San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Last updated July 17, 2025

The San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (San Francisco Bay NERR) is one of 30 reserves established as part of the United States National Estuarine Research Reserve System.^[1] The reserve is used to promote San Francisco Bay wetlands and estuary research, education, and stewardship.^[2]

History
Reserve sites
Organization
See also
References
External links

The reserve’s headquarters is located at San Francisco State University's Romberg Tiburon Campus.^[2]

History

In the 1990s, Dr. Roger Crawford from SFSU received a grant from NOAA to explore the potential for establishing a NERR in San Francisco Bay. Dr. Mike Vasey was then appointed to lead the designation process. Dr. Vasey and a team of scientists recommended that the reserve be designed to include some of the last remaining high-quality tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Estuary. The reserve was designated in August 2003.^[2]

Reserve sites

The San Francisco Bay NERR consists of two sites in the San Francisco Bay Area which total 3,710 acres:^[2]

Rush Ranch Open Space Preserve — 2,070-acre (8.4 km²), on the northern margin of Suisun Marsh, at the western foot of the Potrero Hills, in Solano County.
China Camp State Park — 1,640-acre (6.6 km²), on the shore of San Pablo Bay near San Rafael in Marin County.

Organization

The reserve's lead federal agency is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the lead state agency is San Francisco State University.^[2]

There are numerous other agencies and organizations involved with the reserve, including:^[2]

Solano Land Trust owns and manages the Rush Ranch component of the reserve.
California Department of Parks and Recreation (California State Parks) owns the China Camp component of the reserve and is the lead agency for ecological and cultural resource management there.
Friends of China Camp operates the China Camp component.
Richardson Bay Audubon Center partners with the reserve in research and monitoring in Richardson Bay.
Smithsonian MarineGEO partners with the reserve at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary.
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission is a NOAA coastal zone managing agency within the San Francisco Estuary that partners with the reserve on coastal resilience and planning.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was involved in the South Bay during the reserve's planning phase.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has regulatory jurisdiction over the reserve sites.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife has ultimate responsibility and authority for managing the fish and wildlife resources of California.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center co-sponsors a water quality and weather station located within the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary with the reserve.
San Francisco Estuary Institute provides resources to create cost-effective solutions for complex environmental issues.
U.S. Geological Survey provides research expertise and equipment to reserve research, monitoring, and land management activities.
Point Blue Conservation Science partners with the reserve in many projects and provides expertise and data on bird populations at Rush Ranch and China Camp.
San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge is involved in large-scale tidal wetland restoration and endangered species recovery in the northern San Pablo Bay region.

References

↑ "National Estuarine Research Reserves". NOAA Office of Coastal Management. December 27, 2024. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "SF Bay NERR Management Plan" (PDF). sfbaynerr.sfsu.edu. September 1, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2024.

External links

v t e National Estuarine Research Reserves of the United States
Apalachicola Ashepoo Combahee Edisto Basin Bahía de Jobos Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay Delaware Elkhorn Slough Grand Bay Great Bay Guana Tolomato Matanzas He‘eia Hudson River Jacques Cousteau Kachemak Bay Lake Superior Mission-Aransas Narragansett Bay North Carolina North Inlet-Winyah Bay Old Woman Creek Padilla Bay Rookery Bay San Francisco Bay Sapelo Island South Slough Tijuana River Waquoit Bay Weeks Bay Wells
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Protected areas of California

National Park System

Parks	Channel Islands Death Valley Joshua Tree Kings Canyon Lassen Volcanic Pinnacles Redwood Sequoia Yosemite
Preserves	Mojave
Monuments	Cabrillo Castle Mountains César E. Chávez Devils Postpile Lava Beds Muir Woods Tule Lake
Seashores	Point Reyes
Historical Parks	Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front San Francisco Maritime
Historic Sites	Eugene O'Neill Fort Point John Muir Manzanar
Memorials	Port Chicago Naval Magazine
Recreation Areas	Golden Gate Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity

