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Nature in the City News
Last Governor in the Woods: Saving our State Parks from our
Nature Terminator Governator
Dear Readers,
Our actornator, no taxanator, Close Candlestick State Recreation Area terminator, governator Arnold Schwarnegger, is at it again, NOT ONLY with a vast array of cuts to human social services, BUT ALSO now with a proposal to destroy the greatest thing about our State, the California State Parks!
The Governor's latest budget proposal would shutter at least 80% of California's entire state park system! We went through this last year, but this year is absolutely horrific! The governor has really shown his colors this time.
Beginning July 1st, the Governor will cut the parks core funding in half and then eliminate all core funding in twelve months. The Governor's proposal will eliminate $70 million from the Department of Parks and Recreation's General Fund for the 2009-10 Fiscal Year (starting July 1st), and will take the rest in the next budget year, FY 2010-11 - that's a total of $143 million!
A committee hearing is scheduled for TODAY Tuesday, June 2 at 1:30 pm, where the Legislature's Budget Conference Committee will consider his proposal.
Go to the California State Parks Foundation to Take Action.
For more details follow the Foundation's link.
Last Week's Chronicle Articles re State Parks Devastation:
May 28 - "25 Bay Area parks may close from budget crisis"
May 27 - "Governor proposes deep cuts, with more to come"
May 22 - "Schwarzenegger proposes deeper budget cuts"
Below is a list of the Bay Area parks that will be impacted:
| Burleigh H. Murray Ranch | Tomales BayBale Grist Mill | Marconi Conference Center |
| Candlestick Point | Martial Cottle Project | Petaluma Adobe |
| China Camp | Bothe-Napa Valley | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Bale Grist Mill, historic park | Mount Tamalpais | Año Nuevo, natural reserve |
| Bean Hollow, beach | Big Basin Redwoods | Angel Island |
| Butano | Castle Rock | Gray Whale Cove, beach |
| Half Moon Bay, beach | Montara, beach | Pacifica, beach |
| Pescadero, beach | Pigeon Point Light Station | Point Montara Light Station |
| Pomponio, beach | Portola Redwoods | San Bruno Mountain |
| San Gregorio, beach | Thornton, beach | Castle Rock |
| Henry W. Coe | Pacheco | Olompali, historic park |
| Benicia, recreation area | Benicia Capitol, historic park | Annadel |
| Armstrong Redwoods | Austin Creek, recreation area | Bothe-Napa Valley |
| Fort Ross, historic park | Jack London, historic park | Kruse Rhododendron |
| Samuel P. Taylor | Robert Louis Stevenson | Salt Point |
| Sonoma, historic park | Sonoma Coast | Sugarloaf Ridge |
For a full list of the affected state parks click here!
Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond Trail Reconstruction
at the Rec & Park Commission
Item number 6 at the June 4 Recreation and Park Commission special meeting will be the discussion and possible action to approve the proposed project list and prioritization for the Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond Trail Reconstruction Program.
Read more about the Park Trail Reconstruction Program here.
Click here for more information about Thursday's meeting.
The ROSE
at the Commission on the Environment Policy Committee
Item number 5 of the June 8 Commission on the Environment Policy Committee Meeting will be Recreation and Open Space Plan (ROSE) Overview. Check out our previous dialogue on the ROSE to learn more.
Click here for more information about the meeting.
Amazing Osprey
On May 7th a local photographer, Walter Kitundu, spotted a male Osprey at the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon. Mr. Kitundu expects that the warm temperatures brought fish to the surface and the bird must have noticed as it was passing by, and it came down to try its luck.
The photos are amazing, and a give a glimpse at our incredible nature in the city! Check them out here.
Best Human Guide to Endangered Species Goes To... Brent Plater!
"Brent Plater, who teaches in the environmental studies department at San Francisco State University, possesses a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of the endangered birds, plants, and fish found in the Bay Area."
Read the rest in SF Weekly's "Best of San Francisco" section.
Name that Caterpillar!
It's a Pipevine Swallowtail larvae! Craig Dawson, from the Mt. Sutro Stewards and NTC steering committee, snapped these photos up in Napa.
| Wednesday June 3 |
| Alcatraz Gardens Presidio Park Stewards @ Inspiration Point Viewshed Extension California Native Plant Society @ McLaren Park, Sunnydale Redwood Creek Presidio Nursery |
| Thursday June 4 |
| Crissy Field Landscape Lands End Stewards |
| Friday June 5 |
| Alcatraz Gardens Presidio Plant Patrol @ Battery East |
| Saturday June 6 - NATIONAL TRAILS DAY! |
| Mt. Sutro Stewards Buena Vista Restoration Area A Landscape & Maintenance Presidio Park Stewards @ Sunset Scrub/ World War II Fort Funston Friends of Mt. Davidson Lands End Stewards Presidio Nursery Redwood Creek Friends of Lake Merced San Bruno Mountain - Brisbane Acres |
| Sunday June 7 |
| Haight-Ashbury Native Plant Nursery Ocean Beach Cleanup |
For more information, contact info, and directions to natural areas go to the Community Calendar on the Nature in the City website.
Volunteer at McLaren Park!
Volunteers for Outdoor California will be teaming up with SFRPD's Natural Areas Program in August to build new trails and maintain habitat at McLaren Park.
If you're interested, check out their website and register to volunteer August 7 - 9.
Bank Swallow Volunteers
The swallows have recently returned from South America and are digging new burrows. This federally threatened species is under high levels of disturbance at Fort Funston, with hundreds of beachgoers, dogs, kites, fireworks, etc. on the beach and the cliffs above the colony. The GGNRA is looking for volunteers who would be willing to spend an hour or two below the colony on weekends for the next three months.
**If you are interested in this opportunity, please e-mail J. Patrick Furtado or call him at either (415) 331-0729 or (203)889-7784.
Help Compile List of SF Water Features
Joel Pomerantz, a San Francisco community water researcher, is compiling lists of water features that are not part of the SFPUC's water department like unexplained sidewalk vent poles, which may be left over from old wells. Joel's hope is to develop a grassroots knowledge and control of local supplies both for emergencies and to prevent profiteering as water becomes a more valuable resource. If you see anything like this, e-mail Joel.
Historic Conservation Agreement Signed for Bay Area Quarries
Center for Biological Diversity
"Center for Biological Diversity and the Alameda Creek Alliance announced a landmark agreement with a mining company to help protect species and habitat around two quarry projects -- the Apperson Ridge Quarry and the Sunol Valley Quarry -- in the Sunol area near California's San Francisco Bay."
Obama Tries to Save Local Salamander
SF Gate
May 8, 2009 - "The Obama administration has reversed a Bush administration decision and is proposing to restrict development on 74,000 acres in Sonoma County that is habitat for the endangered California tiger salamander."
Protective Regulations Proposed for Southern Green Sturgeon
Center for Biological Diversity
"The ancient but imperiled green sturgeon, which has survived unchanged for the past 200 million years, got new hope for years to come when the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed Endangered Species Act regulations to protect the fish's southern population from 'take' -- that is, harm, harassment, capture, and killing -- and other harmful activities."
GGNRA - Redwood Creek Nursery Manager and Field Biotech
Audubon Canyon Ranch - Executive Director
Audubon Canyon Ranch - Development Assistant