The Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Reserve (FAWR) Committee, a conservation committee of Golden Gate Bird Alliance, works to create a better environment for our local wildlife throughout the City of Alameda.  

Our volunteers: 

  • Work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to preserve and enhance wildlife populations and their habitat at a critical breeding site for the California Least Tern on the former Alameda Naval Air Station and its surrounding land, which is now owned by the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs (the VA) under the name VA-Alameda Point. We call the site the Alameda Wildlife Reserve. 
  • Advocate before City of Alameda elected officials and commissions, the Bay Conservation and Development Committee, the California Coastal Commission, and other agencies on proposed development projects, the creation of a new ecological park, a bird-safe buildings ordinance, and other matters of concern to the community.  In our advocacy, we frequently partner with the Sierra Club and CASA (Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda). 
  • Monitor and provide public field trips to the 2023 Bald Eagle nesting territory on Bay Farm Island, with the support of Greenway Golf, which manages Corica Park, the location of the nest site. 
  • Monitor Peregrine Falcons, Osprey, Double-Crested Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Egrets and Harbor Seals at locations in Alameda. 
  • Provide education and outreach to both adults and children through our Alameda Sun and Alameda Post articles, presentations to adult groups, programs for children, and other opportunities. 
  • Support East Bay Regional Parks at their Return of the Terns event at Crab Cove and in doing habitat restoration at Encinal Beach, part of Crown Beach.  Sign up: https://goldengateaudubon.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/goldengateaudubon/event.jsp?event=12005

FAWR was founded with the primary purpose of protecting the California Least Terns and other wildlife by designating over 500 acres in the former Naval Air Station as a federal wildlife refuge. When this became unlikely, the land was transferred to the VA. In acquiring this unique parcel of land, the VA committed to overseeing the reserve acreage as a conservation management area, presently managed in cooperation with the USFWS. FAWR continues to support the reserve, its birds, and their habitat.  The reserve has become a refuge for a wide variety of birds and other wild creatures. We conduct twice-monthly bird surveys on the reserve and provide volunteers for projects as needed by USFWS.  We have conducted habitat restoration on the colony site and monitored the terns during nesting. The committee is dedicated to building public support for the reserve and to ensuring the long-term survival of species that depend upon its habitat, including the endangered California Least Tern.

See the Least Terns:  RETURN OF THE TERNS 2011, VIDEO FOOTAGE BY ALAN HARPER

FAWR presently meets most months on the third Thursday of the month at 3:30 pm at Crab Cove. If you would like to become a member, learn more about what we do, or bring a project to our attention, please email FAWR@GOLDENGATEAUDUBON.ORG.