California State Parks

Parks	Ahjumawi Lava Springs Andrew Molera Angel Island Año Nuevo Anza-Borrego Desert Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland Bidwell–Sacramento River Big Basin Redwoods Border Field Bothe-Napa Valley Burton Creek Butano Calaveras Big Trees Castle Crags Castle Rock Caswell Memorial China Camp Chino Hills Clear Lake Coast Dairies Crystal Cove Cuyamaca Rancho D. L. Bliss Del Norte Coast Redwoods Donner Memorial Dos Rios Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point Emerald Bay The Forest of Nisene Marks Fort Ord Dunes Fremont Peak Garrapata Gaviota Great Valley Grasslands Grizzly Creek Redwoods Grover Hot Springs Hearst San Simeon Hendy Woods Henry Cowell Redwoods Henry W. Coe Humboldt Lagoons Humboldt Redwoods Jedediah Smith Redwoods Julia Pfeiffer Burns Leo Carrillo Limekiln MacKerricher Malibu Creek Manchester McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial McLaughlin Eastshore Mendocino Headlands Mendocino Woodlands Montaña de Oro Morro Bay Mount Diablo Mount San Jacinto Mount Tamalpais Navarro River Redwoods Pacheco Palomar Mountain Pfeiffer Big Sur Pillar Point Bluff Placerita Canyon Plumas-Eureka Point Mugu Portola Redwoods Prairie Creek Redwoods Red Rock Canyon Richardson Grove Rio de Los Angeles Robert Louis Stevenson Russian Gulch Saddleback Butte Salt Point Samuel P. Taylor San Bruno Mountain Sinkyone Wilderness South Yuba River Sue-meg Sugarloaf Ridge Sutter Buttes Tolowa Dunes Tomales Bay Topanga Trione-Annadel Van Damme Washoe Meadows Wilder Ranch
Natural Reserves	Antelope Valley California Poppy Armstrong Redwoods Azalea Caspar Headlands John B. Dewitt Redwoods John Little Jug Handle Kruse Rhododendron Los Osos Oaks Mailliard Redwoods Mono Lake Tufa Montgomery Woods Point Lobos Smithe Redwoods Torrey Pines Tule Elk
Marine Reserves	Albany Anacapa Island SMR Asilomar Begg Rock Big Creek Bodega Head Cabrillo Carmel Pinnacles Carrington Point Del Mar Landing Elkhorn Slough Emeryville Crescent Estero de Limantour and Drakes Estero Fitzgerald Gerstle Cove Gull Island Harris Point Judith Rock Laguna Beach Long Point Lovers Point Montara and Pillar Point Moro Cojo Slough Morro Bay Natural Bridges Piedras Blancas Point Arena Point Buchon Point Cabrillo Point Dume Point Lobos Point Reyes Point Sur Richardson Rock Russian River Santa Barbara Island Scorpion Sea Lion Gulch Skunk Point South Cape Mendocino Stewarts Point Vandenberg
Historic Parks	Anderson Marsh Antelope Valley Indian Museum Bale Grist Mill Benicia Capitol Bidwell Mansion Bodie California Citrus California State Indian Museum Chumash Painted Cave Colonel Allensworth Columbia El Presidio de Santa Barbara Empire Mine Folsom Powerhouse Fort Humboldt Fort Ross Fort Tejon Governor's Mansion Hearst Castle Indian Grinding Rock Jack London La Purísima Mission Leland Stanford Mansion Los Angeles Los Encinos Malakoff Diggins Marconi Conference Center Marsh Creek Marshall Gold Discovery Monterey Old Sacramento Old Town San Diego Olompali Pigeon Point Light Station Pío Pico Point Sur Railtown 1897 Rancho Petaluma Adobe San Juan Bautista San Pasqual Battlefield Santa Cruz Mission Santa Susana Pass Shasta Sonoma Sutter's Fort Tomo-Kahni Wassama Round House Watts Towers Weaverville Joss House Will Rogers William B. Ide Adobe Woodland Opera House
Beaches	Asilomar Bean Hollow Bolsa Chica Cardiff Carlsbad Carmel River Carpinteria Caspar Headlands Cayucos Corona del Mar Crown Memorial Dockweiler Doheny El Capitán Emma Wood Gray Whale Cove Greenwood Half Moon Bay Huntington Leucadia Lighthouse Field Little River Malibu Lagoon Mandalay Manresa Marina McGrath Montara Monterey Moonlight Morro Strand Moss Landing Natural Bridges New Brighton Pacifica Pelican Pescadero Pismo Point Dume Point Sal Pomponio Refugio Robert H. Meyer Memorial Salinas River San Buenaventura San Clemente San Elijo San Gregorio San Onofre Santa Monica Schooner Gulch Seacliff Silver Strand Sonoma Coast South Carlsbad Sunset Thornton Torrey Pines Trinidad Twin Lakes Westport-Union Landing Will Rogers William Randolph Hearst Memorial Zmudowski
Recreation Areas	Admiral William Standley Auburn Austin Creek Benbow Benicia Bethany Reservoir Brannan Island Candlestick Point Castaic Lake Colusa-Sacramento River Folsom Lake Franks Tract George J. Hatfield Harry A. Merlo Kenneth Hahn Kings Beach Lake Del Valle Lake Oroville Lake Perris Lake Valley Martial Cottle McConnell Millerton Lake Picacho Providence Mountains Salton Sea San Luis Reservoir Silverwood Lake Standish-Hickey Tahoe Turlock Lake Woodson Bridge
Vehicular Recreation Areas	Carnegie Clay Pit Heber Dunes Hollister Hills Hungry Valley Oceano Dunes Ocotillo Wells Prairie City
Other	Burleigh H. Murray Ranch California State Capitol Museum California State Mining and Mineral Museum California State Railroad Museum Castro Adobe Delta Meadows Estero Bay Hatton Canyon Indio Hills Palms Point Cabrillo Light Ishxenta State Park Point Montara Light Reynolds Wayside Campground San Timoteo Canyon Stone Lake Verdugo Mountains Ward Creek Wildwood Canyon

