8 - Industrial & Laundry Building and Bird Nesting

WAYSIDE #1 LAYOUT: Two cream colored, vertically oriented panels with a dark banner running across the top of both. The banner reads “Golden Gate National Recreation Area” on the left and the National Park Service logo on the right. The first wayside is on the left. There is one main column with text and three images, one of them faded into the background.  

TEXT: Industrial and Laundry Buildings: Alcatraz’s workshops and factories. In the early 1900’s, when Alcatraz was an army post, the building just ahead house a blacksmith shop, typewriter shop, hat and shoe shops, and other areas where inmates worked for pay. These industries were considered model prison programs and the building became known as the “Model Shop.” The work continued after Alcatraz became a federal penitentiary, though prison officials were concerned about the building’s security.  

In 1940, the new and more secure facility to your left was completed and all inmate factory work was moved there. The new building housed a laundry, as well. Inmates washed uniforms for Bay Area military bases, despite the fact that freshwater had to be barged to the island.  
 

DESCRIPTION #1: Black and white image of a man using a machine. Behind him, using another machine, is another man working on a project. There are coat hooks filled with various items of clothing running along the walls behind the men.  

CAPTION: Work was mandatory for military inmates, but penitentiary prisoners had to earn the privilege of a job. Penitentiary Era, circa 1943.  

DESCRIPTION #2: Two men, one shirtless, are working to make a large cargo net. The net is hanging from a rod in front of them. Behind the half-made net is a tall chain link fence.  

CAPTION: Making navy cargo nets during World War II meant a break from the monotony of a tiny cell. Penitentiary Era, circa 1943. 

BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION: Black and white image of the backs of men working diligently on sewing machines. Spools of thread can be seen in front the men.  

CAPTION: Government agencies bought the products inmates produced – including military uniforms, gloves, and wooden push brooms. Penitentiary Era, circa 1950.  

WAYSIDE #2 LAYOUT: Two waysides, side by side. This wayside is on the right. There are two columns of information. The first column has text with two images below it. The second column has 3 images with captions. At the bottom is an enclosed box with an image and text.  

FIRST COLUMN:  

TEXT: Nesting Grounds: Monitoring Alcatraz’s bird colonies. In the area all around, wester gulls breed, nest, and raise their young each spring and summer – observed from inside the old industrial building nearby. Thousands of birds nest on the island, watched by wildlife biologists, the real “bird men and women” of Alcatraz. With the help of volunteers, the biologists monitor the various bird species in order to learn about their responses to human presence.  

Information gathered through monitoring helps the National Park Service understand how human activity impacts the reproductive behavior of Alcatraz’s birds. Knowing which species are noise-sensitive, for example, and which are disturbed by even the sight of a human being, enables park staff to design effective protective measures. Measures included shielding cormorant colonies with screens and closing some areas of the island during nesting season.  

DESCRIPTION #1: Colored graphic illustration of Alcatraz Island. Denoting the bird nesting areas on the island. The bird's areas marked include Pigeon Guillemot, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, California Gull, Western Gull, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and the Snowy Egret.  

CAPTION: Bird nesting areas on Alcatraz.  

DESCRIPTION #2: Colored photograph of visitors scattered in the Dock area of Alcatraz Island. Visitors can be seen in the foreground, walking up a ramp towards the ferry.  

CAPTION: Thousands of tourists have visited every day since the penitentiary opened to the public in 1972 Four to five thousand people visit the island every day during the nesting season. Please avoid disturbing the birds with loud noise or activity, or attempts to get their attention.  

SECOND COLUMN:  

DESCRIPTION #1: Colored photograph of a seagull. The bird is mostly white, with grey colored wings and an orange beak. It is standing on a ledge and trees can be seen in the background.  

CAPTION: Above: Western gull (Laras occidentalis). Below: Alcatraz bird biologist measuring egg 

DESCRIPTION #2: Colored photograph of a woman. She is holding an egg in her left hand and a caliper (measuring device) in her right hand. She is measuring the width of the egg.  

CAPTION: Where armed guards once counted prisoners to make sure none had attempted flight from the Rock, wildlife monitors now tally birds. In recent years, they have counted 108 different species, including well over 1,000 pairs of western gulls (in 2006), 70 pairs of snowy egrets (in 2007), and one lone burrowing owl.  

DESCRIPTION #3: Colored photograph of a male park staff member. He is sitting on a green chair facing away from the viewer, towards a window. The man is turned towards the view, with his arm resting on the back of the chair. He is wearing binoculars on a lanyard around his neck, a face mask and a green winter hat. He is wearing tan fingerless gloves.  
 
CAPTION: Observing birds on a cold day. Monitoring bird behaviors and populations has been ongoing on Alcatraz since 1973. Scientists from the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO Conservation Science) have been keeping tabs on the seabird species since 1996. But watching the island’s winged residents became a federal matter when a Final Environmental Impact Statement issued in 2001 – the FEIS required the National Park Service to conduct behavioral and disturbance research to assist in protecting Alcatraz’s birds.  

DESCRIPTION: Colored photograph of a black and white speckled bird chick next to two brown and black speckled bird eggs. They are resting in a nest made of straw.  

CAPTION: Western gull eggs and chick (Larus occidentalis). 

TEXT: Born to be wild. With a potential life span of 25-30 years, including 20 or more breeding years, and a clutch of three eggs every nesting season, suggest that each pair of western gulls could raise more than 60 chicks. However, just one or two chicks fledge from each clutch, and of the very few that survive to adulthood, most live no more than ten years. Through careful management, the island provides vital nesting habitat for colonies of gulls and other sea birds.