Presidio of San Francisco

Alice Park

Amy Meyer

Brigadier General Charles Young

Charles Faulkner

Dora E. Thompson

Dr. Kazue Togasaki

Dr. Margaret "Mom" Chung

Fred T. Korematsu

In the early dawn light of April 18, 1906—at 5:12 a.m.—the ground under San Francisco shook violently for a less than a minute. Though damage from the earthquake was severe, the ensuing fires were truly catastrophic. Thirty broke out almost immediately, burned for three days, and destroyed over five hundred blocks in the heart of the city.

For more than a century the National Park Service (NPS) has won awards and honors for its work preserving cultural and natural resources and sharing the diverse stories of American history. One of its earliest honors came from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco, California, in 1915. But wait…The NPS was created in 1916, right? How could it win an award before it existed?

French-born explorer and naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso (full name: Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamisso de Boncourt) (1781-1838) visited the San Francisco Bay area in the early nineteenth century. During his time in California, Chamisso studied a number of indigenous plant and animal species and his inventory is considered a valuable ecological record to this day.

A man of eclectic talents and persuasions, Alolphus Washington Greely (1844-1935) was one of the most ambitious figures of his day. Though primarily remembered for his famous North Pole expedition, Greely’s colorful career also included service in the Union army during the Civil War and, later, as commander of the U.S. Army’s Pacific Division.

The Presidio Trust and guests from the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive planted 75 redwood saplings in the Presidio of San Francisco on December 14th. The special saplings are coast redwoods, the world's tallest trees. They are also clones from ancient specimens, donated for this effort.

Congress established the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. Nurses were the first women in the Army and U.S. Army General Hospital at the Presidio was the first Army hospital to employ them. By 1902, 41 nurses were part of the hospital staff.

Thanks to park biologists and partners, visitors can again spot western pond turtles in popular parts of Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Presidio of San Francisco where they had vanished. But the turtles still need help growing their numbers. Cue an unlikely conservation hero: <em>Canis lupus familiaris</em>, the domestic dog! This May and June, specially trained dogs are helping biologists find and protect vulnerable turtle nests in the parks.

Should a reintroduced wildlife population come from one source population, or from several? This question is actively debated among conservation biologists. Presidio Trust biologists tried the former approach in 2015 when they first reintroduced threespine stickleback into Mountain Lake from a population in nearby Lobos Creek. Now, after what may have been a disease-related die-off in 2020, they will draw on three local stickleback populations for a second reintroduction.