[13] The Parks Conservancy has overseen several notable programs, sites, and campaigns, including Alcatraz, Crissy Field, Muir Woods, and the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary [14] Opened to the public in 1973 by the National Park Service, Alcatraz Island is a significant historical site, and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Northern California with some 1.4 annual visitors.
Among the most popular attractions for visitors is the "Doing Time" audio tour, offered in eleven languages, which provides first-person accounts and interviews with people who experienced Alcatraz, including former corrections officers and inmates.
[21] The Art in the Parks program includes the 2014-2015 exhibition "@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz," and environmental sculptural works by Andy Goldsworthy.
[23] Ai Weiwei's @Large featured seven installations across Alcatraz, including 176 portraits of various political exiles and prisoners of conscience, individuals including Edward Snowden, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr.[24][25] The portraits were made of 1.2 million pieces of Legos and were on display in areas that were once the dining hall, laundry building, and A Block cells of the Island.
[28] Described as offering "one of the great vistas anywhere," and located along a 1.3-mile marsh area next to the Presidio of San Francisco, Crissy Field has longstanding ties to the U.S. military, and underwent an extensive renovation before reopening in 2001.
[29][30] Due to its large, flat, grassy landscape, the site was turned into an airfield and became the home of significant aviation research and development between World War I and II.
[35] Events for the 75th anniversary included a large fireworks display, an exhibition at Fort Point known as "International Orange," dancing and music, and a fair to explore sustainability.
[41] It conducts research and offers lectures and community activities designed to connect residents to environmental issues related to parks including climate change, national food policy, and more.
initiative to establish better food standards for the 35 million annual meals served at national parks; it now is seeking to implement those ideas on an even larger scale.
San Francisco entrepreneur Adolph Sutro supported the area's development in the late 19th century, including a Cliff House Railroad, which attracted visitors.
Now, the Lands End Lookout offers visitors insight into the natural, cultural, and historic resources of the area, as well as highlighting the building's sustainable design.
Tam) encompasses more than 10 square miles of public land and open space, and is the primary source of drinking water for 75% of Marin's population.
Tam are designed to combat the effects of climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss, forest pathogens, and inadequate opportunities for stewardship and learning.
[51][52] Located in southwest Marin County, this grove of coast redwoods was declared a national monument in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt.
[53] Today, the park is the site of major conservation efforts—it is home to coho salmon and steelhead trout, both of which are threatened species, as well as the northern spotted owl.
The Parks Conservancy operates a bookstore at Muir Woods, and supports staff who welcome visitors and provide orientation and interpretation of the national monument.
[60] In 2012 the Presidio Trust issued a Request for Concept Proposals for transforming the site of the former Commissary (currently home to the Sports Basement) at mid-Crissy Field into a "cultural institution."
[61] [62] The transformation of the Presidio into a national park has been substantially boosted by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, which made a historic gift of $15 million in 2007 to create a world-class network of trails, bikeways, and overlooks, and dramatically expand and renovate the Rob Hill Campground.