

Andrea diMarco of Stinson Beach, who heads the committee, this week said the issue was one concerning private property, and should be handled in the bounds of the Bolinas Community Plan. She added that Weber has at least agreed to draw up an agricultural plan that balances his needs with environmental ones.

Guravich countered that the committee is often "too selective" in deciding which issues to take up. He pointed out that the 1981 Bolinas Lagoon Management Plan does indeed name the Technical Advisory Committee as the group charged with overseeing Weber's property.

For his part, farmer Martinelli said Weber is a leader in California's organic farming industry. "Warren has inspired a lot of the growers" who have chosen to go organic. "But on the local scale, he's the big bad guy, and that's unfortunate."

In terms of the marsh, "it's a tough call," he said, noting that "there is a variety of waterfowl that come in and enjoy the fresh-water" habitat created by Weber's field.

"It gets into the question: Do we keep things pristine or do humans have a place?" All too often in West Marin, Martinelli said, "it seems to be an all-or-nothing thing. Either it's condominiums or wilderness."