Seashore Conservation

Photo By: Daniel Dietrich

Point Reyes National Seashore, the ancestral land of the Coast Miwok, sits on the rugged California coast and is just a short drive from the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Rich in history and biodiversity, Point Reyes is the perfect outdoor classroom. The Seashore offers hiking trails across nearly 70,000 acres of wilderness, mountains, beaches, complex dunes, marshes, and scrub. It offers coves and bays for kayaking, trails for equestrians, and opportunities to see hundreds of bird species, tule elk, seals, sea lions, badgers, bobcats, otters, and more – it’s no surprise the Seashore is part of the Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve.


Video By: Pusher, Inc.


What We Do


Point Reyes National Seashore Association (PRNSA) works year-round in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) to protect and monitor the park’s natural and cultural resources. We secure funding from private donors, government grants, and foundations to hire seasonal field staff who work alongside NPS project managers on conservation initiatives. These efforts include habitat restoration, invasive species removal, historic preservation, and research on rare, threatened, and endangered species. Key programs focus on long-term inventory and monitoring of species such as salmonids, northern spotted owls, harbor seals, and snowy plovers, as well as vegetation management and early detection of invasive plants. Many of these initiatives follow peer-reviewed protocols to track ecological trends and guide conservation strategies.

A small, white and gray snowy plover standing on a sandy beach.
Photo by Matt Lau

Species and resources that we help protect:


flora

ChorizaWoolly-headed Spineflower

Woolly Headed Spineflower

Headland Wall Flower

Agrostis blasdalei (Blasdale's Bentgrass)

Blasdale Bent Grass

Northern Curly Leaved Monardella

San Francisco Owl’s Clover

Dried Sonoma Spineflower

Sonoma Spineflower

Beach Layia

Beach Layia

Franciscan Thistle

Franciscan Thistle

Rose Leptosiphon

Perennial Goldfields

Tidestrom’s Lupine

fauna

A black rail sitting in pickle weed

Black Rail

Western Snowy Plover

Western Snowy Plover

Juvenile Coho

Coho Salmon

Immature Mountain Beaver

Point Reyes Mountain Beaver

Northern Elephant Seal

Northern Elephant Seal

Spotted Owls

Northern Spotted Owl

CULTURAL RESOURCES


Science Communication


The translation of hard science into digestible, public outreach materials is essential to the preservation of natural and cultural resources at Point Reyes. Each year, PRNSA funds Science Communication Internships to help young professionals learn environmental outreach strategies and techniques for communicating important park science. Here are some of their projects:

Interested in joining PNRSA’s conservation staff – either in the field or as a science communication intern? Check our frequently updated jobs website page for conservation opportunities.

Two brown owls with white spots sitting on a tree branch looking to their right with big black eyes. Text says "Support the Seashore" and "Take action today!"