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A Nature in the City Equinox Weekend!
Come on out and participate in one of our community stewardship projects, and learn how you can build a positive relationship with nature where you live. Ecological restoration and stewardship heals habitats and biodiversity, and benefits people by strengthening your sense of place and building community with your friends and neighbors. Go Stewardship!!!
The weekend of Sept 18 - 20 will have tons of opportunities to enjoy nature in the city, from habitat restoration to documentaries:
Mission Greenbelt (Sept 18)
Mt. Sutro Stewards (Sept 19)
Green Hairstreak project (Sept 19)
California Coastal Cleanup Day (Sept 19)
Cole Valley Street Fair (Sept 20)
No Impact Man (Sept 20)
Come visit Nature in the City at the Cole Valley Street Fair! We will be selling native plants and Field Guides to the Butterflies of San Francisco, have info on the Green Hairstreak Corridor & other projects, and Urbia Adventure guides for the whole family!
Top the weekend off by joining us at the 7 pm, Sept 20 showing of No Impact Man at the Lumiere Theatre, where Stewardship Coordinator, Iris Clearwater, will be presenting about Nature in the City, our projects, and planting natives for butterflies and birds.
Check our calendar for more information, dates, and times!
Help Pass a Bill to Save State Parks!
California State Parks Foundation
"Yesterday, the State Assembly passed Senate Bill 679 by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Linden), a bill sponsored by CSPF to protect our state park system and ensure that lands used as state parks cannot be used for non-park purposes without providing substitute lands to make Californians' investment in our state parks whole.
SB 679 will now be taken up for a final vote in the State Senate - and we need your help to make sure your senator hears from park supporters (like you!) who want stronger protection for state parks. Now, more than ever, we need to make sure that these places that have been specifically set aside for their natural, cultural or historic value are not made vulnerable to development projects or other proposals that would use parks for non-park purposes.
Your senator's vote is extremely important to ensure the bill's successful passage. Please take a moment to contact your senator and urge them to vote for SB 679 and help protect our park lands from damaging development and infrastructure projects."
Butterfly Walk and Photos
Butterfly Walk at Alemany Farm
September 12
11 am - 1 pm
Nature in the City Steering Committee member, Liam O'Brien, will be leading a butterfly walk at Alemany Farm this weekend and he will have the brand new Nature in the City Field Guide to Butterflies of San Francisco for sale! Bring your lunch and learn your butterflies!
Liam will be leading another butterfly walk at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area on September 27 at 11 am! Butterfly Field Guides will also be available.
On one of Liam's last walks, this beautiful Gray Hairstreak was spotted!
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Gray Hairstreak at the Presidio Photos by Matt Zlatunich |
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Park(ing) Day with Mission Greenbelt!
From Nature in the City Steering Committee member, Amber Hasselbring:
Park(ing) Day
Friday, September 18th (all day)!
19th & Valencia, SF
Help the Mission Greenbelt put the final touches on their Community Challenge Grant (CCG) application and enjoy a nice day in their park(ing) spot!
"We have:
- Park(ing) Day set up with plants & photography by Bay Natives with a fun, active workspace by Amber Hasselbring.
We need:
- Help with park set-up at 7 a.m.
- People ready to fill out Sidewalk Landscaping Permits for sidewalk gardens in front of their homes or apartment buildings (if you are a renter, you must have your landlord's signature)
- Other ways you want to be in the park (temporary artwork, performance, discussions or whatever you want to contribute)
- Community Challenge Grant (CCG) application budget help
- Volunteers to sign up so we can document labor hours, services & supplies (the CCG requests this)
- Help with park take-down at 5 p.m.Questions or thoughts, give Amber a call at (415) 786-4957."
Sharp Park Fight Continues
SF Chronicle
The Chronicle published Nature in the City Steering Committee member, Brent Plater's, op-ed today - "It's time for San Francisco to take a mulligan at Sharp Park: Let's take another shot and build a better public park, a park that will protect the environment and create a recreational space that everyone can enjoy."
