Author Archives: webmaster

Blackberry Provides Valuable Habitat

Posted on August 15, 2018

From time to time, over the years, we have written about the value of blackberry as habitat, and as part of this wonderful forest.  (See: Sutro Forest Ecosystem and Wildlife Habitat.) Recently, wildlife photographer and observer Janet Kessler published this … Continue reading →

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The Very Long Life of Eucalyptus Trees

Posted on June 27, 2018

From the time we established this website in 2009, we have battled a series of myths used to attack eucalyptus trees. One of the most pernicious is that the trees are short-lived, and so are dying of old age. We … Continue reading →

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UCSF to Start Cutting Trees in Fall 2018 – “Final EIR” Published

Posted on May 2, 2018

UCSF has issued its proposed Final Environmental Impact Report. (You can read it here as a PDF. It’s more than 2000 pages. Mount Sutro Vegetation Management Plan 2018 Final EIR_Full Document They expect to have it certified by the Board of … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Mt Sutro landslide risk, UCSF | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Two Nativist Myths: Eucalyptus Kills Other Plants; Mutually Exclusive Relationships are Common in Nature

Posted on February 12, 2018

We re-publish with permission (and added emphasis) an article from  MillionTrees.me, a website that fights the unnecessary felling of trees in the Bay Area. The article, a report from someone who attended the February 2018 meeting of the California Native … Continue reading →

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Bad News from Sutro Forest – Clearcuts in Interior Green Belt

Posted on December 28, 2017

A forest lover alerted us to some serious tree destruction on the Cole Valley side of Sutro Forest – the Interior Green Belt. This is the city-owned side of the forest. We knew that some tree-cutting was planned. Some months … Continue reading →

Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Natural areas Program | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Season’s Greetings!

Posted on December 12, 2017

It’s the holiday season again, and we’d like to wish all our readers and supporters all the best, for this season and for the year ahead. We’d like to celebrate with this quiet painting by artist Brian Stewart, showing bees … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus

Lest We Forget (2): Sutro Forest 2007

Posted on December 4, 2017

This website was set up only in 2009, and except for a few pictures of San Francisco in the old days, most of our photographs come from June 2009 or later. Hiker Tony Holiday (who blogs at Stairways are Heaven) … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Lest We Forget: Sutro Forest – 2004, 2005, 2006

Posted on December 2, 2017

This website was set up only in 2009, and except for a few pictures of San Francisco in the old days, most of our photographs come from June 2009 or later.  Hiker Tony Holiday (who blogs at Stairways are Heaven) … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Furious Letter from a Forest Lover

Posted on November 28, 2017

We received this letter from a long-time hiker in Sutro Forest, who is aghast at the destruction there. We publish it unedited. —————————— “Dear fellow environmentalists and friends of Mount Sutro Forest … I am lately shocked and horrified even … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

“Hazardous Tree Work” – Cutting Down Trees on Mount Sutro This Winter

Posted on November 11, 2017

Well, the nesting season is over – and the cutting is starting. On Nov 9, 2017  we received a notice from UCSF that they are starting “hazardous tree work” on Monday November 13. 2017.  They plan on cutting down 50 … Continue reading →

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Barn Owl in Sutro Forest

Posted on October 13, 2017

Evening visitors to the Sutro Forest have long known that Great Horned Owls live or visit there.  They’re specially easy to hear, with soft resonant hoots. Last night, it was a Barn Owl, which is less easy to see. This … Continue reading →

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Monarch Butterfly at Twin Peaks – Oct 2017

Posted on October 9, 2017

A few days ago, a viewer watching the planes rehearse for Fleet Week spotted a different kind of aerial phenomenon: Monarch butterflies, fluttering around over Twin Peaks. “I was driving by Twin Peaks,” they wrote, “and paused to watch the … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, UCSF | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Disturbing Sutro Forest Would Release a Lot of Green House Gases

Posted on September 24, 2017

We’ve pointed out before that Sutro Forest is an excellent carbon sink: The trees are tall, fast growing and have dense wood. In some parts of the forest, the mid-story of blackwood acacia boosts this carbon storage as well. The … Continue reading →

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What Will Sutro Forest Look Like After the Plan?

