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"Local firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian koala, later nicknamed Sam, at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009."Nature in the City News
Local Butterfly Discovery Goes All the Way to the Smithsonian
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In early February local naturalists and Nature in the City members, Matt Zlatunich and Liam O'Brien, sent a letter to Dr. John Burns from the Smithsonian Institute, regarding an unusual discovery at the Presidio. The butterfly in question was of the genus Erynnis.
Matt wrote, "Although the host plants of both E. tristis and E. funeralis are present at the site, any Erynnis is extremely rare in San Francisco county, and we believe this lone individual to be a vagrant. Opinions of local lepidopterists have varied, and none have been conclusive."
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Dr. John Burns replied with a positive identification:
"Matt, this is without question an example of Erynnis funeralis (and, if it's of any interest, it's a male).... Your photographs are good and the skipper itself is in good condition. I think that E. funeralis is probably more mobile than other species of Erynnis."
From the Field
Peter Brastow was recently featured in Bay Nature Magazine, in their From the Field section! Read below and check out the February 5 issue to learn more about Nature in the City's founding director!
"Peter Brastow is the founding director of Nature in the City, a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging stewardship and ecological restoration of the natural areas of San Francisco. Peter's career in, as he puts it, 'the broad spectrum of the environmental field' began in the 1990s, when he went to grad school in geography and studied how humans interact with their environment. He says, 'the critical eye I brought to these issues, as a result of immersion in a fairly socialist-oriented geography program, helped me realize that our environmental problems couldn't be separated from the way our society functions.'"
Park Department Plans Layoffs and Parking Meters
"Faced with a swelling budget gap, San Francisco's Recreation & Park Department plans to lay off dozens of staffers, lease out three clubhouses, charge visitors to enter the Botanical Gardens and install parking meters in some parks.
But those measures and other changes will allow the city to keep open all of its recreation centers and clubhouses and expand hours at many of them, interim General Manager Jared Blumenfeld said Tuesday.
'No facilities will go dark,' he told The Chronicle. 'And in many cases, the hours will get better.'"
Open Space Community Workshops
Go and advocate for natural areas and biodiversity conservation and restoration! Public input will inform the creation of an Open Space Framework for San Francisco.
Visit the Open Space 2100 website for the full calendar.
Join Nature in the City!
Become a member today and get a new map! Nature in the City is a project of Earth Island Institute, a 501(c)3 California non profit public benefit corporation. |
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Katydid on wallflower at Crystal Springs Watershed Photo by Margo Bors |
Wednesday February 25
Alcatraz Gardens
Presidio Park Stewards
@ Baker Beach
California Native Plant Society
@ Bayview
Presidio Nursery
Thursday February 26
Crissy Field Landscape
Lands End Stewards
Friday February 27
Alcatraz Gardens
Presidio Plant Patrol
@ Lobos Creek
Saturday February 28
Quail at Harding Park
Colma Creek
Area A Landscape & Maintenance
Presidio Park Stewards
@ El Polin Springs
Fort Funston
Alvord Lake Beautification
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Beehives on Potrero Hill Photo by Chris Carlsson |
Lands End Stewards
Presidio Nursery
Redwood Creek
Corono Heights Grassland
Sunday March 1
Ocean Beach Cleanup
For more information, contact info, and directions to natural areas go to the Community Calendar on the Nature in the City website.
A Truly "Green" New Deal
"The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) recently joined partner organizations, including the California Native Grassland Association (CNGA) and the California Society for Ecological Restoration (SERCAL), in sending a letter to Congress and the incoming administration urging them to consider environmental restoration work with any new funding for the nation's infrastructure. As our country works to maintain the systems that sustain it, we should be sure to include not just the built environment, but also the natural resources that provide essential ecosystem servies. This would follow the lead of progressive agencies like California State Parks, which as begun including natural resources in their budgets for deferred maintenance."
Read the full article here. (PDF)
Check out Peter's comments on ecological economics.
Also, Planet Drum's 'New Green Deal'
The Bay Area as an Ecosystem
"When it comes to development and preservation, Bay Area communities tend to be myopic and provincial. Some crave growth, others abhor it - and, as often as not, their local desires do not necessarily reflect the best interest of the region, which is to guide growth into areas where it has the least detrimental effect on natural resources and makes the best use of existing job centers and transportation systems. "Read the full story from the SF Chronicle.
Bay Area Mouse Stirs National Debate
"It was the mouse that roared.
A 1-inch-tall endangered rodent found in the marshes of San Jose and other San Francisco Bay Area cities became a national symbol of wasteful spending Thursday for opponents of President Barack Obama's stimulus plans.
'Pork for Rats?' CNN trumpeted. 'Pelosi's mouse slated for $30M slice of cheese,' proclaimed the Washington Times."
Get the full story in the San José Mercury News.
Pelican Updates
WildCare
"It has been a busy month for California Brown Pelicans. In the early February they were officially delisted from the Endangered Species Act in California.
However, the delisting comes at a time when the populations of the main food sources of Brown Pelicans, herring and smelt, are crashing. Pelicans may find themselves competing with fishermen for dwindling fish stocks, which could mean trouble for the birds.
WildCare has been hearing reports of a disturbing 'event' happening to these birds. According to a Los Angeles Times article on January 6, 2009, 'disoriented and bruised California Brown Pelicans are landing on highways and airport runways and in farm fields, alleys and backyards miles from their normal coastal haunts.'
While no one is sure what is causing the birds to crash land, and in many cases die, scientists and veterinarians have some theories. A primary concern is the diminishment of herring and smelt food stocks, but other theories discuss cold weather, disrupted migration patterns and the possiblity of Domoic Acid poisoning."