Sharp Park Debate Hastens Citywide Biodiversity Policy

Public debate about the plight of protected species at Sharp Park, a San Francisco-owned golf course in Pacifica, has refocused attention on the city’s overall commitment to safeguarding natural diversity.

In late May, the San Francisco Department of the Environment adopted its first biodiversity plan, which would make it city policy to protect rare plants and animals.

The new biodiversity policy follows on Supervisor John Avalos’s recent proposal to turn Sharp Park over to the National Park Service. That idea in turn came as a reaction to environmentalists’ sustained push to aid the park’s federally protected species, the San Francisco garter snake and the California red-legged frog.

“My understanding is that the city has not been as aggressive as it needs to be to protect endangered species there,” Avalos says, echoing claims made by six conservation groups that filed a lawsuit against the city over Sharp Park in early March.

Last Tuesday, the Environment Commission approved the department’s 2011-2013 strategic plan, which for the first time includes a section on biodiversity. The plan would commit the city to a program of promotion and outreach on the importance of indigenous species.

David Assmann, deputy director of the department of environment, said the program is long overdue. The city first published its intention to move in this direction in a sustainability plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 1997.

: Photo by Erica Reder.

The Natural Areas Program, part of the Recreation and Park Department, has been the city’s only biodiversity program until now. It is tasked with protecting 32 designated natural areas, totaling more than 1,100 acres, which the park department calls “remnants of San Francisco’s historic landscape.” The program employs nine of the department’s 646 staff.

“We’re spread extremely thin,” says Lisa Wayne, who manages the program. “My hope is that we get additional funding so we can do more of what we’re asked to do.” Every unit in the department, she adds, “is woefully understaffed.”

Other environmental issues, from waste reduction to renewable energy, tend to get more attention in the city, says Wayne: “Unfortunately, from the standpoint of the critters and plants that live in our parks, people understand and connect with other forms of the green movement first.”

The Department of the Environment can change that, says Assmann.

“The Natural Areas Program doesn’t have much in the way of resources,” he says. “They’re overwhelmed. They can’t deal with everything they need to deal with. We see ourselves as a program that could help.”

“The Natural Areas Program doesn’t have much in the way of resources. They’re overwhelmed.”

None of this will directly affect the debate over Sharp Park, at least not until the biodiversity plan goes into effect in 2013.

“In the future, I would assume that any policies that come of the program would have an influence on places like Sharp Park,” Assmann says. “But the issue of Sharp Park is imminent. We wouldn’t be weighing in on something like that right now.”

Still, activists hope to use the momentum the city has created on biodiversity protection to propel their case into more prominence.

“San Francisco and its management of Sharp Park Golf Course is not aligned with what we see to be San Francisco values of preserving wildlife,” says Neal Desai, Pacific region associate director for the National Parks Conservation Association. His organization is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, along with the Wild Equity Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation, and the Sequoia Audubon Society.

The San Francisco Golf Alliance has filed a motion to intervene in the Sharp Park case. If the court consents at a hearing on June 24, the alliance will join the city as a defendant.

The Recreation and Park Department, which owns the 417-acre property in Pacifica, maintains that it can operate the golf course without harming endangered and threatened animals.

Instead of responding directly to requests for comment, park department spokesman Elton Pon sent a February press release that suggested that sport and nature are compatible land uses: “The 18-hole golf course could be redesigned to coexist with viable populations of sensitive species in the long term.”

Assmann said that planning meetings for the new biodiversity policy are already underway, although he anticipates some financial hurdles. “The department doesn’t get any money from the city’s general fund,” he said. “Whenever we want funding we have to find it.”

Urban Agriculture Takes Center Stage in West Contra Costa County

Organic and sustainable aren’t terms often associated with Richmond, home to a Chevron refinery and a General Chemical plant. But those were two of the most frequently heard words on Saturday, at the first-ever West Contra Costa County Urban Agriculture Summit in North Richmond. Despite pouring rain, nearly 100 people gathered at Sunnyside Organic Seedlings to exchange ideas about bringing new models of food-growing to the area.

