Conservation

There are 35 endangered, rare, and threatened species in the Golden Gate National Parks. That’s more federally protected species than any other national park unit in the continental United States—more than Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks combined.

We want you to have a howlingly good time in the Golden Gate National Parks, but we also want to protect the wildlife that howl (and those that don’t).

The Institute at the Golden Gate’s Climate Change Education & Parks program supports and accelerates the role parks and protected areas play as resources and venues for climate change education.

Learn more about individual native plants found in the Golden Gate National Parks and grown in our nurseries for restoration projects.

We are major advocates of environmental sustainability, and we practice that core value throughout our Golden Gate National Parks. 

The western snowy plover is a threatened small shorebird, approximately the size of a sparrow.

The coho salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family, one of the several species of Pacific salmon.

The San Bruno elfin butterfly is a U.S. federally listed endangered subspecies that inhabits rocky outcrops and cliffs in coastal scrub on the San Francisco Peninsula.

The California red-legged frog is the largest native frog in the western United States.

Most who appreciate wildlife will agree that the San Francisco garter snake is California’s most beautiful snake.