News
Farming the City
Garden for the Environment
If San Francisco resident Kevin Bayuk has his way, every unused plot of land in this densely packed city, from narrow, shaded alleys to concrete-laden yards, will be transformed into organic-food-producing gardens.
Bayuk and other urban gardeners with big dreams but little capital are striving to create a metropolis that can feed itself.
It's one thing to support local organic agriculture, as in the region's farms that sell their goods at farmers' markets. But for Bayuk, a 30-year-old landscaper and gardener who lives in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, a truly local food system means being able to walk down the block from your house to harvest a bowl of salad greens for dinner.
Read the full SF Chronicle article here.
Native Bees Can Save the Day
WildCare
While apiarists are fighting colony collapse disorder in domestic honeybees, more than 1,500 different species (just in California!) of native bees are busily doing their jobs. If we can just keep our pesticides out of the food chain…
As if we don’t have enough to worry about, evidence suggests that pollinating insects -- including our star pollinators, bees -- are declining in numbers on a global scale. The primary cause of this decline is that, like many other creatures in the natural world, bees are being pushed out of their natural habitat by human development.
Read the full article here.
Green Hairstreak Confirmed at Lobos Dunes
The first Green Hairstreak butterfly of the year was sighted at the Presidio's Lobos dunes by Damien Raffa on Saturday, April 5. "I was so thrilled today to see my first green hairstreak, much to my surprise, walking with my daughter Aria at Lobos Dunes. It lit upon some buckwheat," said Damien. "She too was excited to see a green butterfly."
Go check out Lobos Dunes and see if you too can spot the elusive Green Hairstreak OR if you are around Grandview park, take an exciting walk with Liam O'Brien, head of the Green Hairstreak Project. There are three upcoming walks this season to see the butterfly and they can all be found on the Nature in the City website.
Manzanita Up For Landmark Tree Status
Urban Forestry Council will be holding their Landmark Tree Committee metting today, April 8 at 8pm. There will be a hearing held to determine whether the trees nominated meet the criteria for designation as landmark trees.
One of the trees up for discussion is Howell’s Manzanita (Manzanita hispidula), located at 115 Parker Avenue. You may find some explanatory documents like the Nomination Form(PDF), Photo1 (PDF) & Photo2(PDF), and a Staff Evaluation Form.
2008 Environmental Awards Nominations Wanted
San Francisco Beautiful's Executive Director, Dee Dee Workman announced the 2008 Beautification Awards theme, Hilltop to Water's Edge: The Unifying Power of Urban Beauty. Nominations are due by May 8th at 5:00 p.m. Projects must be located in San Francisco and be visually and/or physically accessible to the general public. Awards will be presented during San Francisco Beautiful's Beautification Awards Dinner on October 24th at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. For more information, or an awards nomination form, call 415.421.2608 or visit www.sfbeautiful.org.
Also in May, the Wild Care Terwilliger Environmental Award and a $2,000 cash prize will be presented at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center.
WildCare is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Terwilliger Environmental Award to recognize environmental educators who, like nationally renowned Elizabeth Terwilliger, are committed to conservation and sustainability, and who share their remarkable love for the natural world. Nominations are due today, April 8! For more information, visit Wild Care.
Brisbane City Council Gives Way to Insufficient EIR
San Bruno Mountain Watch
On March 10th the Brisbane City Council voted to accept the environmental review for the Northeast Ridge project on San Bruno Mountain, which will add 71 new homes in endangered butterfly habitat. The Planning Commission had recommended that they reject it.
The vote was disappointing, but not unexpected. The San Bruno Mountain Watch board is weighing its legal options in its continuing fight to protect endangered species and preserve sensitive habitat on the mountain.
Starting April 7 the Anthropological Studies Center of Sonoma State University and park staff will be conducting historic archeological excavations at the Merrie Way Stands Site at Land's End. Anyone who would like to visit the work in progress, which is near the old entrance to the Merrie Way parking area above the Sutro Baths on Point Lobos Avenue, is more than welcome to visit.
The Stands are a series of refuse disposal features associated with concessionaires at the
Sutro Pleasure Grounds on Merrie Way, an amusement park constructed in 1895 from remains of the 1894 SF Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park. The Stands lasted until about 1915.
Construction of the new Merrie Way parking lot will remove most of the site. Anyone who would like to visit the work in progress, which is near the old entrance to the Merrie Way parking area above the Sutro Baths on Point Lobos Avenue, is more than welcome to visit. Come and see the artifactual evidence of public recreation in the parklands 100 years ago!!
Volunteer Opportunities
Wednesday April 9
Presidio Park Stewards @Field Office Dunes
CNPS @ Bayview
Presidio Nursery
Thursday April 10
Crissy Field Landscape
Lands End Stewards
Friday April 11
Presidio Plant Patrol @Presidio Hills
Saturday April 12
Quail on the Presidio
Herons Head Marsh
Presidio Park Stewards @ Wherry Dunes
Fort Funston
Oak Woodlands
Lands End Stewards
Presidio Nursery
Fiends of McLaren Park
Colma Creek
Friends of Edgehill Mountain
For more information, contact info, and directions to natural areas go to the Community Calendar on the Nature in the City website.
More Eco News and Events
ACT locally, ADVOCATE globally
Reigning in the Rain
Wednesday, April 23
9am - 4pm
SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Auditorium
1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400, Oakland
Learn about practical application, design, implementation, and maintenance of low impact development techniques, and their economic and ecological benefits, from industry experts and local practitioners with first-hand experience. Permeable pavement sessions will provide technical design information on how to use permeable asphalt, concrete, and pavers, in driveways, parking lots, patios, and sidewalks.
For more information about the conference and how to register, click here (PDF).
Tortoise Gives Way to Tanks
SF Chronicle
Scientists have begun moving the Mojave Desert's flagship species, the desert tortoise, to make room for tank training at the Army's Fort Irwin despite protests by some conservationists.
The controversial project, billed as the largest desert tortoise move in California history, involves transferring 770 endangered reptiles from Army land to a dozen public plots overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Read the full story here.
Reclaiming the Aral Sea
Scientific American
The Aral Sea in Central Asia was the fourth-largest lake on the planet in 1960. By 2007 it had shrunk to 10 percent of its original size. Widespread, wasteful irrigation of the deserts along the Amu and Syr rivers, which feed the Aral, cut the freshwater inflow to a trickle.
The sea has shriveled into three major residual lakes, two of which are so salty that fish have disappeared. To get a brief glimpse at the restoration efforts and the degraedation the lake faces, visit Scientific American.
Fence Trumps Environment Laws
SF Gate
In an aggressive move to finish building 670 miles of border fence by the end of 2008, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it would waive federal environmental laws to meet that goal.
The two waivers, allowing the department to slash through a thicket of environmental and cultural laws, would be the most expansive to date, encompassing land in California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas that stretches about 470 miles.
Read the full article here.
