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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
- 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
- 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
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)
Tag Archives: wildlife
Invisible Nests – Tree Work Should Avoid the Nesting Season
This article is reposted with permission from CoyoteYipps, a blog about San Francisco’s urban coyotes. We republish it here as an interesting story – and a lesson in how difficult it is to see a bird’s nest even if you … Continue reading
Posted in Environment
Tagged bird nesting season, birds, thinning, wildlife
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Managing Urban Coyotes: by Janet Kessler
A few months ago, coyotes were sighted in and around Sutro Forest. In fact, all urban parks – and some neighborhoods – in San Francisco have families of coyotes visiting or living in them. For those who love wildlife, this … Continue reading
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
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
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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
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
“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
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
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
How Many Butterflies? San Francisco Butterfly Count, 2013
Each year, in June or July, a group of volunteers goes out and counts butterflies. This year’s butterfly count in San Francisco was on June 8th, and yielded 751 individual butterflies, of which 703 were identified by species. (The spotters … Continue reading
Flaws in UCSF’s Sutro DEIR: Public Comments Due 19th March 2013
This post is about flaws in UCSF’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve. It isn’t comprehensive, but hits some of the high points. Here is the PDF of the DEIR: Mount_Sutro_EIR_1-16-13_with_Appendices MISLEADING PICTURES The DEIR … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged EIR, fire risk?, mount sutro, sequester carbon, Sutro Forest, UCSF, wildlife
12 Comments
Mission Blue Butterfly – Uncertainty Saga
Regular readers of this website know that we’ve been following the Natural Areas Programs attempts to reintroduce the Mission Blue Butterfly to Twin Peaks. We’ve just obtained the latest report from San Francisco Recreation and Parks Dept (SFRPD). It’s very … Continue reading
Posted in Herbicides, Natural areas Program
Tagged environment, mission blue butterfly, Natural Areas Program, Twin Peaks, wildlife
4 Comments
Rat Poison Killed Glen Canyon’s Owl
This article has been republished from ForestKnolls.info as a caution to everyone interested in protecting our owls. They live in Sutro Forest, too. We hope and believe that UCSF does not use rodenticides in the Aldea Student Housing, but we … Continue reading
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
A Bobcat in Sutro Forest?
“We saw a bobcat today in Mt. Sutro by the Aldea Center,” commented reader RM on MntSutro.com on 10 May 2012. We were fascinated. [Edited to replace the public domain picture with one the reader sent us – taken in … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, UCSF
Tagged Aldea Student Housing, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, wildlife
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San Francisco’s Natural Areas Program Ignores Breeding Birds
We’d written earlier about chainsaws in Glen Canyon Park, even though spring is the breeding season for birds and animals, a time when trees and thickets should be left undisturbed. [Click HERE to read that article, Chainsaws in the Nesting … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Natural areas Program
Tagged birds, eucalyptus, Glen Canyon, Natural Areas Program, wildlife
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Glen Canyon Park: Chainsaws in the Nesting Season
The nesting season for birds is in full swing. San Francisco’s mild winter and recent rains have provided a window for building and breeding, and they’ve grabbed it. The birding reports are full of lovely stories, from humming-birds to Great … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, nativism, Natural areas Program
Tagged birds, Glen Canyon, habitat, Natural Areas Program, wildlife
5 Comments
The San Francisco Forest Alliance
We’ve been critical of the so-called “Natural” areas program (or officially, the Significant Natural Resource Areas Plan) that covers some 1100 acres across 32 separate parks in San Francisco. While the idea of a Natural Area is appealing (as it … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism, Natural areas Program
Tagged birds, habitat, herbicide, native plants, nativism, Natural Areas Program, san francisco, trees, wildlife
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The Summer Tanager and San Francisco’s Non-Native Plants
One of the more interesting groups to watch, if you like birds, is the Yahoo group SF Birds. (Anyone can read it, but you must join to post in it. [ETA: It’s apparently been changed to a members-only group; only … Continue reading
Natural Areas Program’s Pesticides: Toxic and Toxic-er
It’s no surprise that people are beginning to associate San Francisco’s Natural Areas Program with pesticides. It’s been using them (if the city’s records are accurate) at an increasing rate. In 2009, it applied Garlon 16 times; in 2010, it … Continue reading
Why San Francisco’s Natural Areas Are — Unnatural
WHEN I first heard about San Francisco’s Natural Areas Program (SF NAP) some years ago, I was charmed. Over 1000 acres of city-owned land would be left to Nature, more wild and free than the orderly, gardened lawns and playgrounds … Continue reading
Bird-safe Buildings for San Francisco
Bird-killers. More dangerous than wind-farms, more insidious than cats… it’s windows. (The glass ones, not the thing produced by Microsoft.) Birds can’t see normal glass, and crash into it. Either they die, or they become easy prey. San Francisco, like … Continue reading
San Francisco Butterfly Count Results, July 2011
The San Francisco butterfly count, led by Liam O’ Brien and sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association, has announced its results. This year, it was held on July 3 on a bright sunny day, compared with last year’s June … Continue reading
Interwoven and Integrated: Non-native and Native Species in Life’s Web
Lock and key. Co-evolution. “Made for each other.” One of the dogmas offered by nativists is that native plants and animals, evolving together for thousands of years, form a closed interdependent ecology. According to the California Native Plant Society’s website: Native … Continue reading
Mount Sutro Forest as Habitat: Janet Kessler in ‘Way Out West’
We’ve often written about the importance of Mount Sutro Forest as habitat. (For instance: here.) Everywhere in our city, eucalyptus provides nesting and perching sites for many different birds, as does acacia which grows as a sub-canopy in many parts … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, nativism
Tagged habitat, Natural Areas Program, Sutro Forest, wildlife
1 Comment
Habitat Destruction with Sutro Stewards
Around this time last year, Sutro Forest was alive with birdsong all day from dawn to late dusk. “We walked up into the Sutro Forest on a peaceful bird-filled evening,” we wrote in late February 2010. “A few outside noises … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Mount Sutro Stewards
Tagged birds, blackberry, eucalyptus, mt sutro stewards, Sutro Forest, Sutro Stewards, wildlife
7 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
Ravens vs Great Horned Owls by Patricia Greene
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
Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest
Tagged birds, great horned owl, mount sutro, Sutro Forest, wildlife
1 Comment