It is with great joy that we celebrate Beth Huning’s induction into California Waterfowler’s Hall of Fame. The California Fish and Game Commission established the Waterfowler’s Hall of Fame in 1999 to recognize leaders for their significant contributions to protecting waterfowl and their habitats across California. The 2023 inductees also include Daniel P. Connelly, Joseph Fleskes, and Albert Seeno, Jr.
Beth is recognized for her leadership launching the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV) in 1996, while serving as the Director at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary; as well as developing the SFBJV’s first Implementation Plan (2001). Over her 18 years with the SFBJV, Beth played an integral role in collaborating to protect, restore and enhance 75,000 acres of wetland habitat.
There are many highlights throughout Beth’s tenure at the SFBJV that showcase the creativity, commitment, and can-do attitude that she used to achieve lasting results. A few include:
- Incorporating the vision for the San Pablo Bay that Beth developed while at Audubon into the SFBJV’s first Implementation Plan, and assisting partners with acquisitions, project design and implementation at Sears Point, Skaggs Island, and other projects.
- Supporting planning, outreach, and fundraising at the South Bay Salt Ponds (15,100 acres), Giacomini Wetlands – at the head of Tomales Bay, and Redwood Creek and Big Lagoon at Muir Beach.
- Coordinating with partners to secure and direct funding toward priority projects, including in the formation of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority.
Furthermore, we have Beth and collaborators to thank for championing the San Francisco Bay in being recognized for its value to global conservation. She facilitated and helped submit the nomination of the Bay as a Hemispheric Site under the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, and the application that led to Ramsar designation as a wetland of international importance.
We are thrilled that the California Fish and Game Commission, along with selection committee members, California Waterfowl Association, Ducks Unlimited, Conservation Solutions, Gaines and Associates, University of California – Davis, National Audubon Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have honored Beth and her work. We are inspired to continue Beth’s work to achieve a better future for both wildlife and people of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Please join us in celebrating Beth and this honor where she joins the ranks of those who have contributed so much to the preservation of waterfowl and wetlands in California.
Photo: Beth is honored as a 2023 Inductee into the California Waterfowler’s Hall of Fame during a lunch celebration held on February 22, 2024. From left to right, Fritz Reid, retired, DU; State Senator Bill Dodd; Beth Huning, retired, SFBJV Coordinator; Congressman Mike Thompson; John Carlson, President, California Waterfowl Association. Photo credit: Glenn Olson