Golden Gate Bird Alliance is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental organization engaged in bird conservation and environmental awareness. Headquartered in the David Brower Center in Berkeley, California, Golden Gate Bird Alliance was formed in 1917 and incorporated into the National Audubon Society in 1948. With 3,586 members and supporters, Golden Gate Bird Alliance spans Northern California, with a particular focus on San Francisco County, West Alameda County, and West Contra Costa County.
History
Grassroots Origins Golden Gate Bird Alliance started out as a group of birdwatchers from U.C. Berkeley who had taken Harold Bryant's nature study class in 1917. Led by founding president Carlos Lastreto, these students formed the Audubon Association of the Pacific with the aim to study, enjoy, and protect birds. The name was chosen in honor of John James Audubon, an ornithologist who painted and cataloged bird species in his book The Birds of America. The early activities of the Golden Gate Bird Alliance included monthly field trips and speakers on topics in ornithology and natural history. These programs have continued and developed alongside the organization. Encouraging citizen science, they supported bird censuses in Golden Gate Park by numerous parties including the California Academy of Sciences and the Boy Scouts.
Early Conservation Efforts The newly formed Audubon Association of the Pacific encountered their first conservation issue in 1919. Due to an increase in automobile ownership, the flourishing oil shipment industry tankers were dumping contaminated ballast water off the coast near the Farallon Islands, a breeding ground for both seabirds and mammals along the Pacific Coast. In 1919, Carlos Lastreto and a colleague from the California Academy of Sciences met with officials from Standard Oil, Union Oil, and Associated Oil to discuss cessation of this pollution, and convinced them to begin recycling the waste oil at onshore facilities instead. This was among the first efforts by Golden Gate Bird Alliance to combat oil spills in the Bay Area. From as early as 1918, the Audubon Association of the Pacific opposed the draining of the Klamath lakes for irrigation and land clearing purposes. Instead, they proposed that the land be given to the government for protection and conservation. This region would eventually become the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Beginning in 1928, the Audubon Association of the joined with Southern California Audubon members in a campaign to choose a state bird. Founding president Carlos Lastreto hosted a weekly 15-minute radio show about birds on KGO radio, while other members recruited schools, garden clubs, and chambers of commerce to join the contest. in 1931, the victor was the California quail with 61,559 votes, beating the western bluebird with 18,966, Bullock's oriole with 11,876, and Anna's hummingbird with 10,968. Following a collision between the liner President Coolidge and the oil tanker Frank H. Buck off of Point Bonita in 1937, volunteers from the Association documented 188 dead sea birds between Cliff House and Mussel Rock.
Joining National Audubon In the wake of World War II Golden Gate Bird Alliance grew significantly. In 1948, they joined National Audubon Society and a year later the Audubon Association of the Pacific became the Golden Gate Audubon Society.
1950s – 1960s Golden Gate Bird Alliance raised money to help build the Rotary Nature Center at Lake Merritt in 1952. In 1956, Golden Gate Bird Alliance worked with other local Audubon chapters as well as the Sierra Club to create a new salt marsh sanctuary spanning 1,000 acres (400 ha). This would later on become a part of the Don Edwards S.F. National Wildlife Refuge.
1970s Golden Gate Bird Alliance joined the Sierra Club and Save the Bay Association in sponsoring the Point Pinole Committee for the purpose of supporting the acquisition of Point Pinole as a public parkland. Purchased from Bethlehem Steel in 1971, with a $100,000 contribution from Golden Gate Bird Alliance, Point Pinole was designated for preservation and open space. In 1971, two Standard Oil tankers collided, spilling over 800,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay. Golden Gate Bird Alliance joined the clean-up efforts alongside other volunteers and workers, as well as convened a meeting between Standard Oil and other Bay Area Audubon chapters. This disaster resulted in the inception of the International Bird Rescue, an organization that has led rescue efforts in the wake of hundreds of oil spills worldwide. The unauthorized filling of the bay for the Emeryville Harbor was met with resistance from Golden Gate Bird Alliance. They proposed that, as mitigation, acreage in the Emeryville Crescent be dedicated to bird habitat. By the end of 1975, the City of Emeryville designated most of the Crescent as open space. Following this, in 1978, when the Emeryville Crescent's tidal marshes were threatened, Golden Gate Bird Alliance stepped forward and saved the marsh from destruction. Water from Mono Lake's tributaries was diverted by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to provide for the expanding Los Angeles in 1941. Over the next several decades, Mono Lake's water levels severely dropped and salinity drastically increased. The resulting degradation of the natural habitat had dire consequences for Mono Lake's ecology, and in 1978, the dispute entered the courtroom. Golden Gate Bird Alliance was the first to back the lawsuit, and former Vice President George Peyton called on National Audubon and other chapters to support the Mono Lake Committee in its legal battle to protect the lake. With Peyton coordinating the series of lawsuits, Golden Gate Bird Alliance members raised over $100,000 for legal expenses through Birdathons, raffles, and other events. The conclusion of the legal battle was a historical victory for conservationists. In 1983, it was decided that the state was obligated to protect areas such as Mono Lake, and Los Angeles was given resources to meet their water needs in an environmentally conscious way. By 1994, the state implemented a plan to stabilize Mono Lake's water level and restore the wetlands and waterways feeding the lake.
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