San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an EstuaryWith its shimmering vistas of fog, light, and cityscape, San Francisco Bay is famous worldwide--yet very little known. The bay, together with its inland delta, is one of the largest estuaries in the Americas. It is a crucial bird habitat, a vital fishery, a major shipping center, a source of precious water, a playground for its cities, a natural treasure in trouble, and a stirring challenge to our human stewardship. John Hart's lyrical writing and David Sanger's eye-opening color photographs reveal this marvel hidden in plain sight--its varied past, its complicated present, and its promising future. Hart and Sanger journey back through the bay's history, introducing its native cultures, describing its ecology, and tracing its urban and industrial development. They take us with them on a tanker bound upriver, to a duck hunter's blind at dawn, to a delta island when the migratory sandhill cranes come in, to the strange white fields where salt is harvested. And they tell the story of how the plucky local movement to save the bay began and evolved into a grand effort--maybe the grandest yet attempted--to repair a damaged organ of the living world. The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions of the Audubon Society, of The Bay Institute of San Francisco, and of the Director's Circle of the Associates of theUniversity of California Press in support of this publication. |
Contents
ALAMEDA 328 | 17 |
A MILITARY BAY | 23 |
THE FIRST SAVING OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY | 33 |
THE BAY AS ESTUARY | 43 |
THE PUMPS AT TRACY | 55 |
THE HOLLOW LANDS | 61 |
SECONDGROWTH WETLANDS | 69 |
THE DUCK BLIND | 81 |
THE AMMONIA TANKER | 115 |
THE HERRING BOAT | 121 |
A GRAIN OF SALT | 129 |
THE INDUSTRIAL SHORE | 143 |
HUNTERS POINT | 149 |
ALONG THE WATER TRAILS | 159 |
THE VIEW FROM MOUNT LIVERMORE | 171 |
Twenty Places to Visit | 179 |
THE ESTUARY AND THE HARBOR | 91 |
THE FERRY BUILDING | 103 |
Common terms and phrases
Alameda Albany Mudflats Alcatraz Angel Island Audubon Bay Area Bay Bridge Bay Conservation Bay Institute Bay National Wildlife Bay Trail bay-delta bay's Baylands Berkeley birds boat California Department Carquinez Strait Central Bay Central Valley channel Club Coast cordgrass Creek Crissy Field Crockett dikes Don Edwards Don Edwards San dredge duck ecosystem Edwards San Francisco estuary's Francisco Bay National Golden Gate Bridge Golden Gate National habitat harbor Hunters Point inside the Golden Institute of San Joaquin River Delta Lake land levees Marin County mudflats Napa National Wildlife Refuge Pacific Palo Alto Petaluma plants pollution Port of Oakland Project pumps Rafael Sacramento Sacramento-San Joaquin River salt ponds San Francisco Bay San Francisco Estuary San Joaquin River San Mateo San Pablo Bay Save the Bay ships shores Slough Sonoma South Bay species square miles Staten Island Suisun Bay Suisun Marsh tidal tides tule watershed wetlands Yerba Buena Island