Park E-ventures Newsletter Archive

Oh, How We Have Grown

Retiring as director of our Native Plant Nurseries gives me an excuse to think about how far the nurseries have come. When I arrived in the Golden Gate National Parks in 1997, there were already habitat restoration efforts in place—but park plant ecologists were realizing that the need for planting... more >>

GGRO at 30: A Bird’s-Eye View of Its Successes

The Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO) is 30 years old this fall (you might even say it’s peeking into middle age). The year 1984 was indeed a long time ago; Ronald Reagan had just been re-elected. George W. Bush was between political campaigns and fully focused on starting small oil... more >>

Trail Tracks: Our Favorite Park Jams

Music and song—like the Golden Gate National Parks—are wrapped around so many of our best memories. We asked park staff to share their favorite songs that evoke the landscape, the spirit, their adventures, and their work across the parklands.

We’d love to hear from you, too! Contribute to our collective soundtrack... more >>

Give Back and Take Four Volunteering Benefits

There’s no doubt about it—giving your volunteer time helps the Golden Gate National Parks in tangible and quantifiable ways. In fact, in 2013, over 35,500 volunteers across the parklands contributed more than half a million hours of work—valued at $11 million!

And while volunteering is a wonderful selfless act that greatly... more >>

The Presidio Gateway: People Making Parks

For more than two centuries the Presidio was a military post—the famed defender of the Golden Gate. Today, this 1,500-acre site at the center of the San Francisco Bay Area is a new kind of national park, enjoyed by millions of visitors each year.

The elevated highway that cut through the... more >>

Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz Tickets: On Sale June 27

Opening September 27, @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz will feature a series of seven site-specific installations by Ai Weiwei—a Chinese contemporary artist known for his socially, politically, and culturally incisive work—in four locations on Alcatraz Island, offering a new cultural lens through which to experience the former penitentiary-turned-national park.

Presented by... more >>

Adventures with Stinky Plants: Part II

Did you know that there are wildflowers that grow, often totally unnoticed by humans, underwater? That’s right—there are plants that can grow, flower, and even pollinate below the water’s surface.

Many of these underwater blossoms are “living fossils,” belonging to the most ancient groups of flowering plants. Others are grassy plants... more >>

YEL-ing Across the Generations

Every year I-YEL students graduate from high school—and the Crissy Field Center’s ladder of programs. Some return as counselors and interns, while others come back to the Center as full-time educators. This year, current participants in I-YEL (Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders, a youth-driven leadership program for high schoolers working on... more >>

National Trails Day: Honor Your Trails

The Golden Gate Trail Crew loves this time of year. The days are long, the birds are singing, and National Trails Day is just around the corner! What is National Trails Day? Well, it’s the most trail-friendly day of the year, of course. It is a celebration of America’s magnificent... more >>

Creating Lifelong Park Users, One Walk at a Time

The mission of the Parks Conservancy is to preserve the Golden Gate National Parks, enhance the park visitor experience, and build a community dedicated to conserving the parks for the future. The Healthy Parks, Healthy People (HPHP) initiative, a program of the Institute at the Golden Gate, improves access to... more >>