With 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.

Foreword: For the Restoration of San Francisco Bay
Acknowledgments

Inside the Golden Gate
Alameda 328
The Military Bay
The First Saving of San Francisco Bay
The Bay as Estuary
The Pumps at Tracy
The Hollow Lands
Second-Growth Wetlands
The Duck Blind
Shanks Island
The Estuary and the Harbor
The Ferry Building
The Ammonia Tanker
The Herring Boat
The Salt Ponds
The Industrial Shore
Hunters Point
The Pollution Patrol
The Water Trails
The View from Mount Livermore

Appendix A: Twenty Places to Visit
Appendix B: Selected Reading
Appendix C: Some Organizations Involved in Bay Affairs
Index

John Hart is the author of several books, including Storm over Mono: The Mono Lake Battle and the California Water Future (California, 1996) and Farming on the Edge: Saving Family Farms in Marin County, California (California, 1992), both of which won the Commonwealth Club Silver Medal. He is also a prize-winning poet whose book The Climbers is part of the Pitt Poetry Series. David Sanger is a Bay Area-based photographer. His clients include the National Park Service, Sunset, Travel Holiday, and Nikon. Sanger was recognized as the 1998 Photographer of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers.

"This impressive collaboration between an environmental historian and a nature photographer is a celebration of the San Francisco Bay's natural beauty and environmental value. As a life-long San Franciscan who has a deep admiration for the Bay, I believe residents and visitors alike will enjoy this wonderful introduction to the Bay and will be moved to cherish and protect this California treasure."—Senator Dianne Feinstein

"This book, with its comprehensive view of San Francisco Bay, is very timely. It will benefit both newcomers and long time Bay Area residents who appreciate the Bay and who will continue with their constant vigilance the process of saving the Bay."—Sylvia McLaughlin, co-founder of Save the Bay

"This book is a feast for the eyes and an inspiring call to get to know our Bay better--so that we can better preserve its riches."—Melvin Lane, former owner of Lane Publishing Company, publishers of Sunset Magazine and Sunset Books

"Although I have been well acquainted with the bay for many years, I have discovered revealing new information about it on almost every page."—Harold Gilliam, author of Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region

"An enlightening, rewarding look at the bay in our own backyard."—George Olson, Director of Photography, Sunset magazine

"John Hart and David Sanger bring us a deft blend of very readable history, accessible science, and alluring photography. More importantly, they remind us that an engaged citizenry truly can make a difference in preserving the Earth's ecological bounty."—Steven J. McCormick, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy

"For those of us born and raised along the California coast, this book confirms again, through the beauty of its photographs, the great natural treasure we have here in San Francisco Bay."—Leon E. Panetta, Director of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy