About Us

The San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society is based at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge off Thornton Avenue. For the past fifteen years the Wildlife Society (SFBWS) has been assisting the Refuge with financial support. The Mission of the Wildlife Society is to promote public awareness and appreciation of the San Francisco Bay and its natural history and to conserve and preserve the remaining bay lands as essential wildlife habitat.

In 1987 the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) California non-profit; and as a cooperating association the Wildlife Society is authorized by Congress to support the education, interpretation and research activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, the Society is supported by over 2,000 individual members and by donations and grants from corporations & foundations. The Wildlife Society operates bookstores at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay Refuge Visitor Center in Fremont and the Environmental Education Center in Alviso.

The Tideline, a 16 page quarterly magazine, published by the Wildlife Society on behalf of the Don Edwards S.F. Bay Refuge, lists the Refuge activities available to the public for the coming four months, along with articles on flora and fauna found on the Refuge Complex properties. There is no charge for this publication and it is sent to members of SFBWS. Click here to become a member. Other publications of SFBWS are: Exploring Our Bayland by Diane R. Conradson and DRAWBRIDGE, CALIFORNIA, A Hand-Me-Down History by O. L. "Monty" Dewey, tells the story of Drawbridge, the ghost town in the bay.

In addition to publishing, SFBWS support makes possible the annual summer camps at Fremont, Alviso, and East Palo Alto. SFBWS employ's two environmental specialists, which permits The Environmental Education Center in Alviso to remain open on weekends. The boardwalk in New Chicago Marsh at Alviso was funded by SFBWS. A plaque at the Center honors those individual and corporations who generously assisted in the funding. Currently the Wildlife Society is funding the Bair Island Restoration and Management Plan that will be the blueprint for habitat restoration and public use for this Refuge property in Redwood City. New interpretive signs for both Fremont and Alviso Refuge trails are now being developed.

2003 is the Centennial of the National Wildlife Refuge System. SFBWS is working with the Don Edwards S. F. Bay Refuge staff in planning yearlong celebratory activities.

We invite you to visit the Refuge, walk the trails and visit our Bookstore. The Don Edwards San Francisco National Wildlife Refuge is the largest urban Refuge in the country; surrounded by major freeways, it remains a peaceful island in an urban sea.