“Our goal here is to expand opportunities for urban agriculture in West Contra Costa County,” said County Supervisor John Gioia, who helped organize the event. He cited access to healthy food, environmental stewardship, and job opportunities as motivation.

Tom Butt, Richmond’s vice-mayor and the event’s co-organizer, agreed. “Ultimately, you want a healthier environment and you want healthier people,” he said. “If people are growing and eating food that’s fresh and local, there’s nothing better than that.”

To that end, the summit featured panelists who could share their experiences with urban agriculture models and challenges to local urban farming.

: Vice-Mayor Tom Butt assures Richmond citizens that there are no legal obstacles to urban farming in the city. Photo by Erica Reder.

Doria Robinson, executive director of the nonprofit Urban Tilth, addressed both topics. Her organization, active since 2004, operates 13 community farms in and around Richmond.

Robinson said the area’s assets and needs invite small-scale farming. “One thing that Richmond is really rich in is land,” she said. “We have really great weather. But there’s not a lot of places for people to meet and hang out. There’s all these vacant lots, and people who need work. So we’re solving three major issues as well as health issues.”

Urban Tilth serves more than a thousand people each year in this city of about 100,000 residents, but Robinson hopes to see that number grow. “I think that if we were able to serve five to six percent of the population of Richmond, that would be amazing,” she said. “Especially because the kind of interactions we have are so deep.”

Richmond officials are looking at ways to make that possible, thanks to a new Community Health and Wellness element added to the city’s general plan. “One action of that is to promote urban agriculture, to promote better access to food,” explained Jennifer Ly, a sustainability associate for the city.

“We want to make sure the city and county’s planning policies and ordinances do not hinder the opportunity for people to practice urban agriculture.”

Over the past few months, Ly and other staff members have been working on an urban agriculture assessment that will provide policymakers with data about existing programs and future possibilities.

Lina Velasco, from the city planning department, said the document could positively impact organizations like Urban Tilth. “It really looks at how can the city improve our policies to provide more security for the groups doing this work,” she said.

The staff plans to present its findings to city legislators in the fall.

But in the meantime, Supervisor Butt assured Richmond residents that they could keep up – or take up – urban farming practices. “You can keep bees in Richmond,” he said. “You can keep goats in Richmond. You can pretty much do whatever you want to, unless it bothers someone else.”

Butt said he wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to farm could. “One of the things we want to do is make sure that the city and county’s planning policies and ordinances do not hinder the opportunity for people to practice urban agriculture,” he said.

Supervisor Gioia echoed that concern. “We are actually looking at how to develop a [commercial] category for urban agriculture that would be more flexible to allow these types of operations to be successful,” he said.

Robinson is optimistic about the government plans. “There’s some really great staff members, honestly looking for ways to improve health and wellness,” she said.

But a long road still lies ahead. “It takes a long time to make cultural change, which is what we’re trying to do,” said Robinson. “We’re trying to change the food culture.”

Thank a Trail on National Trails Day

With over 200,000 miles of hiking trails to choose from, Americans have plenty of reason to celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday, June 4. Help maintain these amazing resources by participating in the 19th annual edition of this American Hiking Society-sponsored event. More than 2,000 restoration projects, educational activities, and hikes will take place throughout the country to mark the occasion.

Here in the Bay Area, opportunities abound to get your hands dirty in honor of your favorite hiking trail. Some highlights:

In San Francisco, help put the final touches on the city’s newest hiking path: the half-mile Lost Historic Trail on Mount Sutro. Join the Sutro Stewards for a morning of trail and habitat restoration projects, followed by a celebration to mark the reopening of Interior Grenbelt Park, the twelve-acre area that encompasses the trail. Live music, food and beverage stands, and a raffle promise to make this a spirited afternoon. Read more>

Across the Bay Bridge, join REI Concord and California State Parks for a day of trail restoration at Mount Diablo State Park in Rock City. Resurface trails, remove nonnative plants, and prune overgrown trees to keep this beloved area recreation-ready. And feel free to bring the whole family- there will be special kids’ activities on site. Read more>

