It’s spring again, it’s Garlon time! We recently published a picture taken near the reservoir. Now someone’s sent me these. This is a worker spraying Garlon 4 Ultra on Twin Peaks… wearing a protective suit — but without the required … Continue reading
If you saw a naked youth running through the magical Sutro Forest, it probably wasn’t a faun (though maybe he looked like one). From the SF Police Department Parks Station Newsletter: “700 block of Panorama Dr. 7 PM Aided Case. … Continue reading
I (as in I, the webmaster) recently got a legal letter by email from a major law firm representing the San Francisco Parks Trust “and its partner, Sutro Stewards.” (I can’t publish the letter here as the law firm denied … Continue reading
Someone sent us this picture, taken on 20th Jan 2011 at Twin Peaks. We were surprised, even though we’ve grown accustomed to seeing notices of toxic pesticides being used all over “Natural Areas.” WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? Garlon [ETA: … Continue reading
We’ve talked earlier about how Sutro Forest works as a Cloud Forest, and why it’s always damp. Today, it’s Sutro Forest as an ecosystem and a habitat. UCSF recently had a scoping meeting for its Environmental Impact Review for their … Continue reading
Alicia Snow sent us this lyrical piece about walking the forest’s trails for over 30 years. Though she doesn’t walk alone there any more, she still fights to preserve Sutro Forest and against the use of toxic herbicides in the … Continue reading
Last evening, UCSF held its scoping meeting for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). They plan to finish the Draft EIR in spring, in time to start felling trees on the South Ridge (above Forest Knolls neighborhood) by September 2011. This … Continue reading
Some months ago, Friends and Neighbors of the Mount Sutro Cloud Forest met with Senior Vice Chancellor John Plotts and followed up with a counter-proposal for the management of the forest, focusing on preserving its unique Cloud Forest ecosystem and … Continue reading
We saw this interesting letter to the Editor in the Pulitzer Prize winning Pt Reyes Light newspaper. It’s reproduced here with permission from the edition of 6 Jan 2011. It makes reference to the two-part article Myth of the Eucalyptus … Continue reading
Edited to Add: If you want to comment, the deadline is January 18 2011. Here’s the address to contact:The comment period ends January 18th. (Comments can be sent in writing to PHEIR@planning.ucsf.edu or to Diane Wong, UCSF Campus Planning, Box … Continue reading
In an article about East Africa, conservationists WA Rodgers and ND Burgess spell out some of the difficulties faced in preserving coastal forests: the attitudes of the people. “At best the local inhabitants see their forest as a resource to … Continue reading
We saw this interesting article (reproduced here with permission) on the website/ blog Death of A Million Trees, whose tagline is Saving trees from needless destruction in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Pt Reyes Light is a Pulitzer Prize … Continue reading
We’re always interested in our forest’s most spectacular residents: The Great Horned Owls. Today we saw this fascinating account from Patricia Greene on a birding group, and are re-printing it below with permission. I and others have been hearing Great … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Someone who’d been walking on the South Ridge Trail loop recently sent us these photographs of stumps in the middle of the pathway. “If UCSF and the Mt Sutro Stewards insist on cutting down trees, at least they could do … Continue reading
We’d never expected to come upon a well-researched tree article that made us laugh. This one from the HCN Newsletter cracked us up: It was riff on a widely-circulated but biased pamphlet on eucalyptus, and it was spot on. [Edited … Continue reading
Here’s an extract from a message from UCSF: “Next Steps: EIR Scoping Meeting and Initial Study An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) scoping meeting for the UCSF Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve Management Project will be held: Monday, January 10, 2011, … Continue reading
We were delighted to receive this lovely picture from hiker Vickie McNamee, together with a nice note: We had the most beautiful hike today (Saturday, Nov 27). Thank you! Here’s a picture you are welcome to post. Vickie Thanks, Vickie! … Continue reading
The Mount Sutro Stewards are building a trail from Stanyan into the Forest, in the city-owned Interior Green Belt. Work has started; in fact, they’d planned on getting volunteers in there earlier this month. We thought we’d take a look. … Continue reading
It was inevitable: a walk into a Native Plant area (aka Natural Areas Program areas) yielded yet another new pesticide notice. Last time, Imazapyr at Stern Grove. This time, Aquamaster at Lake Merced, targeting ludwigia (water-primrose). Aquamaster is a pesticide … Continue reading
We were not aware of the existence of the “Parnassus CAG Action Team” – a sub-committee of the UCSF Community Advisory Group (CAG) – until now. This meeting was run by Craig Dawson (Mt Sutro Stewards) and Kevin Hart, a … Continue reading
We received this message from one of the neighbor organizations under the heading: ————————————————————————————————————————– Announcing: mt. sutro stewards / UCSF update meeting MEETING: UCSF PCAT Meeting MONDAY, November 8, 7:00 pm UCSF Parnassus Library, 530 Parnassus Avenue Lange Room, 5th … Continue reading
One of the arborists who looked at Sutro Forest sent us this article, reprinted with the permission of its author. Written about San Francisco’s Glen Canyon, it was first published in 2009. Alma Hecht was formerly a volunteer with Friends … Continue reading
Someone sent us a paper published May 2010 in the journal, Chemical Research in Toxicology. It linked glyphosate to birth defects in vertebrates. We’d like people who have assumed that Roundup’s problems come mainly from its surfactant POEA to take … Continue reading
Twin Peaks in the Fall. The blaze of wildflowers in the spring is a distant memory. The fog blows in, but unlike the verdant Sutro Forest, where the trees harvest its water and the understory and duff hold in the … Continue reading
We’ve been sent a report on a new cat that has shown up in the forest in the Belgrave/ Stanyan area. It’s probably someone’s pet. We don’t have photos, hence the public domain drawing; but here is the description: “It’s … Continue reading
It was a beautiful day up in the forest, bright and breezy. We took the trail from Christopher to the South Ridge trail, then up the South Ridge Trail to the Native Garden. The connector trail had been aggressively groomed, … Continue reading
This time last year, they’d appeared through the trees, as huge and unexpected as jet-powered flying dinosaurs. The Blue Angels were tough to photograph as they blasted by, but this was another year and another opportunity. A bike-rider passing by … Continue reading
What does the mysterious cloud forest on Mount Sutro have in common with the strange and wondrous forests of the movie Avatar? In that film, Pandora’s world encompasses huge old trees, vegetation that glows in the dark, and interconnected plants. … Continue reading
As we said in an earlier post, we asked two arborists to look at the Mount Sutro Forest and give us a report. Jocelyn Cohen, a Certified Arborist, holds a seat on the Urban Forest Council for the City of … Continue reading
Nature Conservancy short video about carbon sequestration
Mount Sutro Forest That Was 