National Forests and Grasslands

National Forests and Grasslands	Angeles Butte Valley NG Cleveland Eldorado Humboldt–Toiyabe Inyo Klamath Lake Tahoe Basin Lassen Los Padres Mendocino Modoc Plumas Rogue River–Siskiyou San Bernardino Sequoia Shasta–Trinity Sierra Six Rivers Stanislaus Tahoe
National Wilderness Preservation System	Agua Tibia Ansel Adams Bucks Lake Caribou Carson–Iceberg Castle Crags Cucamonga Desolation Dick Smith Dinkey Lakes Emigrant Golden Trout Hoover Inyo Mountains Ishi Jennie Lakes John Muir Kaiser Marble Mountain Mokelumne Mount Lassic Mount Shasta North Fork Pine Creek San Gabriel San Jacinto San Rafael Sanhedrin Sespe Siskiyou Snow Mountain South Fork Eel River South Sierra South Warner Thousand Lakes Trinity Alps Ventana Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Yuki
National Monuments and Recreation Areas	Giant Sequoia National Monument San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Sand to Snow National Monument Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Sáttítla Highlands National Monument Smith River National Recreation Area Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area

State Forests
Boggs Mountain Demonstration Ellen Pickett Jackson Demonstration Las Posadas LaTour Demonstration Mount Zion Demonstration Mountain Home Demonstration Soquel Demonstration

