Port of San Francisco Pier 98, California

Consisting of around 23 acres of wetlands at the northern end of Hunter's Point Peninsula, Heron Head Park (so named because of its resemblance to a heron's head - at least from the air), is one of the few remaining wetland/salt marsh habitats in the San Francisco Bay area. The park's genesis can be traced to the early 1970's, when the Port of San Francisco began a project to retrieve more bay fill material from the slopes of San Bruno Mountain (a plan that helped form an environmental coalition to protect the mountain), with the hope of creating a new shipping terminal to be called Pier 98. The project was abandoned long before completion however, and the site was left to the elements. Gradually over time a salt marsh evolved, which became home to a host of native plants and assorted wildlife. In the late 1990's, the Port of San Francisco embarked on a major project to remediate, renovate, and develop the site into a public park. In 1999, the former Pier 98 site was officially reborn as Heron Head Park.