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PETITION TO UCSF: SAVE SUTRO FOREST
PETITION : Stop NAP, save the Forest
PETITION: Sierra Club, Please Stop!
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Recent Posts
- Best Wishes for 2026
- Landslides in Sutro Forest, predictably
- Sutro Forest – More trees being removed
- Season’s Greetings for 2025
- Happy Holidays -2023
- A Pesticides Road Map
- Season’s Greetings!
- Tree-Thoughts at 125 Years
- Sutro Forest Destruction – March 2022
- More Trees Being Felled in Sutro Forest
- Why Urban Forests Can’t be “Native”
- A Candle for the New Year
- Don’t Feed Coyotes
- Wildcare’s Request: Respect the Nest
- Dr Morley Singer, RIP
A HIKE IN SUTRO FOREST (Links)
BIRDS & WILDLIFE IN BAY AREA (Links)
- Bird checklist for San Francisco from USGS
- Birding – A really good blog for Oregon and California (including San Francisco)
- Birding on Mt Sutro
- San Francisco's coyotes
- The Beavers at Martinez
- Urban Wildness: San Francisco wildlife (birds, coyotes, insects)
- Wildlife Activism blog
- Wildlife Hospital in San Rafael (Marin County, CA)
BUTTERFLY ID (Links)
HERBICIDES (Links)
SAVING TREES (Links)
SITES OF INTEREST (Other Links)
Author Archives: webmaster
Killing 5000 Trees in Mount Sutro Forest
[ETA (1 Aug 2011): We’ve just received a recent update from UCSF. It appears the timeline has been pushed out. If the projects are approved, they will start felling trees in August 2012. This Google Map shows the forest. (You … Continue reading
Posted in Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged cloud forest, Sutro Stewards, tree killers, trees, UCSF
5 Comments
San Francisco Butterfly Count Results, July 2011
The San Francisco butterfly count, led by Liam O’ Brien and sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association, has announced its results. This year, it was held on July 3 on a bright sunny day, compared with last year’s June … Continue reading
San Francisco, Biodiversity, and the Department of the Environment
We’re aware of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment as the first line of defense against toxic chemicals in our public lands. But they’re more than the defense-against-the-dark-chems guys. They’re the recycling guys. The energy saving guys. The community gardens … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Herbicides, nativism
Tagged Garlon, imazapyr, native plants, nativism, Roundup
2 Comments
Kareiva, Nature Conservancy, and Nativism
A few days ago, we attended a talk by Peter Kareiva, chief scientist at the well-known Nature Conservancy. (He’s also been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.) It’s an environmental organization that prides itself on being science-based; … Continue reading
Forest Shrine Makeover
From time to time, we’ve posted about the little shrine in Sutro Forest. When we first saw it, it was a shrine in memory of Ishi, the last of the Yahi, who lived near the forest in the care of … Continue reading
San Francisco Butterfly Count tomorrow, 3 July 2011
The North American Butterfly Association is sponsoring the annual butterfly count in San Francisco. It’s usually in June, but had to be postponed this year because of the wet weather. So it’s tomorrow, July 3, from 9 a.m. to 5 … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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A Map of Mount Sutro Forest
Readers of this site may remember that a few months ago, we took down a number of maps after we received a strongly-worded legal letter. We had assumed they were in the public domain (they were based on city/ UCSF … Continue reading
Posted in Maps, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged Sutro Forest, trails
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Interwoven and Integrated: Non-native and Native Species in Life’s Web
Lock and key. Co-evolution. “Made for each other.” One of the dogmas offered by nativists is that native plants and animals, evolving together for thousands of years, form a closed interdependent ecology. According to the California Native Plant Society’s website: Native … Continue reading
Twin Peaks, Glen Canyon, Natural Areas, and Imazapyr
We’ve been seeing the new pesticide notices up on Twin Peaks, the ones we wrote about earlier here. So today, when we saw three more (and there may have been others) we assumed they were more of the same. They … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, UCSF
Tagged herbicide, imazapyr, mt sutro stewards, Natural Areas Program, Twin Peaks
4 Comments
Roundup, Birth defects, and the new trail in Mount Sutro Forest
The new trail connecting Stanyan (just above 17th Avenue) with Medical Center Way opened a few days ago. Though still marred by the stumps of dead trees and amputated shrubs, it provides better access from the Cole Valley side of … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged Garlon, herbicide, Natural Areas Program, Roundup, Sutro Forest, trails
1 Comment
Mount Sutro Forest as Habitat: Janet Kessler in ‘Way Out West’
We’ve often written about the importance of Mount Sutro Forest as habitat. (For instance: here.) Everywhere in our city, eucalyptus provides nesting and perching sites for many different birds, as does acacia which grows as a sub-canopy in many parts … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, nativism
Tagged habitat, Natural Areas Program, Sutro Forest, wildlife
1 Comment
SF NAP on Twin Peaks: Rainy Days and Roundup…
Rainy days and Roundup always make me sigh… This report is brought to you from the drenched slopes of Twin Peaks. And here’s another one… They’re putting the pesticide notices high and visible now, which is an improvement. Also, they’re … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism
Tagged herbicide, native plants, Natural Areas Program, Roundup, Twin Peaks
3 Comments
Lament for Oakland’s Garber Park
We read this article in the Spring issue of Hills Conservation Network’s newsletter (the link goes to a PDF), and it resonated with us who want to save Sutro Forest’s habitat. Ecological destruction, whether from building and traffic, or from … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, nativism
