For nearly 40 years, the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory at the Parks Conservancy has collaborated with the National Parks Service to track the migratory patterns of these birds – collectively known as raptors – with the mission of inspiring their preservation throughout California.

The former federal prison at Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay marks 50 years as part of the National Park System on Thursday, October 26, 2023.

To mark 50 years of Alcatraz Island being opened to the public, the National Park Service with the Parks Conservancy and Alcatraz City Cruises hosted a celebration on the island.

October 26, 2023 marked 50 years of tourists visiting Alcatraz Island, the notorious former maximum security federal prison-turned-national park. NBC Bay Area got an insider's vantage point from Jolene Babyak, a Bay Area author who was raised on the island while her father worked at the prison.

Alcatraz has so many layers of history: military base, federal prison, site of Native resistance, bird sanctuary. The 22-acre island in the San Francisco Bay continues to generate speculation and ink, creativity and reflection.

The Marin Regional Forest Health Strategy is the latest in a series of studies going back to One Tam’s Peak Health inventory of 2016, and the first to look beyond the greater Mount Tamalpais area to cover the entirety of Marin, including private lands. KneeDeep Times, "the Bay Area's climate resilience magazine," investigates.

"One of the small natural miracles in this part of the world is just an autumn rainstorm away." As part of Redwood Renewal at Muir Woods, the National Park Service (NPS) and its partners are helping undo the damage of the past and restore habitat for the federally endangered coho salmon.

Susan Lowenberg, President of the Lowenberg Corporation and a member of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Board of Trustees, has been appointed to the California Coastal Commission by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The Coastal Commission protects and enhances California’s coast and ocean for present and future generations.

Tours of Alcatraz were once focused on the lore of its criminals, but today tours of this ruthless prison explore deeper questions. Featuring insight from John Moran, associate director of visitor programs and services at the Parks Conservancy.

Support from the Wildlife Conservation Board Forest Conservation Program will enable the Parks Conservancy to work with our One Tam partners to implement significant forest and woodland stewardship actions in key areas throughout Marin County.