GOOD OLD-FASHIONED SAN FRANCISCO STREET PROTEST

As a follow-up to our very successful meeting on Saturday at the Glen Park rec center we are holding a peaceful street protest at the corner of Elk and Bosworth Streets (corner of Glen Canyon Park near the baseball diamond) to bring attention to SF Rec and Park’s plans to remove 300+ viable trees from the park. We need to act fast – construction (and associated tree removal) will start on October 15th!

When:  Thursday, Oct.11 from 5:00 – 6:30 PM,

Where:  At the corner of Elk and Bosworth.
Come and show your support for Glen Canyon Park!

WHAT TO DO

We gather at the corner of Elk and Bosworth Streets at 5 PM.

We encourage you to bring your own protest sign – we will have some extras if you cannot bring your own. Some tips:

• Bring a sign that can be easily read by those in rush hour traffic —
• Be sure to include www.SFForest.Net on your sign so motorists will know where to go for more information.
• Keep the poster messages clean – we are family friendly

Potential messages for signs could use the following themes

• Save Glen Canyon trees – call Supervisor Wiener
• Stop the deforestation – call Mayor Lee
• Keep Glen Canyon wild – call supervisor Wiener
• RPD – Preserve our urban habitat
• RPD – get some common sense
• Save my taxes and save these trees
• More recreation, less destruction

Kids and dogs (on leash only) are very welcome.
We want a safe and peaceful protest – we must stay on the narrow sidewalk, not interrupt auto or pedestrian traffic and not use any loudspeakers.

Message limitation requests:

• The SFFA does not want to stop the long overdue upgrades to park facilities – we want common sense preservation of viable trees. Please do not bring a sign asking for a halt in construction.
• Please do not bring any signs with messages about the 2012 Parks Bond (Prop B). The SFFA negotiated language in the bond that will (hopefully) prevent 2012 bond funds from being diverted to NAP. As a result, we will not oppose Prop B; this rally is neutral on the bond.

If you cannot attend our rally please contact:

Supervisor Scott Wiener, (415) 554-6966, scott.wiener@sfgov.org
Mayor Ed Lee, (415) 554-6966, mayoredwinlee@sfgov.org
Park Commission, (415) 831-2750, recpark.commission@sfgov.org

UPDATE ON OUR OCTOBER 6TH MEETING

(The initial report is HERE.)

We were clear we do not want to stop the long awaited improvements to park facilities.  However, the plans for the upgrades to the tennis courts, playground, rec center, trails, and natural areas include removal of hundreds of trees that could be spared. At our Saturday meeting we presented slides from Sunshine Act (SF freedom of information act) documents and data showing the vast majority of 300 + (closer to 400) tree removals for the various projects and the “natural areas” are not for safety reasons. There are some hazardous trees that do need to be removed and we do support removal for legitimate safety reasons. We also showed how removal of so many trees will change the character of the park forever.

Our audience agreed trading mature trees for saplings is a bad deal. We showed pictures and featured speakers who revealed Rec and Park’s extremely poor record of tree planting and sapling survival. At the very best, replanting = “restoration” in 75 years.

We heard from our audience that these extreme tree removal goals had not been communicated to them. The “community process” showcased the facility improvements while remaining silent on the extensive, expensive, and unnecessary tree removals. As a result, we have asked Rec & Park for a community walkthrough of the arborist plan.

When we showed we had support of 20 other neighborhood organizations against NAP and unjustified RPD tree removal plans many who participated wanted a more independent analysis and position from the Glen Park Association. The Glen Park Association is currently highly supportive of RPD’s plans to remove trees.

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

The San Francisco Forest Alliance is an authentic grassroots organization with a membership that has no professional or financial dependencies or relationships with our City or SF Recreation and Park Department.

The SFFA is also fighting against the plans that the SF RPD Natural Areas Program has proposed for our city parks as a whole:

• Trees – removal of over 18,500
• Trails – loss of 9+ miles of recreational trails to fenced-off native areas
• Toxins – high-maintenance plant species requiring ongoing pesticide applications
• Taxes – “20-year plan” diverting $ tens of millions from traditional park programs

Many thanks for your support!