We’ve got two great Golden Gate National Parks Endangered Species Big Year trips this weekend to see some of the rarest species on the San Francisco Peninsula. Join us for some time outside, good conversation, and opportunities to build a healthy and sustainable community for people and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth!

• Gowen, Gowen, Gone? Climate Change, Adaptation, & the Presidio’s Gowen Cypress. Saturday, August 28, 2010, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.— Join Brent Plater of the Wild Equity Institute and Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp of the Bay Area Early Detection Network on a short walk and discovery of the Presidio’s misplaced Gowen Cypress. The Gowen Cypress is a federally listed species, but it isn’t native to the Presidio, and its presence in the Golden Gate National Parks raises questions we all need to grapple with. When is it appropriate to move imperiled wildlife and plants, and when we do it, how do we do it properly? In an era of climate change, these questions will become more important—and more difficult—to answer. Join us to search for this tree in the Presidio and begin answering these questions, all while earning points towards the 2010 GGNP Endangered Species Big Year grand prize. RSVP Required: please use this links on this web page to RSVP. Rain or shine. Meet at the parking area near the intersection of Pacific Ave. and Walnut St., San Francisco, CA 94118. Easily accessible by bike and transit: check www.511.org for details.

Gowen Cypress in the Presidio

• Twain’s Frog & the Beautiful Serpent. Sunday, August 29, 2010, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Join Brent Plater of the Wild Equity Institute to search for two of the most imperiled vertebrate species on the San Francisco peninsula: the California red-legged frog and the San Francisco garter snake. This will be a leisurely walk to enjoy the restoration work being conducted at Mori Point and to learn about the bold steps being taken to save both species from the brink of extinction. RSVP Required: please use this website to RSVP. Rain or Shine. Meet at the Mori Point Trailhead, Pacifica, CA, 94044. Take the Sharp Park exit off Hwy. 1 and continue south on Bradford Way about 0.5 mile to the gate/trailhead at Mori Point Rd. Roadside parking is limited; carpooling is encouraged. Samtrans buses #110 and #112 stop nearby.

Can you find four California red-legged frogs in this photo?

A new article in the Pacifica Tribune highlights the significant financial and legal risks Sharp Park Golf Course places on the City and County of San Francisco, and given San Mateo County’s own $150 million dollar budget deficit, urges San Mateo County to support building a better, restored landscape on Sharp Park.

The article notes that Pacifica City Manager Steve Rhodes went to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors’ budget hearings to urge the City to continue funding Sharp Park. Yet efforts to protect the threatened Western Snowy Plover in Pacifica have been stymied because city officials have claimed there aren’t sufficient public resources to implement processes to protect the bird.

It’s time for Pacifica to get its priorities straight. read the article here and then submit a letter to the editor of the Pacifica Tribune supporting a restored Sharp Park. Send your letter to Editor & Publisher Elaine Larson today.

Pacifica’s Economic Development Committee reignited a controversial development proposal by resolving to develop an area known as the Pacifica Quarry, which is adjacent to the National Park Service’s Mori Point. The resolution urges the City of Pacifica to plan and entitle a “village type” development on the property: even though the area has been designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area by the Coastal Commission.

If the development moves forward it will jeopardize the continued existence of two species listed under the Endangered Species Act: the area is occupied habitat for the California red-legged frog and provides suitable habitat for the San Francisco garter snake. The development could also negatively impact the adjacent National Park lands.

The development proposal highlights the critical importance of restoring Sharp Park, which is on the other side of Mori Point from the Pacifica Quarry. At Sharp Park we can build a better public park free of “takings” claims made by private developers; adapt our coast to rising sea levels without building sea walls that destroy beaches; and provide restored habitats for Twain’s Frog and the beautiful serpent.

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Come on out for another Golden Gate National Parks Endangered Species Big Year event for your chance to see endangered species and win prizes while you are at it! This week we’re heading to Fort Funston for a chance to see some of the Parks’ more elusive endangered species. See you there!

Sea Watch for Endangered Sea Creatures, August 21, 2010, 3:30 p.m. -5:00 p.m.— Join local naturalist Matt Zlatunich for a relaxing sea watch at Fort Funston, which has some of the wildest coastal views in San Francisco. We’ll be searching for some of the more elusive sea creatures that call the GGNRA home: Humpback Whale, Steller Sea Lion, and Southern Sea Otters! You never know: we might throw in a Marbled Murrelet while we are there. RSVP required: please use this website to RSVP. Bring spotting scopes and binoculars if you have them; also bring water and snacks to munch on. Meet at the Fort Funston Observation Deck.

