What We Do

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established, to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Selecting the right tools helps us ensure the survival of local plants and animals and helps fulfill the purpose of the refuge.

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established to preserve and enhance wildlife habitat in the South San Francisco Bay; protect migratory birds and threatened and endangered species; and provide opportunities for wildlife-oriented recreation and nature study for the surrounding communities.

Management and Conservation

Refuge Planning 

National Wildlife Refuge planning sets the broad vision for refuge management and the goals, objectives, strategies, and actions required to achieve it. Planning ensures that each refuge meets its individual purposes, contributes to the Refuge System’s mission and priorities, is consistent with other applicable laws and policies, and enhances conservation benefits beyond refuge boundaries. 

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established, to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Selecting the right tools helps us ensure the survival of local plants and animals and helps fulfill the purpose of the refuge.

Several conservation and restoration plans guide the conservation priorities of the refuge.   

Comprehensive Conservation Plan (2012)

Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) are the primary planning documents for National Wildlife Refuges. As outlined in the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, as amended, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is required to develop CCPs that guide refuge management for the next 15 years. CCPs articulate the Service’s contributions to meeting refuge purposes and the National Wildlife Refuge System mission. CCPs serve as a bridge between broad, landscape-level plans developed by other agencies and stakeholders and the more detailed step-downs that stem from Refuge CCPs.  

The 2012 Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge can be found here: https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/43999 

Heading 5: Step-down Plans 

CCP step-down plans guide refuge-level programs for: (1) conserving natural resources (e.g., fish, wildlife, plants, and the ecosystems they depend on for habitat); (2) stewarding other special values of the refuge (e.g., cultural or archeological resources, wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, etc.); and (3) engaging visitors and the community in conservation, including providing opportunities for wildlife-dependent recreation. Like CCPs, step-down plans contribute to the implementation of relevant landscape plans by developing SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) objectives, strategies, implementation schedules, and decision support tools to fulfill refuge visions and goals. This ensures that refuges are managed in a landscape context and that conservation benefits extend beyond refuge boundaries.  

Weed Management Plan (2013)

This plan identifies goals, objectives and priorities for the control or eradication of target weed species on the Refuge, according to their impacts on native species and communities, particularly impacts on threatened and endangered species.

Natural Resource Management Plan and Inventory and Monitoring Plan (2019)                                                                                                                                        

The Open Standard for the Practice of Conservation was used to reflect on and refine our conservation and public engagement practices as part of developing a Natural Resources Management Plan and the Inventory and Monitoring Plan. The process helped us to identify our highest priorities, refine conservation goals and objectives, align outreach and education efforts with conservation priorities, narrow the field of strategies and surveys, and build a foundation for regular evaluation, learning, and adaptation.   

National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) Improvement Act of 1997

The NWRS Improvement Act defines a unifying mission for all refuges, including a process for determining compatible uses on refuges, and requires that each refuge be managed according to a CCP. The NWRS Improvement Act expressly states that wildlife conservation is the priority of System lands and that the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of refuge lands are maintained.  

For almost a century, the 95 million acre National Wildlife Refuge System had been managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under a variety of laws without an "Organic Act," or comprehensive legislation, spelling out how it ought to be managed and used by the public. On October 9, 1997, President Clinton signed the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-57). The Act amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 in a manner that provides an “Organic Act” for the Refuge System.

The Act was passed to ensure that the Refuge System is managed as a national system of related lands, waters, and interests for the protection and conservation of our Nation's wildlife resources.

The only system of Federal lands devoted specifically to wildlife, the National Wildlife Refuge System is a network of diverse and strategically located habitats. More than 567 national wildlife refuges and thousands of waterfowl production areas across the United States teem with millions of migratory birds, serve as havens for hundreds of endangered species, and host an enormous variety of other plants and animals. Over 39 million people visit units of the National Wildlife Refuge System each year to enjoy a wide range of wildlife-related recreational opportunities.

