The San Francisco Bay Area holds the most extensive system of wild greenbelts of any major metropolitan area in the world. More than 200 parks, preserves, and other protected areas can be found within forty miles of the city. Together, they exceed Yosemite National Park in size, biodiversity, and visitation. With stunning photography and thoughtful text, this book is the first to celebrate these separate national, state, regional, county, local, and private entities as a whole.

Galen Rowell's books about wild places enjoy wide appeal because he reveals--in images and words--the essential nature of his subjects. The 172 photographs in this book--of rugged coasts, wild animals, redwood forests, wildflower meadows, oak woodlands, river deltas, bay wetlands, and mountain ranges--are every bit as evocative as images that lure travelers to far corners of the earth.

Working with Rowell to create this stunning collection of images was award-winning photographer Michael Sewell, another Bay Area native. Sewell has spent years photographing Bay Area wildlife, using a combination of remote cameras triggered by infrared beams and Native American animal calls to record elusive creatures at close range in their natural habitat. Often working together in the field, Rowell and Sewell spent two years completing their coverage of Bay Area wildlands, wetlands, and waters.

Spectacular photographs and Galen Rowell's rich descriptions of magnificent Bay Area landscapes, as well as interviews with the men and women who were instrumental in preserving them, combine to make Bay Area Wild an unforgettable celebration of these unique national treasures.