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Give a GREEN Gift this year! Nature in the City needs your help to restore San Francisco's biodiversity and natural areas throughout the New Year! We invite you to join us. December is your last chance to make a tax deductible donation for 2007! We need your financial support to produce all of our wonderful programs. |
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December 5, 2007 In this issue: News Crestmont Hills Development
Volunteer
OpportunitiesJefferson Award: Charlice Danielsen Memorial Oak Grove Tree Sit Open Space Task Force on TV Protection of Western Snowy Plovers Sutro Update Nature in the City Calendar More Eco News & Events
Go online, email or call 415-564-4107. Nature in the City is a project of Earth Island Institute, a 501(c) California non profit public benefit corporation. Nature in the City has made some great accomplishments over the past year. Check out our programs page for pictures and details of current and previous projects. Volunteer Opportunities 
Presidio Park Stewards CNPS at Twin Peaks North Presidio Nursery Thursday December 6 Crissy Field Landscape Lands End Stewardship Friday December 7 Presidio Plant Patrol Saturday December 8 Quail on the Presidio Heron's Head Marsh Presidio Park Stewards Fort Funston Nursery McLaren Park Golden gate Park: Oak Woodlands Colma Creek Restoration Friends of Edgehill Mountain Lands End Stewards Presidio Nursery For more information, contact info, and directions to natural areas go to the Community Calendar on the Nature in the City website. Up Calendar
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| Dec. 6 | Mission Greenbelt Project 12 - 1 pm Meet the Artist! Brownbag Lunch |
| Dec. 8 | Yes on A - Fix Our Parks Neighborhood Kickoff 10 am Cabrillo Playground For more info call Patrick at 608-6699 |
| Dec. 15 | Bike Tour of the Mission Greenbelt Meet in Dolores Park (at 19th & Dolores) Gather at 2:30 pm, ride leaves at 2:45. Free. Donations accepted. Steady rain cancels. All skill levels welcome. Join Amber Hasselbring on a bike ride along the proposed Mission Greenbelt. The ride will end at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (401 Van Ness), where the campaign is currently installed. |
| Dec. 29 | Exclusive Preview Night
"Butterflies & Bulldozers: The Fight for San Bruno Mountain" in celebration of San Bruno Mountain 7:30 -11:30 p.m. The Mission Blue Community Center 475 Mission Blue Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005. The event will include hors d'oeuvres, live music and a hosted wine bar. RSVP to San Bruno Mountain Watch sanbruno@mountainwatch.org 415-467-6631 |
*For more calendar items, as well as regular volunteer opportunities, go to the Nature in the City Calendar to view all posted events.
Compost Canvassing
(Department of the Environment)
SFE
staff, Norcal, and volunteers are putting on their walking shoes. In
our efforts for a zero waste city, we are going to start canvassing
again to educate the community about how they can participate to
increase residential composting and recycling rates in SF!
We will be knocking on targeted houses (beginning in the Richmond
district) and giving away free kitchen pails and biobags to help
encourage residents to compost through the city service. We will also
hand out flyers that show what is acceptable in our program.
Contact Kimberly or visit the Department of the Environment's website for more information or the sign up.
Upcoming Canvassing Dates:Wednesday December 5
3 - 7 pm
Saturday December 8
9:30am - 12:30pm
News
Save the Date
January 6th, 2008
San Francisco Zoo
Check out the beautiful new Big Year poster and the inspiring checklist, download some postcards and share the good news!
Check out the Big Year website for more info and updates.
Crestmont Hills Development
A recent article by Ken Garcia!! in the Examiner caught our attention:
"People who watch the way development takes place in San Francisco could view the history of a project near Sutro Tower to try to understand why neighbors so often feel they’re living on a slippery slope.
Residents in and around Crestmont Hills were aghast three years ago when they were alerted of plans by a developer to build 34 three- and four-bedroom luxury condominiums on a 50,000-square-foot parcel. The homeowners in the area near UC San Francisco expressed concerns about the density of the project for an area that is one of the most heavily wooded and quiet neighborhoods in The City."