In Marin, help improve the Gertrude Ord Trail on Mount Tam with the Marin Municipal Water District. You’ll rebuild a bridge and stairs, update drainage, and maintain vegetation. Afterward, enjoy a free BBQ lunch at the Log Cabin by Phoenix Lake. Basket-maker Charles Kennard (a frequent Bay Nature photo contributor!) will be on hand to talk about his ancient craft. Read More>

And if you’re in the South Bay, head to Wunderlich Park in Woodside, where you’ll work with staff from REI and the San Mateo County Parks Foundation to restore trails at this former ranch. Abundant oak trees, open meadows, and a redwood forest will make for a breathtaking morning. Ages 14 and older are invited to participate. Read more>

For more National Trails Day events (and other stuff too!), check out our calendar.

The View from Albany Beach

At 10:30 on a Wednesday morning, the sound of lapping waves prevails at Albany Beach. Interstate 80 is just half a mile away, but this two-acre strip of Eastshore State Park seems a world apart from the traffic. Convenient isolation draws people here, and many bring their dogs for off-leash exercise.

Officially, dogs aren’t allowed on the beach at all, but this has been a popular off-leash area for years. Now an impending restoration project being developed by the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD), which manages Eastshore State Park, has some dog owners worried that their use of the area will be curtailed or eliminated.

“You can’t simply ban dogs from a beach because the national or state park rules make a blanket ban,” says Paul Kamen, founder of the group Coalition for Diverse Activities on Water, Grass and Sand (CDAWGS), which has been circulating a petition asking for continued off-leash access at Albany Beach.

“There has to be some fair allocation of local use pressures,” says Kamen. Those pressures range from sports field users to advocates for small boat access to the Bay–the latter is Kamen’s particular interest. CDAWGS unites these groups to oppose what Kamen calls “the open space monoculture, where every bit of waterfront property is seen as protected habitat.”

Still, off-leash considerations dominate the conversation. “The dog owners are certainly the loudest voice,” says Kamen.

But Brad Olson, an environmental project manager at EBRPD, says the dog policies are separate from the restoration project. “These policies are set by our board of directors,” he says, “and that goes through an annual update process.” (The park district also happens to be home to the nation’s largest off-leash dog park, Point Isabel in Richmond. For the district’s full dog policy, visit ebparks.org/activities/dogs.)

Nine years ago, the district laid out loose plans for an Albany Beach project. Produced in conjunction with the California state parks department, the Eastshore General Plan outlined long-term management goals for a large area including the beach and part of Albany Bulb. That document remains the blueprint for Albany Beach today. “Our goal is to implement the improvements shown in the Eastshore General Plan,” says Olson, “which are in general terms restoration and public access.”

In late April 2011, district staff proposed a specific set of improvements for the beach and surrounding area, priced at about $4 million. Those include stabilizing the shoreline against rising sea levels and expanding dunes and wetlands onto an additional 2.8 acres currently owned by Golden Gate Fields. The plan also features public access amenities like picnic facilities and a new vault toilet.

“For its size, it’s an expensive project,” concedes Olson. But the area’s ecological significance seems to outweigh its dimensions. “This beach is representative of what is now a very scarce type of resource in the East Bay,” he says. “Most of the natural beaches are gone.”

The shoreline provides unique habitat for vegetation and wildlife. Mike Lynes, conservation director at the Golden Gate Audubon Society, says even one acre can make a difference to migrating birds. When high tides submerge a foraging area, smaller spaces provide refuge for birds. “You need small spots like that for birds to stay around for the winter,” he says.

Patricia Jones, CESP’s executive director, echoes the importance of restoration at Albany Beach. “The park was not created just for recreation,” she says. “CESP is very much an environmental habitat protection and restoration organization. The Bay Area deserves to have this area restored and fixed.”

That outcome is still far in the future, as several bureaucratic hurdles remain. “We’re early in the process,” cautions Olson. “The next step would be to go through an environmental permitting and design, so that will take about three more years.”

The EBRPD board will meet in June to decide whether to proceed with developing a project. “We plan to keep moving this ahead,” says Olson.