National Wildlife Refuges

State Wildlife Areas

Wildlife Areas	Antelope Valley Ash Creek Bass Hill Battle Creek Big Lagoon Big Sandy Biscar Butte Valley Buttermilk Country Cache Creek Camp Cady Cantara/Ney Springs Cedar Roughs Cinder Flats Collins Eddy Colusa Bypass Coon Hollow Cottonwood Creek Crescent City Marsh Crocker Meadows Daugherty Hill Decker Island Doyle Dutch Flat Eastlker River Eel River Elk Creek Wetlands Elk River Fay Slough Feather River Fitzhugh Creek Fremont Weir Grass Lake Gray Lodge Green Creek Grizzly Island Hallelujah Junction Heenan Lake Hill Slough Hollenbeck Canyon Honey Lake Hope Valley Horseshoe Ranch Imperial Indian Valley Kelso Peak and Old Dad Mountains Kinsman Flat Knoxville Laguna Lake Berryessa Lake Earl Lake Sonoma Little Panoche Reservoir Los Banos Lower Sherman Island Mad River Slough Marble Mountains Mendota Merrill's Landing Miner Slough Monache Meadows Morro Bay Moss Landing Mouth of Cottonwood Creek Napa-Sonoma Marshes North Grasslands O'Neill Forebay Oroville Petaluma Marsh Pickel Meadow Pine Creek Point Edith Putah Creek Rector Reservoir Red Lake Rhode Island Sacramento River San Felipe Valley San Jacinto San Luis Obispo San Luis Reservoir San Pablo Bay Santa Rosa Shasta Valley Silver Creek Slinkard/Little Antelope Smithneck Creek South Fork Spenceville Surprise Valley Sutter Bypass Tehama Truckee River Upper Butte Basin Volta Warner Valley Waukell Creek West Hilmar Westlker River White Slough Willow Creek Yolo Bypass
Ecological Reserves	Albany Mudflats Alkali Sink Allensworth Atascadero Creek Marsh Bair Island Baldwin Lake Batiquitos Lagoon Blue Sky Boden Canyon Boggs Lake Bolsa Chica Bonny Doon Buena Vista Lagoon Butler Slough Butte Creek Canyon Butte Creek House Buttonwillow By Day Creek Calhoun Cut Canebrake Carlsbad Highlands Carmel Bay Carrizo Canyon Carrizo Plains China Point Clover Creek Coachella Valley Coal Canyon Corte Madera Marsh Crestridge Dairy Mart Ponds Dales Lake Del Mar Landing Eden Landing Elkhorn Slough Estelle Mountain Fall River Mills Fish Slough Fremont Valley Goleta Slough Indian Joe Spring Kaweah Kerman King Clone Laguna Laurel Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Lokern Magnesia Spring Marin Islands Mattole River McGinty Mountain Morro Dunes Morro Rock Napa River North Table Mountain Oasis Spring Panoche Hills Peytonia Slough Phoenix Vernal Pools Pine Hill Piute Creek Pleasant Valley Rancho Jamul Redwood Shores River Springs Lakes Saline Valley San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon San Felipe Creek San Joaquin River Santa Rosa Plateau Springville Stone Corral Sycamore Canyon Sycuan Peak Thomes Creek Tomales Bay Upper Newport Bay Watsonville Slough West Mojave Desert Woodbridge Yaudanchi
Marine Protected Areas	Abalone Cove and Point Vicente Anacapa Island SMCA Año Nuevo Arrow Point to Lion Head Point Batiquitos Lagoon Big Creek Bodega Head Bolsa Chica Cambria Campus Point Carmel Bay Cat Harbor Crystal Cove Dana Point Duxbury Reef Edward F. Ricketts Elkhorn Slough Estero Americano Estero de Limantour and Drakes Estero Estero de San Antonio Fagan Marsh Famosa Slough Farnsworth Onshore and Offshore Goleta Slough Greyhound Rock Lovers Cove and Casino Point MacKerricher Marin Islands Morro Bay Naples Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Painted Cave Piedras Blancas Point Arena Point Buchon Point Dume Point Reyes Point Sur Portuguese Ledge Pyramid Point Robert E. Badham Robert W. Crown Russian Gulch Russian River Salt Point San Diego-Scripps San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon Saunders Reef Sea Lion Cove Sonoma Coast Soquel Canyon South La Jolla South Point Southeast Farallon Island Stewarts Point Swami's Tijuana River Mouth Upper Newport Bay Van Damme Vandenberg White Rock (Cambria)

Bureau of Land Management National Conservation Lands

National Monuments	Berryessa Snow Mountain California Coastal Carrizo Plain Cascade–Siskiyou Chuckwalla Fort Ord Mojave Trails Sand to Snow Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
National Conservation Areas	California Desert King Range
Wilderness Areas	Argus Range Big Maria Mountains Bigelow Cholla Garden Bighorn Mountain Black Mountain Bright Star Bristol Mountains Cadiz Dunes Carrizo Gorge Chanchelulla Chemehuevi Mountains Chimney Peak Chuckwalla Mountains Chumash Cleghorn Lakes Clipper Mountain Coso Range Coyote Mountains Darwin Falls Dead Mountains Dick Smith El Paso Mountains Fish Creek Mountains Funeral Mountains Garcia Golden Valley Grass Valley Headwaters Forest Reserve Hollow Hills Ibex Indian Pass Inyo Mountains Jacumba Kelso Dunes Kiavah Kingston Range Little Chuckwalla Mountains Little Picacho Machesna Mountain Malpais Mesa Manly Peak Matilija Mecca Hills Mesquite Newberry Mountains Nopah Range North Algodones Dunes North Mesquite Mountains Old Woman Mountains Orocopia Mountains Otay Mountain Owens Peak Pahrump Valley Palen/McCoy Palo Verde Mountains Picacho Peak Piper Mountain Piute Mountains Red Buttes Resting Spring Range Rice Valley Riverside Mountains Rodman Mountains Sacatar Trail Saddle Peak Hills San Gorgonio Santa Lucia Santa Rosa Sawtooth Mountains Sespe Sheephole Valley South Nopah Range Stateline Stepladder Mountains Surprise Canyon Sylvania Mountains Trilobite Turtle Mountains Whipple Mountains

