Tag Archives: wildlife

Native Plants and Pesticides: Glyphosate at Lake Merced

It was inevitable: a walk into a Native Plant area (aka Natural Areas Program areas) yielded yet another new pesticide notice. Last time, Imazapyr at Stern Grove. This time, Aquamaster at Lake Merced, targeting ludwigia (water-primrose). Aquamaster is a pesticide … Continue reading

Posted in Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, nativism | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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

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Tree Lovers vs Nativists: Matt Smith in the SF Weekly

Matt Smith’s new column in the SF Weekly clearly indicates the battle lines for Mount Sutro’s forest: The Nativists, who want to “thin” the eucalyptus to plant native plants instead; and Neighbors and friends of the forest, who want to … Continue reading

Posted in eucalyptus, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Mt Sutro landslide risk, nativism, Neighborhood impact | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coyote Careful

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

Endangered Butterflies

A commenter on this website, ‘Jonathan’, suggested that a good reason to destroy the Mount Sutro Cloud Forest would be to bring back habitat for endangered butterflies. Besides the Mission Blue Butterfly (for which there’s an attempted reintroduction on Twin … Continue reading

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

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 , , , , | 62 Comments

Report: UCSF Forest Meeting, July 2010

UCSF’s Forest meeting this evening had a reasonably good turnout with a few new faces among the familiar ones. Janet Kessler, the Jane Goodall of San Francisco’s coyotes, was present but preferred not to speak in public. We suggested she … Continue reading

Posted in eucalyptus, Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, Meetings, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Neighborhood impact, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk", UCSF | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Creating a Fire Ladder?

One of the elements of the plan for the Demonstration Areas is to remove vines that climb tree-trunks to a height of ten feet. The vines above that level (maybe another 100 feet or so) will of course die. This … Continue reading

Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk" | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Making Wildlife Into Vermin

Just like weeds are plants growing in the wrong place, vermin are animals in the wrong place. Most often, in the context of a  city like San Francisco, that would be in or near our homes, interfering in some way … Continue reading

Posted in Herbicides, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Neighborhood impact | Tagged , , , | 13 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 , , , | 12 Comments

The “Demonstration Projects”

At the June 30  meeting, Ray Moritz, the forester hired by UCSF, presented the Demonstration projects. As we mentioned in the report on that meeting, we were surprised. We’d thought the areas discussed at the Agenda Planning meeting had been … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Meetings, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Neighborhood impact, UCSF | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Our notes on UCSF’s Notes – May 25th Meeting

This is UCSF’s summary of the May 25th meeting, which we reported on here. We have edited it for clarity. “C” stands for comment; “Q” for question; “A” for an answer provided by UCSF or by its hired arborist, Ray … Continue reading

Posted in Herbicides, Meetings, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Neighborhood impact, UCSF | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Habitat Destruction in Sutro Forest

We posted recently about the destruction of the forest understory along the South Ridge trail, near where it meets the Nike Rd. Now we hear that this isn’t the only area where habitat has been destroyed along the trail. Areas … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Neighborhood impact, UCSF | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Butterfly Count Results, 2010

It’s nice to have positive things to say about Nature in the City (which we’ve disagreed with, more than once), and this is really a win. Despite some pretty cold foggy weather, their June 7th Butterfly Count got 34 participants … Continue reading

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Butterfly Count: June 7th

We’ve talked about Nature In the City and its negative attitude to trees. Today’s post is positive: They’re leading a San Francisco Butterfly Count, in collaboration with the North American Butterfly Association. We believe it will be okay to count … Continue reading

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Urban Forests and Migratory Birds

We’d like to thank “Sutro Resident” for a comment with a link that led us to an interesting piece of research: That migratory birds may depend heavily on small urban forests as they pass through, and even small forests are … Continue reading

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Report: UCSF’s Agenda-Planning Meeting

After withdrawing its FEMA proposal, UCSF decided to go ahead on its own. It convened a small group of supporters and opponents for an agenda planning meeting prior to its planned Community workshop. UCSF plans to hold three such meetings, … Continue reading

Posted in Maps, Meetings, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, Neighborhood impact, UCSF | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 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

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Herbicides, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk", UCSF | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 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 , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Flowers in the Forest

Usually, we’re up in the forest for the trees, and those are certainly lovely. But it’s spring in the forest, and it has flowers, too. We even saw a cineraria. The native garden is finally all green. The pink-flowered currant … Continue reading

Posted in Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , | 1 Comment

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

Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

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 , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Old Growth Forest on Mt Sutro

Some months ago, we got into a discussion with “Jimbo” about old-growth forests, in the comments section of the front page of this website. (Scroll down to see the discussions.) At the time we said: “As for old-growth, I don’t … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism | Tagged , , , , , | 3 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 , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Global Warming & Quarter-mile relocations

Someone drew my attention to an article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle: “Global Warming to Keep Animals, Plants On Move.” The story was about a study from a scientific team from Cal Academy of Sciences, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Institute … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, nativism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Stewardship of a Forest

Two weeks ago, I visited the forest surrounding the Meiji shrine, in Tokyo, Japan. As with the Sutro Cloud Forest, I was struck by the wonderful old trees growing in the heart of a city, and wanted to find out … Continue reading

Posted in eucalyptus, Mt Sutro Cloud Forest, nativism, Neighborhood impact, UCSF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Slate magazine on Invasives

Someone sent me a link to a thoughtful article in Slate magazine called “Don’t Sweat the Invasion” by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow. The author starts out with the example of tamarisk, also known as salt-cedar; it’s an “exotic invasive” that spreads along … Continue reading

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Report: UCSF Oct 19th Meeting

We report on the UCSF October 19th meeting seeking community input into the “Fire Mitigation” project. [Italics in brackets are our comments.] It was a well-run meeting, moderated by Daniel Iacafano of Moore Iacafano and Goltsman. Barbara French, UCSF’s Associate … Continue reading

Posted in eucalyptus, Herbicides: Roundup, Garlon, Meetings, Mt Sutro landslide risk, nativism, Sutro Forest "Fire Risk" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Museum-ification – Pt 2

This continues Paul Gobster’s article from Pt 1. —————— Landscape and Land Use History Cranz and Boland (2004a, 2004b) do not identify how the recently developed ecological parks in their sample came into being, but in my own research I … Continue reading

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Museum-ification – Pt 1

Someone sent me an interesting paper on Museumification of urban nature, by Paul Gobster, published in “Nature and Culture” journal in Autumn 2007. He talks of how “parks as postcards” interfere with peoples’ natural interaction with parks, and its particular … Continue reading

Posted in nativism | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments