Still More Trees Going Down in Glen Canyon

Posted on February 10, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

We’re continuing to document the work at the Elk Street entrance of Glen Canyon. Here are some recent pictures. It looks like what it was – a logged worksite where lately there were trees and bushes. We hope the realigned tennis court, the new playground, and the grand new entrance with native plants will be worth it.

logged slope

These are some pictures of the logged slope around Alm Rd.

logged slope 2
Here

trees into trash
Most of the trees around the Recreation Center are gone now.

trees into trash 2

Here, below is the stump of the bee tree. Since we can’t go in there, we don’t know if the bees stayed. We hope they did. [Edited to add: They didn’t. HERE’s the story.]

bee tree saved

But the greenery, the bushes you can see lower down in the picture between the road and the Rec Center? They all bear the white labels of doom. They’ll be gone, too, soon enough.

where the eucalyptus was

It looks bare from the road; there’s chain-link fence all around. A banner proclaims that SFRPD will plant 160 trees, even though that’s not exactly true: at least a quarter of the plantings will be shrubs. And the “trees” will be saplings – it will be take decades before they’re grown into anything like the majestic trees they’re supposed to replace.

chain link and banner

Will Glen Canyon’s famous Great Horned Owl pair nest here this year? We don’t know. The season would be around now. We’ll post what we hear.

 AND THERE’S VIDEO

You can find a link to a video, HERE.  It’s Glen Canyon Park Demolition Project: Weeks 3 and 4  by neighbor Ron Proctor.  He has been documenting the project in photos and video.

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Trail Construction and Destruction Starts in Glen Canyon

Posted on January 24, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

The trail work has started in Glen Canyon. What’s happening now seems reasonable; they are widening and flattening a popular trail, and adding native plants.

However, it also apparently involves “decommissioning” a social trail (the dark orange line on the right side of the map photo; click on it to get a larger, more legible version). And of course, park users are supposed to “Stay on Trails” – says the “Significant Natural Resource Area” sign, ironically attached to a eucalyptus tree such as the ones they’ve just felled.

Later, we have been told, the Trails Project will be felling another 35 trees (latest estimate, up from 30).

Here’s what’s happening now (photos courtesy Ron Proctor):

TrailConstruction(Jan2013)-5 TrailConstruction(Jan2013)-2TrailConstruction(Jan2013)-4-1

SignificantEuc-1

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More Trees Gone in Glen Canyon

Posted on January 20, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

The tree-felling continues – up the slope above Alms Road, and around the Recreation Center. The wooded feeling of the Elk entrance and the area surrounding the Rec Center is gone.

Here are photographs from Ron Proctor, documenting the ongoing destruction.

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Majestic tree turning into sawdust 1

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Majestic tree turning into sawdust 2

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Recreation Center, no (actual) trees

RippedSign

Ripped SF RPD Sign

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The tennis court – cleared

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The fence of the tennis court, broken by the dying tree

TreeCutPrep

Preparation for tree-cutting

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More preparation for tree-cutting

BallParkView

The bald view from the Ball Park

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More of the ball park view

ClearedHillside

Cleared hillside

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Another Cleared Hillside view

ClearedHillside2

Stumps along the hillside

Euc-awaitingDeath

A eucalyptus tree awaits death

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Trail Work Begins in Glen Canyon Park

Posted on January 18, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

The trail work has begun in Glen Canyon Park. Here are some photographs:

2013-01-15 (1) 2013-01-17 (1) 2013-01-17 2013-01-15 2013-01-17 (2)

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Days 4 and 5 of the Tree-Felling

Posted on January 17, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

FencedOff-TennisCt1It’s nearly finished now. The line of grand old eucalyptus trees are mostly stumps. Here are some photographs from Days 4 and 5 of the tree-demolition.

There’s also a video of one magnificent tree going down. It’s called Remembrance, and it’s HERE (on Youtube).

[Edited to Add: And here’s one more Youtube video, the last of this series by Ron Proctor: Glen Canyon Tree Demolition- Day 5.]

GateView-Alms
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Stump-Branches-sm
TreeStump-sm
TwinStumps-sm
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View-To-Elk_Walkway
a-CheckNextGroup a-StopSignStumps
a-StumpsLinedUp
a-TennisCourtLongView
a-TennisCourtView
a-TwoRemaining-sm BrokenWall-sm
CAT_Tractor
DebrisWalkway-sm
FencedOff-TennisCt

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Day 3: The Century-old Trees are Still Going Down

Posted on January 15, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

This article is reproduced from SFForest.net

It’s Day 3 of the tree-felling at Glen Canyon Park.  This video shows one huge tree, 133 years old, going down: [HERE’s the link.]

And here, for those who cannot bear to watch the video (“I just want to cry,” said one observer), are still pictures. Thank you, Ron Proctor, for bearing witness to this destruction.

Tree-Limbs

TennisCourtView

Sign-RecCtrProject

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Remaining-to-be-cut

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HillSideView

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AlmsRd-MajesticTree

Walkway-LimbDebris

TreeView1

TreeView

Tree-stump

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The Second Day of Tree-felling at Glen Canyon

Posted on January 13, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

The line of ancient eucalyptus trees at the Elk Street entrance to Glen Canyon Park  is being destroyed.