To read more about the Albany Beach Habitat Restoration Project, visit ebparks.org/planning#albany.

High Time For Harbor Seal Pupping

With their round, spotted bodies and gentle faces, Pacific harbor seals are universal crowd-pleasers. But unlike sea lions and elephant seals, these irresistibly cute creatures shun attention. A harbor seal may flee at the slightest disturbance, and mothers have been known to abandon pups when harassed.

Still, some harbor seals forgo the relative privacy of coastal rookeries when it comes time to birth their young. Instead, they choose locations right in San Francisco Bay, where pupping season is nearing its late-April peak.

“The Bay has conditions that for thousands of years have been good for seals,” explains Denise Greig, a research biologist at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. She cites marshlands and protection from sharks as qualities that make the Bay attractive for pupping.

“The Bay is abundant with food,” adds Sarah Allen, a senior scientist with the National Park Service (NPS). “Anchovies, flounder, lamprey, and salmon are all important prey items in the Bay.”

Pupping takes place at nearly a dozen haul-out sites in the Bay, from Yerba Buena Island to Newark Slough. Most spots produce only a handful of pups each year, but two have consistently outnumbered the others: Mowry Slough, in the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, and Castro Rocks, next to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Last year, NPS surveys found 68 pups between the two locations.

That’s nothing compared to certain coastal sites, like Marin County’s Drakes Estero and Double Point. The same NPS surveys tallied more than 200 pups at each location.

Coastal populations also received a boost from the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which outlawed disturbing marine mammals. The law improved Bay counts as well, but not to the same extent. Allen credits the difference partly to development along the Bay shoreline, as large-scale projects can distress seals into abandoning a haul out site. Such instances have occurred near the Bay Bridge, as well as in similar Bay environments. “There was a site that was abandoned in the Richardson Bay in the late 70’s and 80’s due to the development and disturbance there,” recalls Allen.

But with proper precautions, construction doesn’t have to cause site abandonment. Castro Rocks continued to draw harbor seals both during and after the 2001-2005 seismic retrofit of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. “Caltrans took extraordinary measures to protect that colony,” says Allen.

Of course, big construction work in the Bay is relatively rare compared to the smaller daily disturbances of people in boats, kayaks, and on foot along the shore. For that, education may be the best prevention. “Within SF Bay, kayaks are a common disturbance,” explains Allen, “because seals use remote areas to breed and these are areas where people are interested in kayaking. We try to get the word out with those communities that would be in areas where pupping occurs.”

The Marine Mammal Center performs similar functions, in addition to operating a veterinary research hospital. “We’re primarily trying to reach out to the public and explain what to do and what not to do,” says Bill Van Bonn, the center’s director of veterinary science. That’s particularly important in the case of harbor seals, because of their extreme sensitivity.

“You’re unlikely to disturb a sea lion by walking down Pier 39 and looking closely at them,” says Dr. Greig. “But that’s not the same case with harbor seals. They’re more prone to disturbances because of their tendencies and natural history.”

That natural history includes brushes with land predators, a danger other pinnipeds haven’t had to face. “Harbor seals came down from the arctic and had to deal with things on land like polar bears,” explains Greig. Adds Van Boon, “They learned the ‘stranger danger’ message a lot more quickly than the elephant seals because there were a lot more strangers around.”

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But skittishness originally developed for survival can have devastating consequences if triggered accidentally. A mother harbor seal doesn’t spend every moment of the thirty-day nursing period with her pup. “She wanders a little bit; she goes into the water,” explains Dr. Van Bonn. “They’re out there in low tide, and somebody might walk by with their dog.” If that happens often enough, a mother might abandon her pup.

That fate accounts for a large number of the roughly 100 pups brought into the center each year. “Most of the pups we see, the primary problem is that they’re malnourished,” says Van Bonn, a condition that often indicates abandonment.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act’s guidelines say not to come within 300 feet of harbor seals, so few opportunities exist for the public to observe pupping season. Greig suggests that interested parties check out the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, in Moss Beach, or the mouth of the Russian River, in Sonoma County, where a cliff provides safely remote viewing.