On Monday in Pacifica, Bob Battalio, PE, gave a fascinating presentation about the constraints and opportunities placed on coastal communities as sea level rises and erosion processes reshape California’s coast.

Mr. Battalio explained that Pacifica’s beaches are eroding, and that sea walls tend to exacerbate this erosion on the ocean-side of the wall, often resulting in the loss or reduction of beaches. He also emphasized that planned adaptation strategies can be more sustainable and less costly than responding to sea level rise by armoring the coastline, with the added benefit of preserving public access and coastal resources for future generations to enjoy.

The slides from the presentation are now available for download at the Wild Equity Institute’s website here.

Come hear Pacifican, coastal engineer, & surfer Bob Battalio of Philip Williams and Associates Environmental Hydrology give a presentation on the opportunities and constraints placed on coastal development and conservation by climate change, sea level rise, and coastal erosion. This talk will focus on how we can protect our homes and beaches in a cost-effective manner as sea level rises and storm frequency and intensity increases. The event will be held at the Sharp Park Library Community Room, 104 Hilton Way, in Pacifica, CA from 6:30pm-8:00pm. For event information and a link to a map and driving directions, click here.

Bob Battalio

August 9, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: BRENT PLATER, WILD EQUITY INSTITUTE, 415-572-6989

Petition to Protect San Francisco’s “Miracle Manzanita”
Prompts Feds to Begin Protection Process

SAN FRANCISCO— The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that it has started the formal legal process to protect the Franciscan manzanita under the federal Endangered Species Act, widely considered to be our most powerful and effective tool for protecting the imperiled plants and animals that accompany us on Earth.

The Franciscan Manzanita

The announcement was prompted by the Wild Equity Institute’s formal administrative petition to protect the species shortly after it was rediscovered in the wild by Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp inside the Presidio Trust in San Francisco, nearly 70 years after it was deemed extinct in the wild.

Because extinct species are not protected by the Endangered Species Act, the Franciscan manzanita had no formal protection when it was found. The Endangered Species Act protection petition was submitted on an emergency basis to close this loophole and give biologists the tools they need to bring the species back from extinction. The Center for Biological Diversity and the California Native Plant Society co-petitioned for the protections.

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The Wild Equity Institute has engaged dozens of allies in our campaign to build a better public park at Sharp Park, and our list of allies keeps growing. This weekend we had a fantastic tour of Mori Point and Sharp Park to give people the facts about restoration opportunities at Sharp Park, and to search for Twain’s Frog and the Beautiful Serpent.

Wild Equity Institute Outreach at Mori Point

If your organization would like to partner with us, drop us a line at 415-349-5787 or email us at info@wildequity.org.

If you would like to provide individual support, check out our Restore Sharp Park website to find out who to write, how to volunteer, and where to donate to the campaign.

We had great luck searching for the California red-legged frog at Mori Point this past weekend. But they aren’t always easy to see.

Can you find four frogs in this photo? If you can, it’s about time you got started on your GGNP Endangered Species Big Year: you’ve got what it takes to compete for the $1,000 grand prize!

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Whales are congregating in large numbers off the coast of Northern California right now, but the exciting news has been tempered by reports that a young Humpback Whale was found dead near the Farallon Islands with slashes on its body consistent with being struck by a ship propeller.

Humpback Whale

This is no isolated incident: whales are killed by ship strikes every year. You can help address this problem by participating in the Wild Equity Institute’s Golden Gate National Parks Endangered Species Big Year. Humpback Whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and are one of the 36 endangered species you can see and help save in the Golden Gate National Parks. The prescient action item for the Humpback Whale is to call our local marine sanctuaries and demand that they impose speed limits to protect whales from ship collisions. You can find out how to contact our local marine sanctuaries here.

Whales are frequently struck by ships as large cargo tankers and other boats come in and out of our busiest ports. Part of the problem is that shipping corridors often run right through marine sanctuaries, where whales may be resting and feeding. Some of these large ships carry too much momentum to avoid whales: unless they slow down so that the ship can redirect its course rapidly. That’s why ocean speed limits are essential, and our marine sanctuaries are the perfect place to implement them. Please make your calls today.