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.

Point Blue Conservation Science and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have partnered together to address one of the most important conservation projects in California. The Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge is one of our nation’s treasures, with significant populations of nesting seabirds, marine mammals, and native salamanders, insects and plants. 

Over the past five decades, Point Blue Conservation Science, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners have worked to protect and restore the damaged Farallon ecosystem, which is threatened by climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change
and non-native species, like the invasive house mouse. Learn more about Point Blue Conservation Science

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. 

Comprehensive Conservation Plans 

Comprehensive Conservation Plans 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 Comprehensive Conservation Plans that guide refuge management for the next 15 years. Comprehensive Conservation Plans articulate the Service’s contributions to meeting refuge purposes and the National Wildlife Refuge System mission.  

The 2009 Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Farallon National Wildlife Refuge can be found here: https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/5979 

Step-down Plans 

Comprehensive Conservation Plan 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 Comprehensive Conservation Plans, 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.