Founded | 1961[1][2] |
---|---|
Founder | Kay Kerr, Sylvia McLaughlin and Esther Gulick[1][2] |
Type | Non-profit 501(c)(3) |
Focus | Open space preservation, Natural habitat restoration, Environmental justice |
Location | |
Area served | San Francisco Bay Area |
Members | 25,000[2] |
Key people | Executive Director David Lewis[3] |
Website | savesfbay |
Formerly called | Save San Francisco Bay Association |
Save The Bay is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving San Francisco Bay and its related estuarine habitat areas. It was founded by Catherine Kerr, Sylvia McLaughlin, and Esther Gulick in 1961.
The organization aims to protect the bay from development and landfill and to oppose redevelopment of salt flats; it instead encourages their restoration to a natural state.
The organization was founded in 1961 as the Save San Francisco Bay Association by three women, Sylvia McLaughlin, Kay Kerr and Esther Gulick. It began as a lobby group.
In 1965, state legislation established the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission as a state agency, which the organization deemed a grave success.
The organization still works to protect the wildlife of the Bay Area and water quality of the large inland body of water.[1][4] Save The Bay worked to prevent the destruction of San Bruno Mountain to fill 27 miles (44 km) of the San Mateo County shoreline.[1] Their efforts have been noted as the first successful conservation efforts in an urban area.[1]
The organization's work led to the creation of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which was later used as the blueprint and inspiration for other government commissions such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, California Coastal Commission, and Delta Stewardship Council.[1]
The organization has also pushed for plastic bag bans throughout the entire region. It includes strong support for strengthening the San Francisco plastic bag ban in 2011, which banned all retailers from giving out bags made of non-biodegradable materials.[5] Save The Bay supported the 2012 San Jose, California, ban on plastic bags.[6]