Presidio of San Francisco Restoration Planning

Project Summary

Integral staff have provided landscape architecture and ecological consulting services across more than 20 sites and nearly 100 acres of native habitat at the Presidio of San Francisco, a National Historic Landmark District supporting 14 rare plant species.

Location: The Presidio of San Francisco, California

Challenge

The Presidio’s unique ecology sits within a socially and politically complex setting, home to vibrant community groups, active recreational uses, and habitat for 14 rare plant species and numerous special-status wildlife, all within close proximity to human activity. Restoration work needed to accommodate public access and historic and cultural interpretive goals while building consensus among varied interest groups.

Our Role

Integral staff build consensus among community, recreational, and conservation interests through expert landscape architecture and ecological consulting, conducting extensive soils, vegetation, wildlife, watershed, and ecosystem function investigations across sensitive habitats. The team delivered regulatory permitting guidance, construction oversight, and permit compliance monitoring, provided long-term vegetation monitoring, and incorporated public access, trails, and cultural and historical interpretive features into designs.

What We Delivered & Results

In support of the Presidio Trust’s restoration program, Integral staff conducted extensive investigations across the district’s most sensitive and unique habitats, including:

• Lobos Creek coastal watershed
• Mountain Lake
• Coastal scrub, coastal dunes, and bluffs
• Upper Tennessee Hollow watershed
• Historic El Polin Spring
• Baker Beach
• Doyle Drive/Golden Gate Bridge approach

Restoration and design services were applied to more than 20 sites covering nearly 100 acres of native habitat, including dune, coastal scrub, serpentine grassland, freshwater wetland, riparian, oak woodland, and historical forest, with public access, trail features, and environmental education goals integrated throughout.

Continued collaboration with the Presidio Trust supports its ongoing restoration program across the district’s sensitive and unique habitats, sustained through a multi-decade, consensus-based partnership across varied stakeholder groups.