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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)
Category Archives: eucalyptus
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
Mount Sutro Forest Ecosystem and Wildlife Habitat
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
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Mount Sutro Stewards, UCSF
Tagged acacia, birds, blackberry, cloud forest, english ivy, eucalyptus, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, wildlife
19 Comments
Bees and Blue Gum Eucalyptus and Herbicides
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
Posted in eucalyptus, Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon
Tagged eucalyptus, trees, wildlife
4 Comments
Pt Reyes Light, an Informed Arborist, and Eucalyptus Globulus
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
Sutro Forest Photo by Vickie McNamee
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
Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged eucalyptus, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, trails
Comments Off on Sutro Forest Photo by Vickie McNamee
Eucalyptus in San Francisco’s Urban Forest
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
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus
Tagged eucalyptus, Glen Canyon, urban forest, Urban Forest Council of San Francisco
1 Comment
Sutro Forest Visit: Hawk and Butterflies
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
Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged birds, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, thinning, wildlife
Comments Off on Sutro Forest Visit: Hawk and Butterflies
Sutro Forest: Blue Angels and Forest Sounds
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
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged blue angels, mount sutro, Sutro Forest
2 Comments
Excerpts from the Arborists’ Report
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
Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged cloud forest, eucalyptus, mount sutro, mt sutro stewards, Sutro Forest, UCSF
1 Comment
Wind. Fog. Mount Sutro Forest
The wind was strong this afternoon, blowing over trashcans, swishing the tops of the eucalyptus like great lace fans, swirling the fog into romantic curls. The sun was AWOL. A perfect day for a walk in San Francisco’s own cloud … Continue reading
Native Plants, Chaparral: Conversation with ‘Charlie’
From time to time, people come by to comment and engage with the information on this website. We appreciate that. ‘Charlie’ commented on several posts, but this comment was long and complex enough that it deserved a separate post. ******************* … Continue reading
Posted in eucalyptus, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk", UCSF
Tagged chaparral, mount sutro, san francisco, Sutro Forest, wildlife
62 Comments
The Failed Experiment at Tank Hill
Someone emailed us to ask why UCSF were bothering with demonstration projects, when there was the obvious example of Tank Hill. “Trees were cut down, natives planted and died,” said the email. What did they achieve? So we looked into … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, nativism, Neighborhood impact
Tagged birds, butterfly, native plants, nativism, Natural Areas Program, Tank Hill
11 Comments
More Sutro Forest Birds
Some time ago, we’d posted a bird-list from birder Keith McAllister: Nearly 30 species seen or heard in a single morning in the Sutro Forest. From several other people, and covering several separate visits to the forest, we have yet … Continue reading
Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged birds, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, wildlife
12 Comments
East Bay: Intent to file a Petition
(Edited to update the information in the post) Hills Conservation Network has decided to file a petition under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) against the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) and its Board of Directors. It’s sent a notification through … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus
Tagged EIR, Environmental Impact Report, eucalyptus, hills conservation network, trees
1 Comment
Increasing Biodiversity
The New Scientist, a well-reputed science magazine, ran an editorial recently headed, “Let’s put an end to biosentimentality.” It argued that “While a few introduced species have wreaked havoc, some biologists argue that most increase biodiversity, both directly and by … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, nativism, unscientific
1 Comment
Protecting Mount Sutro Cloud Forest Helps Biodiversity
We’d like to put Mt Sutro Cloud Forest in the context of the bio-diversity in the Western part of San Francisco. This is an 80-acre forest (including both the UCSF portion and the Interior Green Belt). That’s fairly large for … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides, Maps, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged cloud forest, habitat, herbicide, san francisco, Sutro Forest
13 Comments
Dialogue with Sutro Biker
This conversation with Sutro Biker started in the Comments. We felt it was interesting enough to have it in a separate post instead of buried at the bottom of a page. ************************************************************************ Sutro Biker (SB): I still can’t believe all the misinformation … Continue reading
Garlon in Our Watershed
Garlon is one of the two pesticides that UCSF proposed to use to prevent re-sprouting of felled eucalyptus, blackberry and vines. It is regularly used on Twin Peaks, one of the highest points in the city. We should mention that … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism
Tagged Garlon, herbicide, native plants, nativism, Sutro Forest, Twin Peaks
22 Comments
Another Eucalyptus Myth: Bird Death (via Audubon)
One of the saddest myths about eucalyptus is that it causes the death of small birds by “beak-gumming.” According to this myth, small birds like kinglets foraging in eucalyptus flowers accumulate gummy residues that suffocate them. It’s all because Californian … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus
Tagged Audubon, beak-gumming, eucalyptus myths, gummed beak, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, PRBO, Stallcup, Ted Williams, wildlife
28 Comments
A Forest Full of Birds
Sutro Cloud Forest is always alive with birdsong. We couldn’t identify the birds from their calls; we’re not that expert at birding. We were delighted, therefore, to hear from someone much more knowledgeable. Keith McAllister sent us a list of … Continue reading
Sutro Forest 2010-2011: UCSF Meeting update
UCSF’s meeting was intended to inform the neighbors about the reasons for the withdrawal of the FEMA application; reaffirm their commitment to a safe, healthy, beautiful and usable forest; and lay out next steps. Barbara French opened the meeting with … Continue reading
Srsly, Ms. Feinstein?
When ten thousand trees are cut down on 400 acres of steep hillsides, it stands to reason it’ll have a major environmental impact. Four “fire hazard mitigation” proposals from UC Berkeley, Oakland, and East Bay Regional Park District plan to … Continue reading
Posted in eucalyptus, nativism
Tagged Environmental Impact Report, FEMA misuse, fire risk?, nativism, sequester carbon
2 Comments
Why Eucalyptus Trees can Actually Fight Fires
We were sent an article recently that was quite intriguing. It suggested that rather than adding to fire risk, eucalyptus actually fights wind-driven fire up to the point it is overcome. It does this by breaking up the flow of … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus
6 Comments
Euca-phobia and Fire Myths
This is an extensive excerpt from an article by Peter Gray Scott on the subject of the myths surrounding Eucalyptus and fire [with emphasis added]. It is quoted here with permission. —— One by one, myths about eucalyptus are pitched … Continue reading
Posted in eucalyptus, nativism
Tagged eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, fire risk?, nativism, unscientific
10 Comments
Mount Sutro Forest That Was 