National Marine Sanctuaries
Channel Islands Chumash Heritage Cordell Bank Greater Farallones Monterey Bay

National Estuarine Research Reserves
Elkhorn Slough San Francisco Bay Tijuana River

University of California Natural Reserve System

Private Conservation Land Trusts

Heritage registers: National Natural Landmarks

v t e San Francisco Bay watershed
Outline	Hydrography Ecology List of tributaries List of lakes
Subdivisions	Major San Francisco Bay Suisun Bay San Pablo Bay Minor Golden Gate Grizzly Bay Richardson Bay San Rafael Bay Richmond Inner Harbor San Leandro Bay Former Yerba Buena Cove Mission Bay
Waterways	Rivers San Joaquin Sacramento Napa Guadalupe Petaluma Creeks (discharging into the Bay) Alameda Baxter Cerrito Codornices Coyote (Santa Clara) Coyote (Marin) San Leandro San Lorenzo Schoolhouse Temescal Sausal Redwood San Mateo Sonoma Corte Madera Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio San Rafael Miller Novato Tolay San Francisquito Pacheco Alhambra Adobe Rodeo Refugio Pinole Garrity Rheem Karlson San Pablo Castro Wildcat Fluvius Innominatus Marin (Alameda County) Strawberry Easton Mission Creek Reservoirs Calaveras Reservoir Lafayette Reservoir Straits and estuaries Clifton Court Forebay Carquinez Strait Oakland Estuary Raccoon Strait Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel Watersheds Laguna Creek Watershed Guadalupe watershed
Parks and protected areas	Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge Eden Landing Ecological Reserve Hayward Regional Shoreline Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center Crown Memorial State Beach McLaughlin Eastshore State Park Emeryville Crescent State Marine Reserve Point Isabel Regional Shoreline César Chávez Park Brooks Island Regional Preserve Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge Coyote Point Recreation Area Middle Harbor Shoreline Park National Estuarine Research Reserve China Camp State Park San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park SF Bay Trail Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline Big Break Regional Shoreline Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve
Islands and peninsulas	Major islands Alameda Alcatraz Angel Treasure Island Yerba Buena Minor Brooks Bair Bay Farm Belvedere Brother Castro Rocks Coast Guard Greco Hooks Island Mare Red Rock The Sisters Marin Islands Roe Ryer Seal Islands Peninsulas/infill Albany Bulb Brisbane Baylands Point Isabel Foster City Fleming Point Hunters Point Sierra Point Steamboat Point
Wetlands	Baylands Belmont Chelsea Cordelia Crissy Field Hoffman Meeker Mowry Napa Sonoma Point Molate Salt ponds Seal Stege Steinberger Suisun Westpoint
Bridges and tubes	Bridges San Francisco–Oakland Eastern span replacement Richmond–San Rafael San Mateo–Hayward Dumbarton Dumbarton Rail Bridge (inactive) Golden Gate Benicia–Martinez Antioch Carquinez Leimert Park Street Fruitvale High Street Bay Farm Island Tubes Posey/Webster Street Transbay
Ferries	Angel Island–Tiburon Ferry Blue & Gold Fleet Golden Gate Ferry San Francisco Bay Ferry (WETA)
Ports and marinas	Port of San Francisco Oakland Seaport Port of Richmond Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Mare Island Naval Shipyard Port of Redwood City Berkeley Marina Oyster Point Marina/Park Westpoint Harbor Foster City Marina (proposed)
Other	History Delta and Dawn Discovery Site Humphrey the Whale San Leandro Oyster Beds Richmond Shipyards U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model Harold Gilliam Marincello Ecology Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve Cosco Busan oil spill Thicktail chub Delta smelt Conservation and Development Commission The Watershed Project Save The Bay Citizens for East Shore Parks Friends of Five Creeks Urban Creeks Council 1971 oil spill Greenbelt Alliance The Bay Institute Reber Plan San Francisco Baykeeper San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science Estuary Partnership Transportation Water Trail Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
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50k–100k	Alameda Brentwood Cupertino Dublin Gilroy Livermore Milpitas Mountain View Napa Novato Palo Alto Petaluma Pittsburg Pleasanton Redwood City San Leandro San Rafael San Ramon South San Francisco Union City Walnut Creek
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