City's parksCompromise reached in battle between native, non-native species in City's parks

by George McConnell

Years of heated debate over the SF Recreation and Park Department's controversial Natural Areas Program (NAP) ended in June with a series of public workshops. The purpose was the unveiling of the revised management plan for NAP that incorporates a compromise reached in March between Rec. and Park, native plant advocates and neighborhood groups. Negotiations had been ongoing since June 2004.

Prior to settlement by Europeans, San Francisco was predominantly sand dunes and treeless grasslands. The NAP will restore 31 sites, approximately 1,102 acres, or 25 percent of the park's total acreage, as "natural areas" with native trees and vegetation.

The program was authorized in 1991, but due to negative public reaction, It had been operating without a management plan since 1997. At issue was the closure of recreational areas, the number of trees slated for removal and the lack of public process.

Some members of the public objected because they prefer the forests to the City's native treeless state, according to Mary McAllister, a member of the Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods, one of the groups opposing the program. In addition, the protection of rare native plants might require some restrictions on recreational access, such as trail closures, and the destruction of non-native trees could result in erosion and the loss of windbreaks, she said.

"An example of what this program does is Parcel 4 at Balboa Street and the Great Highway. To restore this area to a natural state, they had to dig down nearly two feet to remove debris, truck in $15,000 worth of sand, bulldoze it into sand dunes and then populate it with native plants. Because there are no trees, the wind blows sand all over the street. It is not clear if the plants can even survive there because of the harsh weather conditions," McAllister said.

However, Jake Sigg, conservation director of the California Native Plant Society and a retired Rec. and Park gardener, said the program would add to and help preserve the biodiversity that is here.

"We continue to lose plants and animals because of past neglect. It will take time to arrest and reverse the damage," he said.

"The amount of affected areas is small. We do want to cut some trees down, but it is only a small number. There are 33,000 trees in Golden Gate Park alone and probably triple that amount in all of the properties managed by Rec. and Park," Sigg said.

Native plant restorations began in the '70s and are now an international movement. There have been challenges to the program in other locations as well.

A similar controversy developed in Chicago, which was also treeless grassland prior to settlement. This was detailed in the book, "Restoring Nature," by Dr. Paul Gobson of the U.S.Department of Agriculture.

"Today some parks are being rethought of as places where natural areas can be restored. Conflicts can occur when newer uses and values are imposed on earlier ones. This is what is happening in San Francisco right now and what happened in Chicago," Gobson said.

The City's northern and central parks region, which includes areas of Mt. Davidson, Corona Heights and Golden Gate Park, was covered in a workshop held at the Glen Park Recreation Center June 22. More than 120 people attended the three-hour meeting, hosted by Natural Areas Program Manager Lisa Wayne and Rec. and Park officials.

The new plan divides the designated natural areas into three categories of management, based on the level of existing native vegetation. Tree destruction and recreational access would be governed by category.

Management Area 1, which calls for the most tree removals, totals 18 percent of the total acreage under the NAP.

Under the compromise, 3,400 trees will be removed and 10.3 miles of trails will be closed on the 865 acres located within San Francisco.

"The agreement isn't perfect from our perspective, but we believe we have achieved significant protections for non-native trees and greater public disclosure," McAllister said.

Rec. and Park will accept public comments until July 14. Following approval by the SF Recreation and Park Commission, the plan will be submitted for environmental review.

To learn more about the NAP management plan, visit www.parks.sfgov.org. To contact the Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods, call (415) 262-0440 or visit www.csfn.net.