06 January 2009 - 15:59, Tinman said:
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Our monthly “first Saturday” habitat restoration workdays have occurred without miss since the last post here, which we are embarrassed to see was last August. It’s not that there hasn’t been a lot of action. It’s just that we haven’t been conscientious enough to post reports each time. Ah well.

In any case, this past Saturday we had a particularly enthusiastic group because of a bunch of students from the School of Dramatic Arts:

This month we planted in the grand ridge that runs from The Ledge down to the base of Mt D. This is one of the most important areas on Mt D, one of the so-called “MA1” sections because of its significant remnant plant populations that we’re assisting by weed removal and supplemental planting. Here volunteers are planting in an area from which we’d removed blackberry adjacent to a magnificent stand of Pacific reed grass:

We planted a wide variety: Pacific reed grass, California fescue, osoberry, fringe cups, salal, and gum plant.

Exploring the rest of Mt D, we could see some sure signs of spring — polypody ferns emerging above the Levi Site:

and blooming wild currant:

Also, we see that the seismic work on the SFPUC pipes and tank have mostly concluded, and fortunately, the work was done per plan. The pipeline on the north side was indeed placed out of harm’s way within the trees. The path has opened up nicely to allow much more light into this crowded area, and it has been seeded with native grasses (mostly Elymus):

The pipeline on the south side was placed within the boundaries along the trail as per plan — which is a particular relief given the fragile plant communities along the trail.

All in all, we’re quite satisfied with the SFPUC’s results, and we’re grateful to the outpouring of public interest that helped convince the SFPUC to Do The Right Thing!

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10 August 2008 - 17:25, Tinman said:
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This month we worked on the Lower Ledge area, an amazing area that really demonstrates the benefits that come from careful management of the park. This is right in the middle of Adolph Sutro’s tree plantation, and so it suffers the usual blight that has resulted from Sutro’s misguided (or at least derailed) program: the trees he planted are far too close together and as a result, the profligate fog drip has caused a riot of blackberry, ivy, cape ivy, and cotoneaster.

However, in this particular area, about ten eucalyptus trees blew down during the major storm we had this past January. This has opened up the area considerably—to light and progress. On their own, the indigenous western sword fern, Pacific reed grass, and salal have sprung into action and are well on their way to filling in the area. All we’ve had to do is to wrestle with remaining blackberry, ivy and cotoneaster.

This photo

shows this area, though it’s hard to photograph. There are still far too many trees, but the area looks much better than it did before the winds. This month we mostly dealt with blackberry and ivy.

This area is well on its way to becoming one of the most productive sections on Mt D!

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