SEARCH THIS SITE
-
PETITION TO UCSF: SAVE SUTRO FOREST
PETITION : Stop NAP, save the Forest
PETITION: Sierra Club, Please Stop!
LIKE us on Facebook
-
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
Understanding Eucalyptus in the Bay Area – Dr Joe R. McBride
This article has been republished from the website of the San Francisco Forest Alliance, with permission. (Edited to add: A somewhat different selection of illustrations has been used.) Dr. Joe McBride of UC Berkeley spoke at the Commonwealth Club in … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus
Tagged Dr Joe R. McBride, environment, eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, thinning, trees
6 Comments
Sutro Forest: Good News; Bad News; Action Alert
Last month, we wrote about about two things: Tree-cutting in Sutro Forest in the bird nesting season; San Francisco’s new “Office of Biodiversity” that was looking for a $250,000 grant to fund developing a so-called ‘Biodiversity Plan’ that would extend … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mount Sutro Stewards, nativism, UCSF
Tagged birds, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, Sutro Stewards, tree killers, trees
1 Comment
Sutro Forest: Risk and Uncertainty
UCSF’s sent out another notice for tree removals. Presumably, these will be the remaining trees marked with orange dots last year. It’s the middle of the nesting season now, and we do not understand either the urgency — or the … Continue reading
Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged birds, environment, mount sutro, nativism, Natural Areas Program, Sutro Forest
5 Comments
Felling Orange-dot Trees in the Nesting Season
In March 2014, soon after UCSF said it was delaying work on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for now – it sent around this message. “Beginning on Monday, March 17th, Bartlett Tree Experts will be performing tree work throughout the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged birds, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, trees, wildlife
4 Comments
How to Define ‘Biodiversity’
Someone asked UC Davis Professor Arthur Shapiro for a definition of Biodiversity. After all, it’s apparently a key concept in some of the policy-making in San Francisco open spaces. “A buzzword,” he responded. “Biodiversity means whatever you want it to … Continue reading
Good News: Rat Poisons To Be Restricted in California
This article is republished from San Francisco Forest Alliance’s website, with permission. Sutro Forest is home to owls and hawks, coyotes, and other predators. It’s also surrounded by neighborhoods, and people may not realize that dealing with their rodent problem … Continue reading
Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged environment, wildlife
Comments Off on Good News: Rat Poisons To Be Restricted in California
UCSF Sutro Forest Update
UCSF has decided to wait on Mount Sutro Forest. For now, all plans are suspended except for routine maintenance. We attended UCSF’s Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting this evening. (UCSF has a sort of citizen’s panel that is supposed to … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, UCSF
Tagged cloud forest, mount sutro, Sutro Stewards, UCSF
6 Comments
Time and Ecological Communities – Talk by Dr Art Shapiro – 24 March 2014
Last year, we posted here about an interesting new series of lectures in January, March and April of 2014. It’s the Science of Conservation and Biodiversity in the 21st Century series, from three professors each giving one talk in San … Continue reading
Posted in Environment
Tagged Art Shapiro, Commonwealth Club, Joe McBride
Comments Off on Time and Ecological Communities – Talk by Dr Art Shapiro – 24 March 2014
February Idyll in Mount Sutro Forest: Bikes, Flowers, Slug
The welcome little storm that passed through a few days ago watered the forest, but it wasn’t actually raining on February 13th. So when someone emailed us to say they wanted to see the forest – for the first time … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Hiking, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged birds, hiking, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, trails, wildlife
2 Comments
UCSF Meeting Report – 11 Feb 2014
UCSF had called this meeting to discuss, not Mount Sutro Forest, but their Long Range Development Plan. However, Craig Dawson, Executive Director of the Sutro Stewards sent out a call for people to attend and talk about Mt Sutro, apparently … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides, Mount Sutro Stewards, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged Aldea Student Housing, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, Sutro Stewards, UCSF
8 Comments
Sutro Forest in January 2014
The unusual winter weather, with bright sunny days and hardly any rain, has drawn a lot of people to Sutro Forest. We’ve been up there a couple of times recently, and found an unusually large number of joggers, bicycle-riders, and … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Herbicides, Hiking, Natural areas Program
Tagged environment, eucalyptus, mount sutro, Sutro Forest
Comments Off on Sutro Forest in January 2014
SF RPD 2013 Herbicide Use – A Correction
Recently, we published our analysis of the San Francisco Natural Areas Program (NAP)’s use of pesticide, and compared it with the rest of SF Recreation and Parks Department (SFRPD) . We said that NAP’s pesticide use had risen in 2013, … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Natural areas Program
Tagged environment, Greenmatch EX, Natural Areas Program
1 Comment
Please Sign SF Forest Alliance’s NEW Petition to Save Natural Areas
This post is republished from SFForest.org (with permission). The Natural Areas Program controls about a quarter of Sutro Forest, and has recently used pesticide there. Meanwhile, UCSF has said they will not use pesticide in the area they control. San … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Natural areas Program
Tagged environment, Natural Areas Program
Comments Off on Please Sign SF Forest Alliance’s NEW Petition to Save Natural Areas
SF’s Natural Areas Program – More Pesticide in 2013
Edited to Add: We’ve corrected the comparison between NAP and other SFRPD herbicide use to account for a reclassification of Greenmatch EX, a lemongrass-based herbicide. Details HERE. Even as we celebrate UCSF’s decision not to use pesticides in Sutro Forest, … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Natural areas Program
Tagged aminopyralid, Garlon, glyphosate, herbicide, imazapyr, nativism, Natural Areas Program, Roundup, triclopyr
6 Comments
John Muir, Eucalyptus, and Happy New Year!