Read the entire article here.
Up
Jefferson Award Winner: Charlie Danielsen
Charlie Danielsen has spent more than thirty years studying, collecting, saving and educating the public about native plants. Fifteen years ago, she sprouted the idea that became the Native Here Nursery. Almost all of this she's done as a volunteer.
Check out the CBS 5 coverage of Charlie's great garden.
Memorial Oak Grove Tree Sit
As of December 2, 2007, it has been approximately one year since the University of California Memorial Oak Grove Tree-Sit Protest began. It is now the longest urban tree-sit protest in American history. Memorial Stadium was designed with it’s grounds, including the oak grove, as a memorial to the Californians who died fighting in WWI. UC Berkeley currently plans to tear down the grove, which consists of 38 Coast Live Oaks, to expand gym facilities -- against the wishes of hundreds of community members.
Berkeley isn't giving any leniency for the grove dwellers. University Police are now preventing the delivery of food and water to tree-sitters. A peaceful vigil supporting the starving sitters ended with police batons and 3 protesters arrested on November 15. The grove has been surrounded by 2 separate 12' foot barbwire fences with massive floodlights blaring on the sitters all night as a sleep deprivation tactic.
UC authorities have threatened arrest for the act of even speaking to protesters, raising obvious questions about constituational rights, and leading to many more arrests.
For more information about the protest, the grove, or how you can help, go to the Save the Oaks website
For a critical perspective about the tree sitters go to yesterdays Chronicle.
Up
Open Space Task Force on TV
TV 20’s Your Green Life: Eco News did a story on the Mayor’s Open Space Task Force, featuring the Neighborhood Parks Council’s Isabel Wade. The “Push for More Parks” broadcast ran Monday and Tuesday on TV20 or cable 13 around the Bay Area. You can also catch it online at www.yourtv20.com along with some exclusive web print content.
Protection of Western Snowy Plovers
In last week's newsletter, we included a short section explaining the new rule the Park Service is planning to implement to ensure the protection of the Snowy Plovers. It was reported that the Regulatory Information Number (RIN) provided by the Park Service was useless. The following information should help you to quickly locate the correct web page:
Docket ID: NPS-2007-0168
Document ID: NPS-2007-0168-0001
Document Title: Special Regulations; Areas of the National Park System
Mail or hand deliver your comments to :
Superintendent, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Fort Mason Building 201
San Francisco, CA 94123
Attention: Snowy Plover Protection Rule
For further information call 415-561-4728
Mt Sutro Update
Mt Sutro recently received a San Francisco Beautiful award for the spectacular habitat restoration and trails liberation program. Saturday was another inspiring volunteer workparty, during which the first local native plants went into the ground, and yet another native chert reinforced trail was restored.
Up
Earn a Bike!
(The Bike Kitchen)
The Bike Kitchen is a cooperative,
do-it-yourself
bike repair shop. They provide all the tools and parts you need to fix
or build a bicycle. They're staffed by volunteer mechanics who are
available to give advice and answer questions. Instead of charging a fee
for services, the Bike Kitchen charges membership dues. (If you're short on cash, you can put in volunteer hours instead!)
One program the Bike Kitchen is currently offering, is the Earn a Bike program, where participants are assigned a list of tasks to complete over a period of time. Once all the tasks have been completed
and approved by a mechanic, you may choose a bicycle
or a frame and begin building it with parts approved by a
mechanic. Once the bicycle is finished, it is checked
for safety by a mechanic. This program is free of charge.
Now there's no excuse to not have a bike in the city!
A Billboard With a Message
(Live Science)
Energy-sapping billboards, your days may be numbered. A California electricity supplier says it has installed the nation's first solar-powered billboard, which generates more electricity than it uses.
The billboard—roofed with 20 solar panels—is located at 1000 Brannan St. in San Francisco, and is visible from the Highway 101 9th Street exit.
Read the full article here.Up
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