Read the opposing editorial, published September 3 - "Golfers teeing off Sharp Park course in Pacifica have more to worry about than a slice or hook. The beachside course, run by San Francisco's parks system, is home to a colorful snake and bug-eyed frog whose advocates want the 18-hole muni course sharply altered, if not eliminated."
And finally, a full article was published August 31, 2009 - "The phrase 'historic landscape' conjures up visions of cobblestoned streets or revered public grounds, a la Golden Gate Park.
A determined band of golfers want landmark status applied to something quite different: a golf course in Pacifica, with a highway on one side and a seawall on the other."
Bats in the City
Previous SF resident, Jennifer Krauel, completed a thesis of the foraging ecology of bats in San Francisco:
"There are at least four species of bats in the city. By far (84%) most of them are Mexican Freetailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis ). Parks that have water in them also tended to have Yuma Myotis bats (Myotis yumanensis ). The two other bats I found were Western Red bat (Lasiurus blossevillii) and Little Brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)."
San Francisco Magazine: Danger Ahead
SF Magazine covers Newsom's green creds and discusses Wade Crowfoot's past role and new position at Environmental Defense Fund - yet biodiversity is not mentioned!
"Such is the current character of San Francisco that it’s possible to construct a social schedule composed almost entirely of “eco-drinks” mixers, a latter-day cultural marker that combines earnest environmental talk, a full bar, and a certain amount of networking and/or cruising, depending on your interests."
Closure of Ramps to Southbound Highway 1/ Park Presidio
September 12 - 13; 5:30 - 11:30 am
The off-ramps from Highway 101/Doyle Drive to southbound Highway 1/Park Presidio Boulevard will be closed Saturday and Sunday from 5:30-11:30 a.m.
This is the second round of four weekend morning ramp closures necessary to safely conduct tree removal adjacent to the ramps in preparation for construction of the Doyle Drive replacement.
Northbound Highway 1 to the Golden Gate Bridge and southbound Highway 1 in San Francisco will remain open. Those traveling from the North Bay to the San Francisco International Airport should use Highway 101.
Remaining morning weekend ramp closures are September 19-20 and September 26-27. For more information visit doyledrive.org.
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Volunteer Opportunities |
| Wednesday September 16 |
| Alcatraz Gardens Presidio Park Stewards @ Lobos Creek California Native Plant Society @ Mt. Davidson Redwood Creek Presidio Nursery |
| Thursday September 17 |
| Crissy Field Landscape Lands End Stewards |
| Friday September 18 |
| Alcatraz Gardens Presidio Plant Patrol @ Wherry Corridor |
| Saturday September 19 |
| Friends of Glen Canyon Alvord Lake Beautification Area A Landscape & Maintenance Presidio Park Stewards @ Mountain Lake Fort Funston Help Heal Hairstreak Habitat! Lands End Stewards Presidio Nursery Friends of Shields/Orizaba Rocky Outcrop Friends of Brooks Park |
| Sunday September 20 |
| Haight-Ashbury Native Plant Nursery Ocean Beach Cleanup Sunday of Service San Bruno Mountain |
For more information, contact info, and directions to natural areas go to the Community Calendar
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More Local Nature News |
Help Prevent Invasive Plant Imports!
"USDA has published new guidelines for screening plant imports -- a critical aspect of preventing new invasive plant introductions to the country. Under the current system, plants can be imported with virtually no oversight of whether they might be invasive, and many of the wildland weeds we already have were originally introduced intentionally, often as ornamentals.
USDA needs to hear that preventing the introduction of invasive plants is important.
Comments are being taken until October 21. Cal-IPC has set up a web page with a sample letter, instructions on sending it and submitting a formal comment, and background info."
Russians Urge Governor to Save Fort Ross
SF Gate
"The Russians came back to Fort Ross on Thursday nearly two centuries after founding the coastal California settlement, but instead of spearing otters, they want to preserve a legacy.
Stunned upon learning that California might close Fort Ross, the Russian government dispatched its ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, to urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to save the picturesque wooden outpost from the state's budget guillotine."