It’s that time of the year: Habitat removal time. In Glen Canyon Park, bushes and small trees that provide an impenetrable thicket for birds and animals to take cover are now becoming a lot more penetrable… … and bright-berried bushes, … Continue reading
Lulu Carpenter sent me this picture of the Blue Angels flying over Mount Sutro Forest, with the note “I wish I had had my camera out today – they flew right over my head, much lower than they were flying … Continue reading
The other day, we happened upon this photograph on Flickr, the photo-sharing website that’s part of Yahoo. We go into the forest often, and have hundreds of pictures taken in various seasons and times of day. This was different. It … Continue reading
Soon after we posted our impression of a deforested Mount Sutro viewed from the south, someone wrote to us about the views from the Eastern side, where Cole Valley and Mount Olympus and many other neighborhoods currently enjoy the view … Continue reading
People have mentioned the sounds of and in the forest before, but it was only when we joined a Soundwalk in the forest that we became so conscious of it. Recently, someone pointed us to an article about Soundscape Ecology, … Continue reading
Last Thursday evening, we wandered around the forest. We hadn’t headed that way, but it drew us in, as it often does. Despite the recent habitat destruction here and on the Kill-Trees Trail, it’s still a magical place. Here’s our report. THE GASH The Gash … Continue reading
This is part of a continuing series of conversations between Charlie, a US-based naturalist, and Gov Pavlicek, a climatologist in Europe (on our front-page comments section). We’re finding their contrasting worldviews interesting. For those interested in earlier exchanges, here’s Part I … Continue reading
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
There’s been a huge amount of publicity recently about a 2004 study, publicized by the highly-respected Smithsonian. It implies that cats are the main cause of death of songbirds, and has become a talking point for those advocating stronger measures … Continue reading
On 19 March 2011, there was a “supermoon” when the moon looks much larger than usual. This happens when the full moon is also at the point in its orbit when it’s closest to earth. (Technically, according to wikipedia, it’s … 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
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’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
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
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
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
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 