Saving the Bay - Lessons Learned for Rhode Island

Rhode Island has a love, respect and pride in its beautiful Narragansett Bay. We play in it, live around it, and depend on it for many a livelihood. Awareness of this natural treasure - and the hard work it takes to keep it pristine - is due in part to the local organization, Save The Bay.

Starting this week, for the next four Wednesdays (May 11 through June 1), at 10 p.m., WSBE Rhode Island PBS will air a series about another beautiful bay, one all the way across the continent.

Narrated by Robert Redford, Saving the Bay explores the history of one of America’s greatest natural resources — San Francisco Bay — with four one-hour episodes tracing the Bay from its geologic origins following the last Ice Age through years of catastrophic exploitation to restoration efforts of today. This spectacular high-definition series takes viewers on an unforgettable journey around the waters of San Francisco Bay and the larger northern California watershed from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Farallon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The series also highlights the story of three women who rallied an entire region to save San Francisco Bay from becoming little more than a river. Spearheaded by three women in the East Bay hills, the story of how the Bay was saved is not only compelling in its own right, but offers an invaluable lesson about how ordinary citizens can have an impact on protecting and enhancing our natural environment.

Conceived as more than purely a public television series, Saving the Bay is a huge public education endeavor designed to raise awareness of San Francisco Bay — it’s evolution, how we almost lost and then saved the Bay, and how we are planning the future of the Bay including wetland restoration, increased public access and balancing the often competing needs of a fragile ecosystem which is the centerpiece of a major urban area home to over 7 million people.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on 36.1, and is carried on Cox cable 08/HD 708, Verizon 08/HD 508, Full Channel 08, Dish 7776, DirecTV 36, Comcast HD 819; Massachusetts subscribers of Comcast standard definition should check local listings for channel designation.