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Cosco Busan Oil Spill Update |
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 Two small stewards holding back the ice plant at Yerba Buena Island. Volunteer Opportunities
Friday November 23 Presidio Plant Patrol *Cancelled* Saturday November 24 Alvord Lake Beautifcation Fort Funston Nursery Corona Heights Grassland Restoration Colma Creek Restoration Land's End Stewards Presidio Nursery World War II Memorial For more information, contact info, and directions to natural areas and restoration sites, go to the Community Calendar on the Nature in the City website. Top Calendar Of Events
*For more calendar items, as well as regular volunteer opportunites, go to the Nature in the City Calendar to view all posted events. TopArts Commission Gallery Native Plant Demonstration Garden Installation, November 17, 2007
Healthy Saturdays
Propostion A Proposition K
 A few stray
ballots have yet to be counted, but it is nevertheless clear that Prop
K, the "NoNew Advertising in our Public Spaces" policy declaration has won (The sign that really won them over, overwhelmingly! As of November and forced Prop K down the hole.) 13th, the vote is up 61% to 38%. Up The Nation's Top Farmer's Market (Greenlight) With over 4,000 farmers markets now operating in the United States, it’s time to celebrate how much our food supply has improved in quality. As a service to readers, Greenlight highlights what we consider to be the top 10 farmer's markets in the nation. Top honors goes to the SF Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market for its focus on Northern California’s family farms and food artisans, gorgeous food displays and bayside location, and nationally acclaimed educational programs. Our evalution for the top markets was based on a strict adherence to sustainable farming, ranching, fishing, or production methods, including a distance limit on how far vendors travel to reach the market; quality control by the market manager on products sold; emphasis on grower-only and food-only markets, or limiting market to small number of local handicraft vendors; focus on food and farm-related community and educational projects; support of food stamp and WIC programs; atmosphere; and support from the community at large. To read more, and see the other 9 markets, click here. Up |
November 20,
2007 In
this issue:
Oil Spill Update - Birds & the Bay Ecosystem - News - Volunteer Updates Nature in the City Calendar Volunteer Opportunities More Eco & Nature News - Native Plant Demo Garden - Proposition Update - The Nation's Top Market
Nature in the City is a project of Earth Island Institute, a 501(c) California non profit public benefit corporation. Oil Spill Update Impact on Important Bird Areas From Audubon California The Cosco Busan Oil Spill hit four Important Bird Areas in the Bay Area -- Richardson Bay, Brooks Island, East Shore Wetlands, and Bolinas Lagoon. Important Bird Areas are critical habitat for one or more species of bird and are recognized as a key component of global bird and biodiversity conservation. This is a particularly critical time for bird movement down the California Coast and with oil having moved out of the Golden Gate into the open ocean, a whole additional set of birds is at risk on the outer coast. The number of birds moving along the coast is spectacular, with one observer counting over 17,000 Pacific Loons moving south of the Bay Area along the coast in one morning. If you want additional information visit Audubon California, PRBO-Conservation Science and the San Francisco Bay Habitat Joint Venture websites.  Top News Congressional Hearing at the Presidio on the Cosco Busan Oil Spill Peter Brastow reports: "On Monday, November 19, 2007, Elijah Cummings , Chair of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 110th Congress, convened a hearing at the Golden Gate Club at the Presidio of San Francisco. Nearly the entire Bay Area congressional delegation attended including Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, as well as Laura Richardson, subcommittee member representing parts of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Mayor Gavin Newsom offered the first testimony, which helped set the stage for a bruising 3 hours for Coast Admiral Bone, who sat on the first panel, and who was then asked to remain for the 2nd panel. The first panel also included the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), whose investigation into the causes of and responses to the oil spill may take an entire year. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was there for scientific support and testimony. Finally, the California Secretary of Resources represented the Governor and the State. The 2nd panel consisted of Save the Bay’s David Lewis, the Executive Director of Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations, Zeke Grader and a Captain and Master from the San Francisco Bar Pilot’s Association, Captain Thomas Hand. Chairman Cummings focused on 2 main issues: 1. The 12 hours that elapsed before the public learned that the spill was 58,000 gallons and 2. The questions of what actually occurred among those in charge to make this happen. Other issues include the overall response rate, the amount recovered, interagency coordination, overall disaster preparedness, and of course the environmental and economic effects. Admiral Bone stated that 5-20% is the average range for oil spill cleanup, and that cleanup for this spill has reached an estimated 27%, which number has been questioned. Chairman Cummings stated very passionately that he thinks our expectations are too low, and that we are not inheriting our environment from our ancestors but borrowing it from our children. David Lewis made the important point, that while this is a relatively small spill, the ecosystem is stressed and fragile, and thus more severely affected than if it were strong. Congresswoman Barbara Lee highlighted that she hoped ecosystem protection would be central to whatever results from this investigative, legal and ultimately legislative process. Several congresspeople spoke with reverence, pride, respect, and joy at the volunteer response. The volunteer response was viewed as part of the environmental ethic and ecological sense of place on the part of the citizens of the Bay Area. The problem of the use of volunteers was a prominent topic in the discussion. Pelosi and Cummings both emphasized the volunteer phenomenon." Read the background document for more information. San Francisco Chronicle article. From Baykeeper On Monday, November 12, Senate President Don Perata announced that he would introduce legislation to improve state efforts to fund oil spill prevention and response. The Senator also chastised the Governor for failing to appoint enough members to the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board. Baykeeper spoke in support of quickly filling the empty Regional Board seats with environmentally minded appointments so that the Board can properly enforce the Clean Water Act against the Cosco Busan polluters... Baykeeper testified about the ways in which spill response after the accident failed... and made it clear that rejecting the help of thousands of volunteers in such an emergency is unacceptable. Volunteer Updates All volunteer disaster service worker trainings have been completed at this time. For further updates please check our volunteer page. Beach Cleanups/Alerts All official beach cleanups have finished at this time. For further updates check our volunteer page or one of the following: ABC 7 Coverage
TopBay Institute Baykeeper City of Berkeley City of San Francisco: 311 Cosco Busan Incident News Dept. of Fish and Game GGNRA Beach Info Int'l Bird Rescue & Research Center Kill the Spill Marine Mammal Center Oiled Wildlife Care Network Save the Bay Surfrider The Volunteer Center United States Coast Guard Wildcare Zuna Surf |
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On November 13, the Board of Supervisors passed 
