SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — As director of the nonprofit Save the Bay, David Lewis has spent a lifetime fighting for resources – money to expand healthy tidal marshes, tighten wastewater standards, and push back on the kind of development that’s already covered miles of shoreline with landfill. But now, he feels like that work, and San Francisco Bay itself is under attack.

“The Trump administration is definitely targeting San Francisco for cuts to environmental protection and leaving some programs in other parts of the country, with full funding. It’s really vindictive. And it’s going to be very damaging to San Francisco Bay,” says Lewis.

He’s talking about restoration projects administered by the Environmental Protection Agency in regions around the country. While areas from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast to Chesapeake Bay keep their current funding, San Francisco Bay is targeted with more than $41 million in cuts.

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“In the last five years, we’ve made huge progress, and there’s so much more to do to make San Francisco Bay healthy and resilient for people and wildlife. These cuts put a threat to all of that progress,” Lewis believes.

Warner Chabot is with the non-partisan San Francisco Estuary Institute – which supplies scientific data to government agencies. He points to the dozens of EPA administered projects circling the Bay and the benefits they’ve created, including cleaner water.

“We’ve partnered with the EPA to monitor the health of the water quality in San Francisco Bay, to remove toxins from the bay, and to provide scientific information for informed decisions about how to ensure that we have healthy waters, swimmable waters and clean water for the 8 million people that live around San Francisco Bay,” says Chabot.

Others like tidal marsh restoration and horizontal levees work to protect the Bay Area from climate driven threats like sea level rise. It’s unclear which projects are likely to face the steep cuts. But some believe the broader purpose is to punish the Bay Area.

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San Mateo County Supervisor and former Congresswoman Jackie Speier passed signature legislation four years ago that provided millions of dollars for Bay restoration. And she believes President Trump himself likely has a hand in the cuts.

“Oh, absolutely. We’re targeted. That’s a 75% cut in the budget. And, you know, call it the Pelosi effect. I mean, he is going to do anything and everything he can to harm, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her communities. So I am I’m dumbfounded by it. And but it’s not surprising, is it? Because, that’s the way he operates. He is a vindictive, punish my opponents,” Speier believes.

A number of nonprofits, including Save the Bay, have written an open letter to key members of the Senate demanding they fully fund the EPA. In the meantime, they’re also hoping the State will use voter-approved funds to cover the gap if need be. Save the Bay’s David Lewis argues the restoration work is vitally important for the Bay and beyond.

“Bays and estuaries like what we have in San Francisco. These are national assets. They belong to the people of the United States. And it doesn’t make sense to punish San Francisco. Really punishing all of the residents of this country when you attack the environment,” says Lewis.