Author Archives: webmaster

UCSF’s New Draft Plan for Sutro Forest – Aug 2016

Posted on August 19, 2016

UCSF presented its new Draft Plan for Sutro Forest at the Third Technical Advisory Committee meeting on Aug 18, 2016. This plan will be implemented in three phases: Year 1-5, Year 6-10, and Year 11-20. However, it is heavily front-loaded, … Continue reading →

Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF | Tagged , ,

Sutro Forest – UCSF to Hold Final TAC Meeting (and some old pictures)

Posted on August 6, 2016

UCSF is planning to hold its final Technical Advisory Committee meeting on August 18th, 2016. These are a series of meetings in which two consultants, who have been retained by UCSF to write a plan for Sutro Cloud Forest (or, … Continue reading →

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

“New Battle over Managing Sutro Forest Trees” – San Francisco Chronicle

Posted on June 28, 2016

Someone sent us a really interesting article about Sutro Forest in a recent San Francisco Chronicle (25th June, 2016). A MYSTICAL PLACE Titled “New battle over managing Sutro Forest trees,” the article is by well-known journalist Carl Nolte. It starts … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mission Blue Butterfly on Twin Peaks 2016 Update: Imports from San Bruno Continue

Posted on June 19, 2016

The ongoing project to establish the Mission Blue Butterfly (an endangered subspecies of butterfly) on San Francisco’s Twin Peaks is, well, ongoing. On the basis of the most recent information we received under the Sunshine Act, the Twin Peaks population … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Natural areas Program | Tagged , ,

Butterfly Count 2016 – San Francisco

Posted on June 11, 2016

This year’s foggy butterfly count day – June 4th, 2016 –  yielded fewer butterflies than usual, though the number of species was around the same. The Common Buckeye was the most commonly spotted butterfly in 2016, with the Cabbage White … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Report: UCSF Second Sutro Forest TAC Meeting

Posted on May 16, 2016

UCSF held its second Planning Meeting for Sutro Forest on 28 April 2016. The two hired arborists, Jim Clark of Hort Science and Matt Greene, presented the direction they were taking the Plan, and their evaluation of the forest. The … Continue reading →

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UCSF’s 2016 Sutro Forest Plan: Who’s Who

Posted on May 14, 2016

This post is to take a look at all the people who will be involved in the new Sutro Forest plan for 2016. We may edit it to update it with more information as we get it. THE CONSULTANTS Jim … Continue reading →

Posted in Meetings, Mount Sutro Stewards, UCSF | Tagged , ,

Invisible Nests – Tree Work Should Avoid the Nesting Season

Posted on May 4, 2016

This article is reposted with permission from CoyoteYipps, a blog about San Francisco’s urban coyotes. We republish it here as an interesting story – and a lesson in how difficult it is to see a bird’s nest even if you … Continue reading →

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UCSF’s Second Sutro Forest Meeting – April 28, 2016

Posted on April 18, 2016

UCSF has announced its second meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee: “On Thursday, April 28, UCSF will convene the second meeting of the Mount Sutro Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).  The TAC is comprised of volunteer experts in forestry, fire hazard … Continue reading →

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Two Views of Sutro Forest

Posted on March 25, 2016

Tom Roop sent us several pictures of Sutro Forest and Mount Davidson from a distance. We’ve labeled them to clarify the position of the two mountains. He also sent us this one – a classic San Francisco vista. “The point … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment | Tagged , ,

Coming to Sutro Forest: Three New Trails and a Fancy Trail Head

Posted on March 19, 2016

This article is slightly modified and republished from a post on forestknolls.info UCSF is going ahead with plans to add three new trails to Sutro Forest. While we don’t object to trails as such, they all cost us trees – … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Hiking, Mount Sutro Stewards, UCSF | Tagged , , , ,

Sierra Club Members! Please vote

Posted on March 17, 2016

This is republished with permission from the San Francisco Forest Alliance website. We think it’s important. Please do vote if you’re a Sierra Club member. If you’re a Sierra Club member, you’ve probably received a message asking you to vote … Continue reading →

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Mount Sutro Forest: Logging a Lovely Forest

Posted on February 17, 2016

“I was in the forest and it looks like a lumber company came in…” wrote one of our correspondents. UCSF has been aggressive about cutting down trees this winter. These are not evaluated as *hazardous* trees, as Jim Clark of … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment, Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Report: First UCSF TAC Meeting, 14 Jan 2016

Posted on February 10, 2016

As we reported earlier, UCSF held a meeting on 14th Jan 2016 at which it announced it was restarting the planning process. UCSF has hired two people to write the plan: Jim Clark, of Hort Science; and Matt Greene, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF | Tagged , , , , ,

