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Give the Gift of Nature!
On November 14th, 2009, we put
San Francisco's biodiversity on the Map!
Growing Nature in the City, our first ever gala fundraiser was a great success!
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Photo by Christopher Campbell |
Organic food, wonderful people, inspiring silent and live auctions, activism & an exciting program all combined into an unforgettable milestone for our organization and our local ecological community, with 250 people in the house!
Meanwhile, you know that we can't subsist on positive momentum alone to ensure the success of Nature in the City. In order for our 3 half-time staff to organize, catalyze & activate a new cultural shift of local ecological stewardship, we invite you to join us.
And don't forget about our ONLINE AUCTION
Bidding ends in 3 days!!!
(ID: growingNTC, PASSWORD: growingNTC)
Now that the year is wrapping up, we wish to express our eternal gratitude to all of you who have contributed to the nature in the city movement! We have an amazing core of financial supporters, volunteers, steering committee members and colleagues - let's keep the energy going in the new year!
Help us ride this wave of success by pitching in to nature where you live!
Create habitat hands-on at our fun upcoming VOLUNTEER days
or make a contribution to empower us in our unique role to advocate for and promote stewardship of San Francisco's irreplaceable natural resources: Lake Merced, Sharp Park, Candlestick Point, McLaren Park, Twin Peaks, Laguna Honda, Mt. Sutro, Yerba Buena Island, the Presidio and Crissy Field! Which other organization has such a wide reach, right here in San Francisco, with the issues and places that matter most to you?
Today's News from Copenhagen
David Simpson, a long-time Northern California bioregional pioneer and community leader went to the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in whatever ways seem appropriate. Planet Drum will distribute all of David's impressions and welcomes your reactions at mail@planetdrum.org.
December 7, 2009 - "The first challenge to our sortie out into the world, for which the intention is to be present at the higher councils where the climate crisis might be diminished, came before we'd even gotten out of Humboldt County. It was during the security check at the Arcata Airport. A friendly TSA guard, while waving his wand over our persons, asked where we were going. When we told him Copenhagen for the U.N. Climate Conference. he blurted out that global warming was all 'a con job'. I suggested to him that it would be truly great if he were right." Read Dave's full report here.
Read more up to date information from Copenhagen at these links:
Copenhagen on the Ropes
The Latest from Europe
Sharp Park
The Recreation and Parks Department released its controversial report about the future of Sharp Park last month. Now the San Francisco Board of Supervisor's Government Audit & Oversight Committee will have an opportunity to hear from the Department - and from you - about the future we desire on this land.
Please attend this important hearing TOMORROW, December 16th, 1pm at San Francisco City Hall room 263 and tell the Board of Supervisors that we deserve a better public park at Sharp Park!
And...
In a new report released Tuesday, fiscal conservatives on Capitol Hill, led by Senator John McCain, highlight a $2.2 million dollar federal stimulus bailout for Sharp Park Golf Course as one of one-hundred projects that benefit private interests over the public good and make improvements where they are not necessary. Read the full article from the Contra Costa Times.
Watershed Restoration on Market Street!?
From NTC Member Stefano DeZerega
"For years San Franciscans and tourists have scoffed at Hallidie Plaza, which sits at the foot of Powell street as the gateway to Union Square. From a location standpoint, it's sure tough to beat as it resides near the Powell BART station, Union Square and the Cable Car turnaround. Despite this location, the three tiered plaza has never realized its full potential. Typically home to thousands of pigeons, street hustlers and homeless, the plaza has become an eyesore and home to unsavory activity.
City officials have recently proposed a huge makeover that would turn a portion of the plaza into a large cistern and be highlighted by a great street-level deck. The concept was hatched five years ago. It's in conjunction with Mayor Newsom's overhaul of Market Street (traffic restrictions, art in vacant storefronts, etc.), part of an ongoing effort to spark economic activity and recovery along Market.
