Planning for San Francisco's natural areas

San Francisco, though one of the most densely populated cities in the nation, manages hundreds of acres of its land (around 1.5% of the total) as natural areas. The Natural Areas Program of the Recreation and Park Department is a remarkable success, protecting and restoring dozens of these precious remnants, including many endangered species and their habitats. It is vital that we who care about nature in our city be ready to defend natural areas, and to educate the public about them.

A new plan

A new management plan is in the works for the city's natural areas. This spring, probably in April, the city's Recreation and Park Commission will forward the revised Management Plan to outside consultants for environmental review. When the review is completed, it will be circulated for public scrutiny, and the final plan may be approved by the Commission some time in 2008.

A draft version of the plan was published in June 2002. It was first reviewed by a "Green Ribbon Panel," and then reviewed again in 2004 by a citizen advisory committee set up by the Board of Supervisors. In response to continued questions by members of the public (mainly proponents of off-leash dog recreation and feral cats), the department set up a second ad-hoc committee, which met through last spring and then signed on to a Memorandum of Agreement. As part of this agreement, the department held three public workshops over the summer in different parts of the city to present the plan, and to entertain questions and criticisms.

The plan details the proposed scope of work for each of the 31 Natural Areas sites. The maps, the plant lists, the geology descriptions, and the analysis of wildlife habitat all contribute to make a complex program easy to understand and appreciate, now and for the next 20 years. With each exposure, the plan has gotten better.

The program makes good economic sense. The bigger capital-improvement projects are funded mostly by grants, not city funds. The program attracts 15,000 worker hours per year, the most volunteer involvement of any RPD program. These hours of donated labor enable the department to manage the natural areas with only 5 - 8 employees - about one gardener for every hundred acres! Other Department gardeners manage 11 acres or less each.

Misunderstandings

At last summer's workshops there were complaints that the program is elitist, that it will restrict recreation, and that it places too much emphasis on wildlife for an urban environment. Far from being elitist, the program is broadly popular. It supports popular forms of recreation such as hiking, bird-watching, and wildflower viewing. Further, most of the Natural Areas sites are craggy outposts, unsuitable for tennis courts, sports fields, or disc golf. The program does frankly favor the natural world. The Sierra Club believes that the natural world is important even within an urban context, and that San Francisco is privileged to have so much of it left to preserve.

Some people complained about the removal of non-native trees. Tree removal, however, would occur over a 20-year period, during which a comparable number of native trees are to be planted as replacements.

A few critics complained that trails will be closed. Most of these trails, however, are "social trails", informal cut-throughs that are redundant, pose safety hazards, or degrade park resources. They encourage erosion and harm plant and animal communities.

Some critics wanted to retain areas of ice plant to stop erosion, not understanding that while ice plant can stop blowing sand, it does not stop erosion on a steep hillside.

Some wanted to remove all dead trees as "unsightly", not understanding the important role of such "snags" as habitat for birds and insects.

These sorts of misunderstandings require educating the public, a task the Natural Areas Program is eager to take on. The department has a long history of providing information about the program for public scrutiny by neighbors and advocates. In addition, the weekly work parties at the Natural Areas sites provide on-the-ground instruction in ecological restoration to the many hundreds of volunteer participants. For most Natural Areas sites the department has prepared a detailed brochure explaining the site's natural value and the work to be done.

WhatYouCanDo

The next step will be in March, when the new version of the plan is posted on the department's website.

The plan will then be forwarded to the Recreation and Park Commission (look under the "agendas" heading for public meetings of the commission).

Please attend the commission hearing or write a letter of support to:

Gloria Bonilla, President
San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission
McLaren Lodge
501 Stanyan St.
San Francisco, CA 94117.

Voice your support for the plan, for the public process up to this point, and for the need for completing the environmental review within a reasonable time.

To help the Sierra Club San Francisco Group support natural areas, contact Pinky Kushner at (415) 731-9486 or pinkkushner@netscape.net

Pinky Kushner, conservation chair, San Francisco Group