Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Very Long Life of Eucalyptus Trees

Posted on June 27, 2018 by

From the time we established this website in 2009, we have battled a series of myths used to attack eucalyptus trees. One of the most pernicious is that the trees are short-lived, and so are dying of old age. We … Continue reading →

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Sutro Forest 2017 Plan Imposes a Landslide Risk

Posted on August 28, 2017 by

We’re reading the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the 2017 Sutro Forest Plan, and got to the section on landslide risk. This has been one of our concerns, especially since the tragedy at Oso, Washington, where the felling of … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Mt Sutro landslide risk, UCSF, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Law Suit to Stop FEMA from Funding East Bay Deforestation

Posted on March 13, 2015 by

Recently, we had written about the hugely destructive plan to cut down hundreds of thousands of trees in the East Bay. The new Plan, written in response to 13,000 comments, was as bad as the previous one. (Read that here: … Continue reading →

Posted in deforestation, Environment, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

SF Beautiful Nominates Your Webmaster

Posted on October 9, 2014 by

SF Beautiful, a non-profit organization that promotes and celebrates efforts to make – and keep – the city beautiful, nominated your webmaster for an award as an ‘unsung hero.’ The real unsung hero, of course, was beautiful Sutro forest itself, … Continue reading →

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San Francisco Butterfly Count tomorrow, 3 July 2011

Posted on July 2, 2011 by

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

It wasn’t a faun…

Posted on February 4, 2011 by

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized

Report: UCSF’s EIR Scoping Meeting, Jan 2011

Posted on January 11, 2011 by

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 →

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

What UCSF’s EIR will Evaluate – and What it Won’t

Posted on January 8, 2011 by

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Coyote Careful

Posted on August 18, 2010 by

We don’t know if there are coyotes in Mount Sutro Forest, but we do know they’ve been seen in Golden Gate Park and Glen Canyon and Twin Peaks and Midtown Terrace. Since they can hunt over 4 km, it’s possible … Continue reading →

Posted in Neighborhood impact, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Admin stuff, and Thank You

Posted on August 11, 2010 by

It’s been over a year since this website was started up and it has a new look. The template we were using became obsolescent, and we wanted one that was easier to read and better for pictures. So here we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

A New Plan for the Forest

Posted on April 5, 2010 by

Back in 2001, UCSF published a Plan for Sutro Forest, based on data that had been collected in previous years (including a 1999 report on the forest). One of the objections neighbors had to the so-called “FEMA Plan” – i.e. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Spring and Garlon at Twin Peaks

Posted on February 28, 2010 by

This morning, Twin Peaks was radiant. Not the view from Twin Peaks, which is always amazing: the flowers. It was splendid with drifts of oxalis and mustard, california poppy and lupine, iris and calendula, all set against a vivid green … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

UCSF calls two meetings

Posted on October 7, 2009 by

UCSF has called two meetings to discuss the project. 1. Monday, Oct 19 2009, 6.30 p.m. [Our report, with some comments, is here.] UCSF Millberry Union, 500 Parnassus Ave. $1.50 validated parking in UCSF public parking garage. 2. Saturday, Oct … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

1 acre = 30 cars

Posted on September 23, 2009 by

I stole this graphic from the Nature Conservancy website (which I’ve linked here, so I hope they won’t mind). We’ve been hearing about the carbon impact of chopping down all those 120-year old trees. Until now, I didn’t have an … Continue reading →

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A Rebuttal to UCSF’s Response to FEMA

Posted on September 18, 2009 by

This is an edited version of the letter sent to FEMA regarding UCSF’s response to their questions. Emphasis has been added. ——————————– [We were] quite surprised to read the details of UCSF’s response August 16 response to FEMA’s questions of … Continue reading →

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A Walk in the Woods With Barbara French

Posted on September 18, 2009 by

Dr Morley Singer arranged a walk in the forest with Barbara French, Associate Vice Chancellor, University Relations, to discuss the issue of the possible project to cut thousands of trees. We set out at 8.30 a.m., walking through the Interior … Continue reading →

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In the News: UCSF; Tree Planting; Native Herbicides

