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Recent Posts
- 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
- Destruction of Sutro Forest Likely to Accelerate
- Season’s Greetings – 2020
- UCSF Parnassus: December 2020 Meeting Report
- UCSF Plans More Damage to Sutro Forest
- Trees on Clarendon Avenue Felled
- Season’s Greetings, and Good Wishes for 2020
- Clear-cuts in Sutro Forest
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)
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Tag Archives: eucalyptus myths
The Very Long Life of Eucalyptus Trees
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged environment, eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, life span, longevity of eucalyptus
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Cal-IPC Eucalyptus Reassessment: Same Result (for Different Reasons)
[Edited to Add: Cal-IPC did change the rating in its final version.] The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) designates eucalyptus as “moderately invasive.” Land managers all over California have used this designation as an excuse to cut down thousands of … Continue reading
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
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
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Fact Check: Nothing Grows UnderEucalyptus? (Allelopathy)
Like most people in the US, we’ve been listening to some of the political speeches and the discussion around them recently. And we’re rather heartened by a newly emerging trend: fact-checking. In the last few months, one “fact” we’ve heard … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism
Tagged birds, cloud forest, eucalyptus myths, Mount Davidson, mount sutro, wildlife
1 Comment
What Adolph Sutro Didn’t Know About the Eucalyptus Forest
Mount Sutro Cloud Forest, a century-old forest of eucalyptus, was planted by former mayor and philanthropist Adolph Sutro (1830-1898). Like the larger and better-known Muir Woods, it’s the last remnant of a forest that covered a much larger area – … Continue reading
Posted in deforestation, Environment, eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism
Tagged adolph sutro, bias, eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, Jewish, native plants, nativism, Sutro Forest, UCSF
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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
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
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
Nativism vs the Environment
When most people think of preserving natural areas, they envision saving green growing things from encroachment by parking lots and housing development. Nativists focus on a different agenda – removing non-native plants and substituting natives. What’s wrong with that? Several … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism
Tagged eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, herbicide, native plants, nativism, trees, wildlife
10 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
“Nature in the City”: Tree-huggers vs Tree-killers
Recently, we posted a reader’s note about a talk from the organization called ‘Nature in the City’ (NC) on the “urban forest.” (Those are NC’s quote-marks; they apparently don’t believe in urban forests). NC is the parent organization of the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, nativism
Tagged birds, eucalyptus, eucalyptus myths, native plants, nativism, nature in the city, puzzled, tree killers, unscientific, wildlife
11 Comments
Michael Pollan Takes on Native Plant Ideology
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged eucalyptus myths, herbicide, michael pollan, mount sutro, native plants, nativism, sutro, Sutro Forest
5 Comments
Letter: Grass fires are worse…
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 1991 oakland fire, eucalyptus myths, fire risk?, grass fires, hills conservation network, native plants, sutro, Sutro Forest, UCSF
1 Comment
Task force report: Trees are not a Primary Fire Hazard
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 1991 oakland fire, eucalyptus myths, fire risk?, grass fires, hills conservation network
5 Comments
Mount Sutro Forest That Was 