Protecting Mount Sutro Cloud Forest Helps Biodiversity

Posted on January 29, 2016

In view of discussions of biodiversity and mosaics in ecosystems, we are republishing a post from May 2010 that addresses this issue. Mount Sutro Cloud Forest is part of a mosaic of biodiversity in the Western part of San Francisco. … Continue reading →

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More Sad News From Sutro Forest

Posted on January 21, 2016

More trees are being cut down in Sutro Forest, and machinery is being used that could damage the roots even of the trees left standing. We were driving down Medical Center Way today and saw machines and crews at work … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment, eucalyptus | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

UCSF Restarts Sutro Forest Plans in 2016

Posted on January 18, 2016

At the meeting on January 14th, 2016, UCSF announced it was trying again to develop a plan for Sutro Forest. UCSF hope to have a draft Plan in May 2016. They think they may be able to “start work” in … Continue reading →

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

Ishi – An Article from 1911

Posted on January 6, 2016

This New Year, we’d like to go back over 100 years to 1911, when Sutro Forest was 15-25 years old, time enough for the trees to have grown large enough to establish it as a forest. This is the story … Continue reading →

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

A 1912 Tribute to Adolph Sutro

Posted on December 29, 2015

We’d like to wish all our readers a Happy New Year in 2016 and celebrate it with this tribute to Adolf Sutro, the philanthropist who gave so much to San Francisco including the forest we all love. It was written … Continue reading →

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Sutro Forest East Ridge Trees Being Felled Now

Posted on December 21, 2015

This post is to let our readers know that trees are being felled right now in Sutro Forest, and also that UCSF has formed a committee to advise on managing the forest, which will meet for the first time on … Continue reading →

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

UCSF Destroying Forest on Mount Sutro?

Posted on November 30, 2015

Recently, we wrote about the downed trees and stumps along all the trails in Sutro Forest. It turns out this is just the beginning. UCSF recently sent out an email with more details. Under the guise of “safety”, UCSF is … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment, UCSF | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

More Trees Felled in Sutro Forest

Posted on November 23, 2015

We’re dismayed to bring you news of more tree removal in Sutro Forest. Walking through the forest recently, we found nearly every trail had stumps and logs. Much of the character of this beautiful forest, once dense and green and … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Mt Sutro landslide risk, UCSF | Tagged | 3 Comments

Monarch Butterfly Season with Child Art

Posted on November 16, 2015

One of the wonderful things eucalyptus trees do is provide wildlife habitat. In particular, they are crucial to supporting the Western Migration of the the Monarch butterflies, by providing a roost for the butterflies to spend the winter. A study … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus | Tagged ,

Sierra Club “Corrects” the Record – Fails

Posted on November 6, 2015

The Sierra Club shocked the environmental community, including many of its own members, when it not only failed to oppose the horrible East Bay plan to cut down hundreds of thousands of trees, but actually sued FEMA to cut down … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides | Tagged , ,

Sierra Club Alienates its Would-be Allies

Posted on November 1, 2015

Most people think of the Sierra Club as an organization battling for trees and nature, for forested lands like the one in this picture. They believe it’s fighting to save the environment and opposing the use of pesticides and other … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon | Tagged | 1 Comment

Rainstorms Ahead, Sutro Forest Can Respond If We Let It

Posted on October 20, 2015

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that El Nino could arrive within a couple of weeks. (Here’s a report from the California Business Journal.) It looks like we’re going to have a very wet winter. We think it’s urgent to … Continue reading →

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

Sunny Day with Butterflies and Bees in Sutro Forest

Posted on September 25, 2015

One of the lovely things about Mount Sutro Forest is its changing moods. We posted pictures here of a foggy day recently, when the forest was ethereal and damp. But the previous afternoon, it was sunny in the forest. A … Continue reading →

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

SF Fire Department Busts Some Myths – And More “Work” in Sutro Forest?

Posted on September 20, 2015

This post is republished with permission and minor edits from the website of the San Francisco Forest Alliance. We think it is of particular interest not only because of the myth-busting, but because we were told for the first time … Continue reading →

Posted in Sutro Forest "Fire Risk" | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sutro Forest: Fog and Puddles While Elsewhere Fires Burn

Posted on September 16, 2015

The fog rolled in, the mist filled the trees, and the forest’s music was the patter of the Cloud Forest’s internal rain. This was Sutro Cloud Forest on Saturday, September 12th 2015. We were glad of our raincoat as we … Continue reading →

Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk" | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Sutro Forest Attrition

Posted on August 27, 2015

The July message from UCSF was both innocuous and concerning. They were going to do some “hazardous tree work” immediately… and more in the Fall. UCSF must immediately remove some hazardous trees in the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve in … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF | Tagged , , | 2 Comments