Posted on September 12, 2017

It’s going to look pretty awful in Sutro Forest when UCSF implement the Plan. The most immediate action: Cut down thousands of trees. Here’s what the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) says: “The density of the forest would experience the … Continue reading →

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Sutro Forest Plan: Heavy Machinery in Unstable Areas

Posted on September 8, 2017

Recently, we wrote that the  Sutro Forest 2017 Plan Imposes a Landslide Risk. A University of Washington study shows that mudslides are most like 5-10 years after trees have been cut down on slopes. The picture below shows the South … Continue reading →

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Sutro Forest 2017 Plan Imposes a Landslide Risk

Posted on August 28, 2017

We’re reading the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the 2017 Sutro Forest Plan, and got to the section on landslide risk. This has been one of our concerns, especially since the tragedy at Oso, Washington, where the felling of … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Mt Sutro landslide risk, UCSF, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Public Comments due Sept 22, 2017 on Sutro Forest DEIR

Posted on August 5, 2017

UCSF has released a humongous 1087-page Draft Environmental Impact Report on the Plan to cut down thousands of trees in Sutro Forest. The deadline for public comment has been extended in response to a San Francisco Forest Alliance request, to … Continue reading →

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Year 9 of Mission Blue Butterfly on Twin Peaks: Mixed Results

Posted on July 22, 2017

It’s now Year 9 of the the Mission Blue butterfly project on Twin Peaks, San Francisco. In 2008, SF Recreation and Parks Department (SFRPD) started trying an attempt to reintroduce the Mission Blue Butterfly to Twin Peaks, by planting lupine and transferring … Continue reading →

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Here it Comes: UCSF announces the Draft EIR for Sutro Forest

Posted on July 21, 2017

UCSF sent out a notification recently, saying that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the 2017 Plan for Sutro Forest will be released on July 24th, 2017. The public will have until September 8th, 2017 to make their comments. … Continue reading →

Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Butterfly Count in San Francisco – 2017

Posted on July 14, 2017

This year’s sunny butterfly count day – June 18th, 2017 – made up for last year’s dismal fog. Eighteen spotters in eight groups, led by butterfly maven Liam O’Brien, counted a record number of butterflies: 1435 or 1440, (we’re still … Continue reading →

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Ecological Novelty is Nature’s Future

Posted on June 4, 2017

This thoughtful article and guest post by Professor Mark Davis was first published in Death of a Million Trees (which fights unnecessary tree destruction in the San Francisco Bay Area), and subsequently on the website of the San Francisco Forest … Continue reading →

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April Visit to Beautiful Sutro Forest

Posted on May 20, 2017

“I would love to see Sutro forest,” said the out-of-town visitor. “I’ve heard so much about it!” So when the welcome rain cleared into welcome sunshine, we headed up the new trail at the Pumphouse on Christopher Drive. It doesn’t provide the … Continue reading →

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Peter Ehrlich, 1948-2017

Posted on May 18, 2017

Peter Ehrlich was the Chief Forester at the Presidio, and sat on UCSF’s Technical Advisory Committee for Sutro Forest. Tragically, he died in a bicycle accident on May 2, 2017.  The Presidio is holding a community work day in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Meetings | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Native Plant Restoration: “Someone Pays and Someone Profits”

Posted on April 28, 2017

The article below was first published on April 1st on MillionTrees.me – a site fighting unnecessary tree destruction in the San Francisco Bay Area. Though it references mainly the widespread tree destruction planned for the East Bay, the same principles apply broadly. … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, nativism | Tagged , , ,

The Forest at the City’s Heart – Sutro Cloud Forest

Posted on April 18, 2017

[This article was published recently on the website of the San Francisco Forest Alliance, and is reprinted here with permission. Thousands of trees are being cut down in San Francisco. Sutro Forest may actually be the worst, with many thousands … Continue reading →

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Forest- Bathing in Mount Sutro Cloud Forest

Posted on April 4, 2017

We learned about the Forest-Bathing Club in San Francisco when some of the people who took part in this told us how much they loved the beautiful forest on Mount Sutro. Trees have been shown to improve health and well-being, … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Hiking, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Mt Sutro Forest: Nibbling at the Western Edge with Kirkham Heights Project? [UPDATE: Project Withdrawn]

Posted on March 26, 2017

[Edited to Add: UPDATE – The project is off. The owner, Westlake, thinks its a low priority especially since the site is situated on a hillside that’s in an “earthquake-induced landslide zones,” meaning areas with a high probability of slope failure.” It … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Mt Sutro landslide risk | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

How Many Trees in Sutro Forest? And What Will be Left?

Posted on February 23, 2017

Mount Sutro is a very difficult site. Its soils are shallow, its rocks unstable. It’s very windy. Few trees survive those conditions. Nevertheless, the eucalyptus forest has naturalized there for over a century – nearly 125 years now – and … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, UCSF | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mt Sutro: UCSF’s Initial Study for the EIR Highlights Appalling New 2017 Plan

Posted on February 21, 2017

UCSF has published its initial study for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the new 2017 Plan for Sutro Forest.  This “Notice of Preparation and Initial Study” outlines the areas the EIR will cover. Comments on the Initial Study can be sent … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF | Tagged , , ,

Old Trees Trap More Carbon and Fight Climate Change

Posted on February 16, 2017

The older a tree grows, the more carbon dioxide it grabs out of the air and sequesters, thus fighting climate change. Cutting down these large old trees releases this carbon back into the atmosphere. An article published in the Nature … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment, eucalyptus | Tagged , | 1 Comment