By Amy Meyer & Becky Evans
On October 27, 2022, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area celebrated its 50th birthday. Today, the park stretches 82,000 acres across three counties, is 60 miles long, and is one of the three most visited national parks in the United States. In honor of the park’s anniversary, we want to highlight its history and the hard work of Sierra Club members to create this monument for the people of the San Francisco Bay Area and visitors alike.
In San Francisco in 1970, former Sierra Club president Edgar Wayburn, Amy Meyer, and Executive Director of SPUR John Jacobs saw the potential for a national park in the Army lands at the Golden Gate. Together, they started a campaign and created a group called People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area (PFGGNRA).
This came at a time when the White House had plans for a park in the area that would be a mere 8,000 acres, and Interior Secretary Walter Hickel had called for "national parks for the people, where the people are, in the urban areas." People of all walks of life were realizing the importance of parks and preserved natural spaces, and some areas around the Golden Gate had already been preserved, including areas like San Francisco's Ocean Beach, Muir Woods National Monument, Mount Tamalpais State Park, and adjacent Point Reyes National Seashore.
PFGGNRA mapped a plan for a park that would span 34,000 acres, connecting all of these previously set aside natural areas and the Golden Gate Army lands. Advocates, including many from the Bay Chapter, fought hard for the park by giving speeches to civic and conservation groups, writing articles, testifying at hearings, and publishing a newsletter, aiming to halt development plans in the area.
The incredible thing about this campaign was that it was entirely bipartisan. Two major advocates for the park were congressmen Phillip Burton (a Democrat) and William Mailliard (a Republican). Thanks to the PFGGNRA’s tightly focused campaign and the support of these congressmen, a law was unanimously passed on October 27, 1972, officially establishing the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In later years, additional areas would be added to expand the park, including lands in San Mateo County.
The original motto of PFGGNRA was "to preserve the headlands of the Golden Gate for the public to use in perpetuity." Looking back 50 years, we can see that the lands and vistas of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are as beautiful now as they were then. Looking into the next 50 years, we hope that the park will continue to be enjoyed and preserved, so that all may experience the “outstanding natural, historic, scenic, and recreational values” of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
To celebrate the 50th birthday of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, learn more about the park’s history, or plan your next visit, go to nps.gov/goga/50.htm.