Save the Bay is an environmental nonprofit located in Downtown Oakland.
History
Save the Bay was founded by Sylvia McLaughlin, Esther Gulick, and Kay Kerr in 1961. They founded it after the United State Army Corps of Engineers stated that the majority of the San Francisco Bay would be filled, and would serve only as a shipping channel by 2020. The year of Save the Bay's founding, each city surrounding the Bay handled specific areas it was located by, with no major plan for the future of the Bay. The Bay had been filled with over 250 million tons of raw sewage and only 10% of original wetlands existed. The three women founded the organization as the Save San Francisco Bay Association.
In 1965, Save the Bay lobbied the state to form the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. It was the first commission of its kind in the state. It created a preservation and development plan which helped to "save the bay".
Today
Today, Save the Bay focuses on wildlife conservation and water quality of the Bay. Recent efforts and successes include:
- Saving San Bruno Mountain, which was going to be destroyed to fill in shoreline in San Mateo County.
- Successful sponsoring of the banning of plastic bags in San Francisco (2011) and San Jose (2012).
Contact information
1330 Broadway, Suite 1800
510-463-6850