Tagged 1991 oakland fire, East Bay, hills conservation network, native plants, nativism
3 Comments
In Mount Sutro Forest, May 2011
Last Thursday evening, we wandered around the forest. We hadn’t headed that way, but it drew us in, as it often does. Despite the recent habitat destruction here and on the Kill-Trees Trail, it’s still a magical place. Here’s our report. THE GASH The Gash … Continue reading
Posted in Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged Edgewood, mount sutro, mt sutro stewards, native plants, Sutro Stewards
4 Comments
Mount Sutro Forest, Native Plants, and Ideology: Debate between a Climatologist and Charlie – Part III
This is part of a continuing series of conversations between Charlie, a US-based naturalist, and Gov Pavlicek, a climatologist in Europe (on our front-page comments section). We’re finding their contrasting worldviews interesting. For those interested in earlier exchanges, here’s Part I … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism
Tagged environment, mount sutro, native plants, nativism, unscientific
1 Comment
Mount Sutro Forest, Native Plants, and Ideology: Debate between a Climatologist and Charlie – Part II
In this post, we continue the conversation between Charlie and climatologist Gov Pavlicek. Gov responded to Charlie’s earlier comment. That discussion is here. GOV: “ECOLOGY” AND XENOPHOBIA From Gov: “Charlie, thanks for the thorough reply. I was astonished by the … Continue reading
Mount Sutro Forest, Native Plants, and Ideology: Debate between a Climatologist and Charlie – Part I
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been hosting an interesting debate on our website, between US-based Charlie (who’s commented here before) and Gov Pavlicek , a climatologist from the Netherlands (NL). We think this conversation is interesting enough for its own … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism
Tagged eucalyptus, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, unscientific
3 Comments
Sutro Forest: Courtesy on the Mountain
Up in the forest this afternoon, we encountered an unusually large number of visitors. Good Friday holiday, maybe? Anyway, in under an hour we saw: Two hikers; three dogs with six people; and five guys riding their cycles. (It’s always … Continue reading
Cats, Catbirds: Why the Smithsonian study doesn’t say what everyone thinks it does
There’s been a huge amount of publicity recently about a 2004 study, publicized by the highly-respected Smithsonian. It implies that cats are the main cause of death of songbirds, and has become a talking point for those advocating stronger measures … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged birds, cat, catbird, mount sutro, smithsonian, smithsonian study, Sutro Forest
15 Comments
Twin Peaks and the Mission Blue Butterfly: Why it’s Still Uncertain
[THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN IN APRIL 2011 AND UPDATED Feb 2012] Last year, journalists were celebrating the return of the Mission Blue butterfly to Twin Peaks. From the SF Chronicle of 7 May 2010: “Everyone comes back to San Francisco, … Continue reading
Habitat Destruction with Sutro Stewards
Around this time last year, Sutro Forest was alive with birdsong all day from dawn to late dusk. “We walked up into the Sutro Forest on a peaceful bird-filled evening,” we wrote in late February 2010. “A few outside noises … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mount Sutro Stewards
Tagged birds, blackberry, eucalyptus, mt sutro stewards, Sutro Forest, Sutro Stewards, wildlife
7 Comments
Supermoon over Sutro Forest
On 19 March 2011, there was a “supermoon” when the moon looks much larger than usual. This happens when the full moon is also at the point in its orbit when it’s closest to earth. (Technically, according to wikipedia, it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged moon, mount sutro, Sutro Forest
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Native Plants, Oxalis and the Futility of Garlon
Some days ago, in a comment on our post responding to Jake Sigg’s defense of Garlon, Wendy Poinsot said: Garlon is effective on oxalis and other broadleaf weeds like dandelion. Who wants a park full of south african oxalis? Not … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism
Tagged native plants, Natural Areas Program, oxalis
8 Comments
Garlon, Natural Areas, and the City
San Francisco’s Department of the Environment (SF DOE) is our second line of protection against chemicals after the EPA; it regulates the use of pesticides on all city properties. We attended their monthly meeting yesterday, mainly because Lisa Wayne, the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Herbicides, nativism
Tagged Garlon, Glen Canyon, herbicide, native plants, nativism, Natural Areas Program
3 Comments
Century-old Trees Help the Forest Grow
An interesting study from Canada’s McGill University recently indicated the particular value of old trees. In brief: Trees that are over 100 years old tend to have more moss growing on them at the 15-30 meter (i.e 50-100 feet) level … Continue reading
The Shrine in the Forest
Some months ago, we’d written about a little shrine to Ishi, the last of the Yahi tribe, in a small cave along a trail in the beautiful Sutro Cloud Forest. There’d been a little picture of him, and some offerings … Continue reading
More Garlon for Glen Canyon Park?
We’ve been observing the issue of pesticides at Glen Canyon Park at a remove; but here’s what we understand. The place falls under the Natural Areas Program (NAP), which plans to use Garlon, one of the most toxic herbicides San … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism
Tagged Garlon, Glen Canyon, native plants, Natural Areas Program, Sutro Forest
2 Comments
Glen Canyon Park and Garlon: Answering Jake Sigg
Recently, several people drew our attention to Glen Canyon and the planned spraying of Garlon 4 Ultra to kill the yellow oxalis flowers there. And someone sent in the notice seen here. Apparently, residents of areas nearby have been understandably upset … Continue reading
Mount Sutro Forest That Was 