Perhaps the best way to celebrate pupping season is to give harbor seals the distance they need to produce a new generation.

Solano Land Trust Aims to Buy 1500 Acres

The Bay Area may gain 1,500 acres of protected open space this year thanks to a pending acquisition by the Solano Land Trust. On March 18, the trust signed a purchase agreement with the current owners of Rockville Trails Estates, near Rockville Hills Park northwest of Fairfield. The former ranch boasts rich biodiversity and impressive vistas that could become a public asset, if the trust raises necessary funds.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says Nicole Byrd, the trust’s executive director. “The land trust has had its eye on this property for a long time for purchase for a public natural park.”

The land trust plans to open the property to the public for hiking, including six miles of trails that would be part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, a project to create a continuous hiking path overlooking San Francisco Bay. Several protected species like the golden eagle and elderberry beetle call Rockville Trail Estates home, while steelhead trout and coho salmon live in neighboring streams.

In 2008, then-owners White Wing Highlands Associates got county approval to build 370 residential lots on the property. But the Green Valley Landowners Association (GVLA), which represents 750 local households, opposed the plan. Citing concerns about water supply, traffic flow, and sewage treatment, the organization joined the Sierra Club’s Redwood Chapter in a lawsuit against Solano County, citing violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

“The owners of the property have pushed over the decades for a variety of development plans,” says GVLA president Bill Mayben, “and I think at one point they were pushing for 450 homes. There have been probably at least four actions that went to the court, and the GVLA has prevailed in each of those.”

The 2008 CEQA lawsuit succeeded yet again in halting the development. But this time the GVLA sought a permanent end to the cycle of proposals and lawsuits. “We’ve been litigating over this property for over 20 years,” says Mayben. “Even if we win, the property owners are going to come back again and again, so our efforts were really centered on how we can find a resolution to the issues that benefits all the stakeholders.”

Those efforts led to the Solano Land Trust, which GVLA saw as an optimal owner of Rockville Trails Estates. “Solano County doesn’t have a parks and recreation program, so any of the parks or open spaces that are achieved in Solano County have to be done in the private sector or semi-private sector like the land trust,” says Mayben. “And they’ve been pretty successful at this over the years.”

The developer agreed to sell the property for $13.5 million, a fraction of the one-time asking price. At the height of the real estate boom, says Mayben, the land was valued at over $200 million. Since then, the economic downturn created a financial opportunity for the land trust. “All the stars have aligned,” says Byrd.

Still, $13.5 million is a steep sum for a nonprofit. So far, the trust has requested $10.5 million from public and private sources, including the state Coastal Conservancy and Department of Fish and Game. Most of that funding has yet to be confirmed, and it would still leave a $3 million shortfall.

Byrd believes the trust can fill that gap with donations by the deadline of August 31. “I am optimistic,” she says. “Maybe I’m naive, but I think there’s a lot of community support for the project.”

If the money doesn’t come through, the property will likely be developed, though not to the extent proposed in 2007. “If we’re not able to raise the funds, we might lose our opportunity to create this connection with this really amazing natural area,” says Byrd. “This is our one opportunity, so we’re excited about it, but we need help.”

To read more about Rockville Trails Estates or to make a donation, click here.

Earth Day Around the Bay, 2011

Looking for ways to celebrate Earth Day? Some highlights from around the Bay:

Festivities start on Saturday, April 16, with the California State Parks Foundation’s 14th Annual Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup. Choose from eleven project sites around the Bay Area, including Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Mt. Diablo State Park, and Half Moon Bay State Beach. You’ll restore trails, remove non-native plants, and help with erosion maintenance- a great way to thank these beloved outdoor spaces.

For more state park appreciation, check out the Berkeley Bay Festival at Eastshore State Park. Help clean up the shoreline in the morning before heading over to the Berkeley Meadow Dedication ceremony. Free sailboat rides, live music, and a Nature Center open house will make for an action-packed day.