The plan consists of a decked area that would house a cafe, outdoor seating and a bike station. The deck could be used as a venue for plays and concerts. The lower level would be a 480,000 gallon tank holding groundwater that currently flows beneath plaza, which currently must be pumped into the sewer system to keep the transit station from flooding (wasting about 44 million gallons of water each year). The new system would pump water into the tank as opposed to the storm drain, which could then be used by Department of Public Works tanker trunks to clean streets and water trees."
Check out Chris Carlsson's piece on the SF Streets Blog, about San Francisco's sinking problem, due to old, underground waterways. "Joel Pomerantz wrote 'San Francisco's Clean Little Secret' a few years ago wherein he found in SF Water Dept. official reports the saga of the 'Mighty Hayes River.' Starting deep underground somewhere near Lone Mountain, the subterranean river flows southeast under Civic Center, and... once surfaced around 7th and Mission."
Yerba Buena Island (YBI) Habitat Plan
Readers may recall that exactly 3 years! ago, the Board of Supervisors legislated that the City create a "management plan for the natural areas on Yerba Buena Island." This they did thanks to the formidable local ecological advocate, Ruth Gravanis, who recently won the Nature in the City Greatest Urban Biodiversity Activist Award at our gala fundraiser.
The DRAFT Yerba Buena Island Habitat Management Plan is expected to be released on December 21. Please check TIDA's website for a link to download the draft plan.
There will be (2) public presentations of the Draft Plan in January.
Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island Citizens' Advisory Board (CAB)
January 5, 2010,
6 -8 pm
City Hall, Room 305
Treasure Island Development Authority Board
January 13, 2010
1:30-4:30 pm
City Hall, Room 400
If you wish to submit comments you may do so at either of the meetings, or submit written comments anytime during the public comment period, which ends
February 2, 2010. Any comment received by January 21 will be addressed at the CAB meeting on February 2.
Written comments should be mailed to:
Michael Tymoff
Office of Economic and Workforce Development
City Hall, Room 448
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
You may also send comments electronically to: michael.tymoff@sfgov.org
NTC VOLUNTEER DAYS |
Beginning in January, 2010
All ages welcome! Contact Iris Clearwater for questions or more info.
1st SATURDAYS
9 am - 1 pm
MT SUTRO STEWARDS
habitat enhancement and trail building, followed by steaming hot pizza and refreshments!
3rd SATURDAYS
9 am - 12 pm
Help us grow
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW HABITAT
at Golden Gate Park's Bison Paddock
Early-bird bird walk starts at 8 am!
2nd SUNDAYS
10 am - 12 pm
GREEN HAIRSTREAK CORRIDOR
Saturday Dec 19
10 am - 12 pm at 14th & Noriega
1 - 3 pm at 14th & Pacheco
Come to either, or bring a lunch and stay for both! If you have tools & gloves, bring them too.
SUNDAYS
12 pm - 4 pm
HANC NATIVE PLANT NURSERY
On 2nd Sundays, follow an invigorating morning at the Green Hairstreak corridor by volunteering
with Iris Clearwater!
3rd SUNDAYS
1 pm -4 pm
ALEMANY NATIVES - at Alemany Farm - creating educational Native Habitats in cooperation with volunteer Urban Farming
Go to the Nature in the City Calendar for more volunteer opportunities!
MORE NEWS |
SFPUC Adopts Landmark Environmental Justice Policy!
From the SFPUC Citizens' Advisory Committee
"The members of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) unanimously affirmed the regional utility's commitment to fair treatment of all communities and to addressing disproportionate negative impacts and environmental consequences from its operations and facilities in a historic Environmental Justice Policy adopted on October 13. The policy, adopted at a Special Meeting of the Commission in the Southeast community of San Francisco less than a block away from the City's Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant, sets a new standard for public agencies and utilities in confronting and addressing environmental justice issues."
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Environmental Justice Subcommittee, please email Laurie, Chair of the CAC.
Open Positions
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Audubon Canyon Ranch is hiring a vegetation management Project Leader, a newly-created position within their Habitat Protection & Restoration program. Click here for more info about the position and how to apply!
Urban Forestry Council
The Urban Forestry Council has a vacancy due to a resignation. Click here for application instructions and additional requirements. Contact Mei Ling Hui, Council Coordinator at 355-3731 for information.
