One of Sonoma County's primary purposes in acquiring the Tolay Lake watershed is the ecological restoration of this area to its pre-European settlement condition. In that earlier era the lake would have been double its present size and native marshes, grasslands and even some upland forested areas would have been in greater evidence, prior to the destructive force of cattle grazing and other intensive agricultural practices. Sonoma County is accepting public comment as of February, 2007 to understand the views of scientists and the general public regarding the outcome restoration strategy and how that is balanced with some form of public access.