Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Taken in September 2023 at Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, this image captures one of the former salt evaporation ponds that now glow in shades of pink and copper. Once part of a vast commercial salt operation, these ponds are being restored to natural wetlands, transforming an industrial landscape into a fragile ecosystem for migratory birds and wildlife. The still water mirrors the heavy sky above, while crusted salt formations rise like quiet monuments to the land’s past—where industry once ruled, and nature is slowly reclaiming its place.