Building a Foundation for Nature Conservation

The San Francisco Bay Area Network (SFAN) is one of 32 National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Networks across the country established to facilitate collaboration, information sharing, and economies of scale in natural resource monitoring. SFAN consists of eight national park units located along the central California coast. These parks contain some of the most significant examples of terrestrial Mediterranean-type ecosystems and coastal marine environments anywhere in the world.

This site provides access to study results, data, and related analysis about the natural resources investigated by the SFAN network and its park, research, and land management partners. Park managers use this information make decisions about park resources.

Person with a measuring tape on a rocky shelf just above the SF Bay, the city in the background.
What We Monitor

Twelve natural resources monitoring programs are at the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area Inventory & Monitoring Network's long-term work.

Two downy, white falcon nestlings in a cliff cavity on either side of an unhatched egg.
Bay Area Parks Nature & Science Blog

Get the latest updates on science and natural resources in and around Bay Area national parks.

Hillside covered in deep purple lupine flower clusters.
Botany Newsletter

Check out what the invasive plant monitoring and plant community monitoring teams have been up to.

A female seal lays on her belly, while in the background a researcher observes through binoculars.
Staff Photo Contest

Monitoring staff, interns, and volunteers share their best shots from the field.

Two male elephant seals chest-to-chest on a Point Reyes beach.
Elephant Seal Seasonal Updates

Keep up with the latest numbers as the National Park Service monitors elephant seals during their breeding and molting seasons.

Biologists walk through a shady section of creek with large dip nets.
Coho & Steelhead Seasonal Updates

Keep up with the latest as coho and steelhead are monitored at different life stages at different times of year.

Last updated: February 2, 2023