Posted on September 11, 2009 by

We’re starting a new feature here: In The News. We plan to post summaries of relevant news items (or other pieces from the internet), and comment on them. SAVING FORESTS IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFICIENT CLIMATE REMEDIES This article … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Peter Scott’s article on Native Plant Restoration

Posted on September 8, 2009 by

We were sent this article, with a request to re-publish it on this website. The author, who wrote this in the context of the East Bay, kindly gave permission. Emphasis has been added. ———— NATIVE PLANT RESTORATION: IT LOOKS A … Continue reading →

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Michael Pollan Takes on Native Plant Ideology

Posted on August 27, 2009 by

Someone sent us a New York Times magazine article by author and UC Berkeley professor Michael Pollan, he of the locavore food fame. He describes the storm of letters he received when he published a story about his failed attempt … Continue reading →

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Laurel Heights vs UCSF: Environmental Review Problems. Replay?

Posted on August 24, 2009 by

At the request of a neighbor who provided the relevant references, we researched the Laurel Heights Improvement Association v. Regents of the UC case. It is, he suggested, quite relevant to the current situation. In 1993, UCSF famously lost a … Continue reading →

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Edgewood and Farnsworth

Posted on August 23, 2009 by

So far, we have concentrated mostly on the South Ridge, planned for the first tree-felling. But recently, we walked around to Edgewood and Farnsworth, the site of the second cut. That appears even more problematic than South Ridge, in some … Continue reading →

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Article in the Examiner

Posted on August 10, 2009 by

The Examiner today carried an article saying we are fighting to retain the forest. They spoke to Dr Morley Singer; to someone at UCSF; and to Sean Elsbernd. They note Dr Singer’s point that this is a quarter of the … Continue reading →

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Letter: Grass fires are worse…

Posted on August 9, 2009 by

We received this letter from “Bewildered in Berkeley” in response to David Maloney’s letter exonerating eucalyptus in the 1991 Oakland fire. ———— Thanks for telling us about the Oakland-Berkeley Mayors’ Firestorm Task Force analysis of the cause of the 1991 … Continue reading →

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Task force report: Trees are not a Primary Fire Hazard

Posted on August 8, 2009 by

David Maloney, a member of the Task Force investigating the 1991 Oakland Hills fire confirms that even there – in Oakland’s climate of more extremes and less humidity than Mt Sutro’s cloud forest – trees were not the primary problem. … Continue reading →

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Old San Francisco: Sand, wind, and windblown sand

Posted on August 1, 2009 by

San Francisco, at the time when Sutro planted the historic forest, was a world of windblown sand that got into everything, including residents’ lungs. We received a letter from a San Franciscan who has “a small San Francisco library and … Continue reading →

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Puzzled #6 – UCSF: Landslides

Posted on July 30, 2009 by

The sixth in our series of responses to UCSF’s July 9th letter. This is about potential landslides. We’ve included two maps from the FEMA application which clearly indicate this needs discussion. The letter asks, “Will the projects cause landslides that … Continue reading →

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Puzzled #5 – UCSF: Strange Objectives

Posted on July 28, 2009 by

Today’s discussion is about Objectives. “ What are the objectives of the projects?” the Q&A asks, and proceeds to list the following: “• To substantially reduce the amount of highly combustible fuels to prevent a fast-moving, high-intensity fire that could … Continue reading →

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Puzzled #4 – UCSF: Cloud Forest ?

Posted on July 25, 2009 by

The fourth in our series of responses to UCSF’s July 9th letter. According to the letter, “The forest is not a “Cloud Forest” (these are native forests found in tropical and subtropical areas of the world), but Mount Sutro does … Continue reading →

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Puzzled #3 – UCSF: Demonstrating what?

Posted on July 23, 2009 by

Today, I’m moving from puzzlement into bafflement on the topic of Demonstration Projects. UCSF says it ‘wants to take advantage of FEMA funding to do a larger demonstration project in the South Ridge area (8 acres rather than 2 acres). … Continue reading →

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The Northern Flicker (woodpecker)

Posted on July 23, 2009 by

I was browsing the net today and came upon evidence of another species of woodpecker that uses the forest – an excellent photograph of a Northern Flicker on the SFCitizen blog. It was taken in the Sutro Forest.

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