HERE is a link to a Youtube video on the second day of the tree-felling. Below is a selection of still pictures from the Second Day.
Walkway-from-playground3

TennisCourt-2

Walkway-from-Elk-1

Walkway-from-Elk-2

Walkway-from-Elk-3

Walkway-from-playground1

Walkway-from-playground2

CutStump-westview

Walkway-from-Elk-1

CutStump-eastview

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The Trees are Being Felled – Now

Posted on January 11, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-1Even as we write, the tree-felling has started in Glen Canyon. First to go will be the line of grand old eucalyptus trees, over a century old, at the Elk Street entrance. This is despite the fact that the audience at the meeting on January 7th (by SF Recreation and Parks Department, District 8 Supervisor Scott Weiner, and the Glen Park Neighborhood Association) overwhelmingly opposed the tree-felling, and clearly thought SFRPD should find a way to work around this requirement.

Some of our photographers were out documenting the destruction, and we will continue to do so. Here is the first of the series.

[Edited to Add: Ron Proctor made a video, the first in a series.

Click HERE to view Glen Park Tree Demolition – Day 1. ]

There is also an article on SFForest.net HERE.

M TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-6 TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-6 TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-5 TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-4 TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-3 TreeCutting(01-10-2113)-2

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Speak Up: Rec & Park Glen Canyon Renovation Meeting – 7Jan 2013

Posted on January 6, 2013 by SF Forest Alliance

[This article is also posted on SFForest.net]

This is your chance to ask the tough questions about the Glen Canyon Park Renovation Project—poor community process, piecemeal tree removals, wasteful spending that squanders much of the $5.8 million, or anything else related to this project. We have heard from many who are quite dissatisfied with the decision-making process, lack of transparency and wasteful spending with this project. SF Rec and Park representatives and Supervisor Scott Wiener will be present, and you should be too.

Forest and fog

Forest and fog

MEETING DETAILS

Glen Park Rec Center Auditorium
Monday, January 7, 2013
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
70 Elk Street (entrance between Sussex & Chenery)

See the Rec & Park meeting notice HERE

In Glen Canyon Park our $5.8 million gets us…

The Good

  • New ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible bathrooms, courtyard, and street-side drop-off area on Elk street
  • Heating system in the Rec Center
  • Larger and improved playground
  • Removal of one hazardous tree and some pines that are dead or near end-of-life

The Bad

Same number of tennis courts but moved to a slightly different location, orientation of the new courts has been criticized by local tennis players

(For $5.8 million couldn’t we at least get an extra court or an outdoor racquetball court or two, or the floor repaired in the gym?)

The Ugly

  • MarkedTrees6We lose beautiful landmark old-growth eucalyptus trees that are being chopped down to make way for pathways highlighting native plant gardens.
  • We lose 50 other trees being chopped down, while nearby trees rated as “hazardous” by the arborist are left in place.
  • This “taxes to chop trees” plan is just the beginning – projects to follow target hundreds more.

Chopping down 100 year old trees and getting some saplings in return is an extremely bad trade. It is a bit insulting that RPD and politicians think we are stupid enough to think this is a wonderful trade-off. It is kind of like expecting an Eskimo to be happy with a bag of ice cubes after you destroy his igloo.

Overall. Rec & Park’s arborist deemed 504 of 627 as “poor suitability”, just like most of the 58 trees coming down with this first removal project. The three currently funded projects will remove 149 trees and no one knows whether the remaining “poor suitability” trees will be removed piecemeal with each new project to keep winding back the botamical clock to an time when San Francisco was most dune and rock with few trees.

Just more of the same “Restoration Ecology”

The same group of administrators, managers and stakeholders driving the NAP “restoration ecology” plan for our parks are targeting the trees of Glen Canyon Park. Rec & Park’s NAP plan for our parks set the following goals:

  • Elimination of over 18,500 “non-native” trees in SF parks
  • Closure of over 9 miles of recreational trails, 19 acres of dog-walking areas, and elimination of other park features
  • Establishment of native plant gardens requiring ongoing maintenance that require thousands of volunteer hours and toxic herbicides

All these “restoration ecology” projects hurt the people, wildlife and pets that need our parks.

For more information visit http://www.SFGlenCanyon.net or http://www.SFForest.net.

We hope to see you at the meeting, Monday, January 7th at 6:30 in the Glen Canyon Rec Center!

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Glen Park Appeals Update

Posted on December 12, 2012 by SF Forest Alliance

In view of the appeal to the Board of Supervisors (which we wrote about HERE), neighbor Anastasia Glikshtern has decided to withdraw her (separate) appeal to the Board of Appeals.

(This would have been a re-hearing, and was scheduled for 5 p.m. today, 12-12-12.)

The appeal to the Board of Supervisors stands.

[Edited to Add: The appeal for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was ruled “untimely” which meant that the only option left was a legal appeal. WiserParks (formerly ForestsForestsForever), which had filed the CEQA appeal, decided against that step. The project will proceed.]

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