The passage of this Act gave guidance to the Secretary of the Interior for the overall management of the Refuge System. The Act's main components include: 

  • A strong and singular wildlife conservation mission for the Refuge System
  • Requirement that the Secretary of the Interior maintain the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the Refuge System
  • A new process for determining compatible uses on refuges
  • Recognition that wildlife-dependent recreational uses involving hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, and environmental education and interpretation, when determined to be compatible, are legitimate and appropriate public uses of the Refuge System
  • That these compatible wildlife-dependent recreational uses are the priority general public uses of the Refuge System
  • A requirement for preparing a comprehensive conservation plan for each refuge

Our Projects and Research

South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project

Valley Water, the State Coastal Conservancy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have begun Phase 1 construction of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project between the Alviso Slough/Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek. Once completed, the project will protect north San José, including the community of Alviso and the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility, from a 100-year coastal storm and rising seas.

The project will provide coastal flood protection from a rising sea level, and will restore and enhance tidal marsh by using a combination of flood protection levees, wetlands and transitional zone habitats also known as ecotones. Ecotones will provide an additional protective buffer for the levee and allow marsh habitat to migrate upslope as the sea level rises. This approach of using natural infrastructure will help develop a resilient and adaptable flood protection system that can evolve in the future. For more information see the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project Fact Sheet 

Permits 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits under various wildlife law and treaties at a number of offices throughout the country. Permits enable the public to engage in legitimate wildlife-related activities that would otherwise be prohibited by law. Service permit programs ensure that such activities are carried out in a manner that safeguards wildlife. Additionally, some permits promote conservation efforts by authorizing scientific research, generating data, or allowing wildlife management and rehabilitation activates to go forward. 

Apply for a Special Use Permit

The National Wildlife Refuge System has four Special Use Permit (SUP) Applications to enable the public to engage in permitted activities on a  national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

Learn more about national wildlife refuge  . These forms are available here in a fillable format.

Prospective permit holders may fill out the corresponding application, print it, sign it, and return it to the refuge for processing. The permit is not valid until approved and signed by a refuge official. 

The activities listed below are not necessarily conducted on every refuge. Contact the refuge manager to ask if a proposed use is appropriate or compatible at a particular refuge.

Commercial Activities Special Use Permit Application (FWS Form 3-1383-C) for
  • Commercial activities such as guiding hunters, anglers or other outdoor users
  • Commercial filming (audio, video, and photographic products of a monetary value)
  • Agriculture (haying, grazing, crop planting, logging, and other agricultural products)
  • Cabins (see also the General Special Use Application and Permit described below)
    For recreational cabin and camping reservations and permits, please visit Recreation.gov.
  • Trapping

COMMERCIAL SPECIAL USE APPLICATION 

Research and Monitoring Special Use Permit Application (FWS Form 3-1383-R) for 
  • Research and monitoring activities by students, universities, or other non-FWS organizations

RESEARCH AND MONITORING SPECIAL USE APPLICATION

General Activity Special Use Permit Application  (FWS Form 3-1383-G)
  • Woodcutting
  • Miscellaneous events (fishing tournaments, one-time events, other special events)
  • Cabins/subsistence cabins (depending on the information use requirement, you may need the commercial form)
  • Education activity
  • Other (any activity not mentioned above)

GENERAL ACTIVITIES SPECIAL USE APPLICATION

Oil and Gas Operations Special Use Permit Application (FWS Form 3-2469) for
  • Operations associated with non-federal oil and gas rights and may only be conducted by operators who have demonstrated a bona fide property right to conduct the following types of activities:
     
  • Temporary activities such as reconnaissance surveys
  • Geophysical Exploration
  • Drilling (e.g., accessing site, mobilizing equipment, building roads or grading wellpad)
  • Production (e.g., operation of oil and gas well or compressor station, transportation of product off refuge)
  • Plugging and abandoning well and site reclamation

OIL AND GAS SPECIAL USE APPLICATION

For more detailed information or to apply for a permit, go to The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website. You may also contact the refuge manager directly: sfbaynwrc@fws.gov

 

Law Enforcement

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement officers have a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. They work closely with state and local government offices to enforce federal, state and refuge hunting regulations that protect migratory birds and other game species from illegal take and preserve legitimate hunting opportunities. Officers help visitors understand and obey wildlife protection laws.

Laws and Regulations

All of the rules and policies for the refuge are based on federal and state law, as well as international treaty.