• September 14, 2011, 7:30 p.m.—Shaping San Francisco: Endangered Species Campaigning: Shaping San Francisco/CounterPULSE hosts a discussion about endangered species campaigning with Todd Gilens, creator of the Endangered Buses art project; Brent Plater, Executive Director of the Wild Equity Institute; and Jessie Raeder of the Tuolomne River Trust. You’ll learn about some of the most pressing issues facing San Francisco’s local endangered species, and how you can become part of the solution and help these species thrive. RSVP for the event here.

Todd Gilens Endangered Buses Project.

September 7, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Brent Plater, Wild Equity Institute, (415) 572-6989
Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 669-7357

San Francisco’s Rediscovered Franciscan Manzanita
Proposed for Formal Endangered Species Status

Proposed Rule to Protect San Francisco’s Miracle Manzanita to be Released Tomorrow

...Read more

June 14, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Brent Plater, Wild Equity Institute, (415) 572-6989

Delay, Duplicity
Leads to Lawsuit
to Protect San Francisco’s Miracle Manzanita

SAN FRANCISCO — The Wild Equity Institute today filed a lawsuit against Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect the recently rediscovered Franciscan manzanita under the Endangered Species Act.

...Read more

Today the Wild Equity Institute filed a formal 60-day notice of intent to sue the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to provide timely protection to the Franciscan Manzanita, a highly imperiled plant found only in the Presidio in San Francisco.

The Last Wild Franciscan Manzanita

The Franciscan Manzanita made national headlines in December 2009 when Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp rediscovered the plant near Doyle Drive in the Presidio, more than 70 years after the species was declared extinct in the wild. Unfortunately, at the time Dr. Gluesenkamp made his discovery the plant was threatened by a massive, federally-funded road construction project. But a collaborative effort to move the plant into a more secure location was undertaken, saving the individual plant and giving manzanita experts a more stable area to begin species-wide recovery efforts.

To kick-start those species-wide recovery efforts, on December 14, 2009, the Wild Equity Institute submitted a formal administrative petition to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to provide the species with formal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Endangered Species Act protection is essential to the recovery of the Franciscan Manzanita because it requires a recovery plan to be created and prioritizes federal funding for recovery actions.

...Read more

Today is the last day to comment on the proposal to list the Franciscan Manzanita, Arctostaphylos franciscana, under the Endangered Species Act. You can support this important conservation step by clicking here and letting the Fish and Wildlife Service know why you support full federal Endangered Species Act protection for San Francisco’s miracle manzanita.

Don’t know what to say? That’s OK: just write from your heart and let the Fish and Wildlife Service know that you want the individual plant protected and the entire species restored using the best conservation law on the planet: the Endangered Species Act.

If you are looking for something more to say, feel free to review the Wild Equity Institute’s comments. We’ve focused on the importance of protecting unoccupied areas for the species, areas that have the characteristics needed to serve as important reintroduction areas as part of a long-term recovery process for the species.

...Read more

Reviewing the 50 or so comments submitted to protect the Franciscan manzanita has been a heartwarming exercise: it gives us hope for a healthy and sustainable global community for people and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth.

The Franciscan Manzanita

Of course, there’s always this guy:

“$175,000 to move a plant? Are you serious? I think that money is better spent on the TAX PAYERS rather than a PLANT which was quite fine where it already was! Come on, really?? Who comes up with these kind of decisions? Give us better roads, feed the homeless, or at least do SOMETHING productive with OUR money.”

...Read more

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.

...Read more

The Franciscan Manzanita

Last week San Francisco Chronicle columnists Matier & Ross claimed that the City and County of San Francisco was stuck with a $200,000 bill to move the rediscovered Franciscan Manzanita from the path of the Doyle Drive construction project. The article caused a firestorm: it was the most viewed item on the Chronicle's website last week, and now Sean Hannity of Fox News is calling around to do a hit-piece on the plant.

Trouble is, Matier & Ross' accusation is false. According to Doyle Drive Project Spokesperson Molly Graham, "this money isn't coming from the City of San Francisco's coffers."  In fact, the transplant was funded by a pre-existing environmental mitigation budget sponsored by all Bay Area counties.  Although the discovery of the Manzanita wasn't anticipated, not one new taxpayer dollar was needed to fund the move.  Moreover, the total proposed to be spent on this species recovery action is less than .01% of the entire budget for the Doyle Drive project.

CalTrans Video of the Manzanita Move

...Read more

After the amazing discovery of the Franciscan manzanita in the Presidio, the Wild Equity Institute filed a petition under the Endangered Species Act to ensure that the long-term recovery planning process for the species was conducted using the best recovery tools available.

As part of the short-term plans to protect the individual plant, biologists from several agencies determined the plant should be moved to a more secure site within the Presidio. This video documents some of the work done on the project.

Now that the move is complete, long-term recovery planing for the species—in addition to the work to save this individual plant—will now move forward.

Responding to a petition filed by the Wild Equity Institute, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has secured funding to start the Endangered Species Act protection process for the Franciscan manzanita in 2010.

A single Franciscan manzanita plant was rediscovered in the wild by Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp this winter. The species was last seen in the wild nearly seventy years ago. The individual plant has been moved to a more secure home in the Presidio of San Francisco, and with the help of the Endangered Species Act the recovery efforts for the entire species can begin in earnest. Learn more here.