On January 2, 1911, John Muir – founder of the Sierra Club and the man who saved Yosemite – sent out this greeting card. It has a painting of a eucalyptus tree, and a poem about the tree: “From eucalyptus … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, nativism
Tagged environment, eucalyptus myths
Comments Off on John Muir, Eucalyptus, and Happy New Year!
‘Natural’ Areas Program Using Pesticide in Sutro Forest
No sooner had UCSF announced it would not use pesticides than the Natural Areas Program (NAP) suddenly decided that it needed to use imazapyr in SF RPD’s part of Sutro Forest. The Forest is mostly owned by UCSF, but 19 … Continue reading
The Plants that Monarch Butterflies Need
The famed and eponymous natural bridges at Natural Bridges State Beach at Santa Cruz no longer exist; a 1994 winter storm destroyed the last one. But no matter: what we recently went there to see was the over-wintering Monarch butterflies … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus
Tagged Cape Ivy, environment, eucalyptus, habitat, Monarch butterfly, wildlife
1 Comment
Commonwealth Club: 3 Important 2014 Lectures
The year’s winding down, and many of us are making plans for the next few months. An email from the Commonwealth Club told us of an interesting new series of lectures in January, March and April of 2014. It’s the Science … Continue reading
Posted in Environment
Tagged Art Shapiro, environment, Joe McBride, nativism, Scott Carroll
1 Comment
“Invasive” Plants can Save Native Wildlife
We recently came upon this article by author Toby Hemenway, on his blog Pattern Literacy. Written from the point of view of a permaculturist, it responds to nativist objections that the permaculture community plants non-native or even “invasive” species. Since … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, nativism
Tagged butterfly, environment, eucalyptus, native plants, nativism, wildlife
1 Comment
UCSF: No Pesticides for Mount Sutro Forest
A few weeks ago, we posted about UCSF’s revised plan for the forest. It was a substantial improvement – though we continue to have reservations. (Read about the changed direction and our comments HERE.) Today, we’d like to focus on … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, UCSF
Tagged environment, herbicide, Sutro Forest, UCSF
6 Comments
Progress! UCSF’s Changed Plans for Mt Sutro Forest (Meeting Report)
Thank you, everyone who came for the UCSF Mt Sutro Forest meeting on 21 November 2013. It was a significant one. UCSF indicated a changed direction from its earlier plan. Key changes: Restricted objective: Safety. The main objective will be … Continue reading
Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk"
Tagged cloud forest, Sutro Forest, UCSF, wildlife
11 Comments
Reminder: Come to UCSF’s Mt Sutro Meeting on Nov. 21 2013
We’re re-posting this as a reminder – please come to the UCSF Sutro Forest community meeting on Thursday Nov 21st, 2013 evening! ————————————- UCSF has called a meeting to talk about its plans for Mount Sutro Forest. It’s scheduled for … Continue reading
Come to UCSF’s Mt Sutro Meeting: 21 Nov 2013
UCSF has called a meeting to talk about its plans for Mount Sutro Forest. It’s scheduled for 21st November, 2013, at 6.30 pm, and will be held at Millberry Conference Center, 500 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco CA 94122. We understand … Continue reading
Trails Report: Dry October in Mount Sutro Forest
About ten days ago, we went up into Mount Sutro Forest. There’d been a string of sunny days, the closest to summer that San Francisco gets. The trails were dry and last month’s puddles were gone. Unusually, there’s no mud. … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Hiking, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged mount sutro, Sutro Forest, thinning, trails
1 Comment
Sutro Forest Report: What’s Been Done?
On Sept 11th, UCSF emailed its list that it had “completed urgent fire-safety measures on approximately 12 acres on Mount Sutro.” In the same email, UCSF said that the measures were “in response to an assessment this summer by the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk", UCSF
Tagged Aldea Student Housing, eucalyptus, fire risk?, Sutro Forest, UCSF, unscientific
3 Comments
Mt Sutro Cloud Forest Evening: Puddles, Not Fire
The fog blowing in last evening softened all the colors to gray. It was growing late, too late for the forest. We went anyway. These are some of the most beautiful times in the Cloud Forest, and we’d been away … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk"
Tagged cloud forest, eucalyptus, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, wildlife
3 Comments
Mount Sutro Forest That Was 