In the afternoon, stop by Santa Rosa’s Earth Day Fair for all-ages appropriate fun. Pick up a reusable bag at “The Great Bag Exchange,” take a free ride on a Zip electric Scooter, or relax with a drink in the beer and wine garden. The whole family can enjoy live music, food vendors, and kids’ activities.

And if you’re anywhere near Martinez on Saturday, don’t miss the John Muir Birthday and Earth Day Celebration at the John Muir National Historic Site. Take a guided nature stroll, listen to live music, or share a slice of cake with “John Muir” at this all-day festival. Learn about wildcat conservation from keynote speaker Zara McDonald, Executive Director of the Felidae Conservation Fund, or get hands-on with National Park Service Junior Ranger Activities.

Events continue on Sunday, April 17, with an Earth Day Celebration at the Marin Headlands Institute in Sausalito. Enjoy gorgeous views while participating in stewardship activities like invasive plant removal. Get acquainted with new flora and fauna on naturalist led hikes, or hold a starfish in the marine lab. Kids will especially enjoy earth day inspired arts and crafts.

Nearby, the Marine Mammal Center will host an Earth Day Open House with special tours, classroom programs, and a scavenger hunt for kids. Learn about the center’s rescue and rehabilitation efforts, and meet patients like elephant seal pups.

During the week, on Thursday, April 21, head to the city for BART’s first annual Blue Sky Festival, where they’ll be giving away $6 BART tickets to folks who collect stamps from vendors of green goodies and earth-friendly services at the fair. What’s to lose?

On the same day, the California Academy of Arts and Sciences kicks off an Earth Day Celebration that goes through Saturday. On Thursday night, a green-themed NightLife will feature the unveiling of sculptor Michael Bartalos’ “Handle with Care,” an exploration of paper’s sustainability. For the next two days, visitors to the Academy can enjoy nature-themed crafts, live music, and live demonstrations on everything from frogs to bamboo-frame bikes.

On Saturday, April 23, you can’t miss Earth Day, no matter what side of the Bay you’re on.

In SF, celebrate the 10th anniversary of the revival of Crissy Field with Earth Stroll 2011. Live music, ranger-led hikes, and live animal demonstrations will animate this popular outdoor spot. Take in sweeping views, dip your toes in the Pacific, or stop to build a sand castle.

Afterwards, head downtown for the San Francisco Earth Day Festival at Civic Center Plaza. Hear from environmental leaders like Global Exchange founder Kevin Danaher at this action-oriented event in San Francisco. Live music, permaculture workshops, and yoga classes are just a few of the additional attractions.

If you are east of the bridge, check out Berkeley Earth Day at Berkeley’s Civic Center Park. Test drive an electric car or catch a dance performance at this special rendition of the Berkeley Farmer’s Market. Take a break from perusing produce with a jaunt up the climbing wall or a look at the expanded booths.

Up north, spend Earth Day at Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Tiburon, where you can help restore this wildlife-rich area, and do some bird watching at the same time. Naturalist-led explorations and wildflowers in bloom will make this a memorable morning.

Down south in Redwood City, spend Earth Day on the Bay watching the shark feeding or dipping into touch tanks; canoeing on Redwood Creek or taking an EcoTour around the Bay, all thanks to the Marine Science Institute. Live music and Polynesian dancing supplement the marine activities.

And if you want to get your hands dirty fixing up some habitat, take on the Earth Day Creek Challenge. Join the Richmond-based Watershed Project in helping clean up neighborhood creeks. Choose from four work sites in the East Bay.

Oakland Zoo Expansion Debate Continues

The Oakland Zoo sits at the edge of Interstate 580, occupying the western corner of Knowland Park. At 45 acres, the zoo makes up less than one tenth of the park’s overall area. But a plan to double that ratio has been in place since 1998, when the Oakland City Council approved a proposed expansion. Now, though ground has yet to be broken on the work itself, the project has retaken center stage thanks to a controversy over recent amendments. A final decision, expected from the Planning Commission on March 16, has been postponed to April 20.

“We have made some changes that we think are better for the environment, that make sense from a visitor flow and animal perspective,” says Nik Haas-Dehejia, project director of the zoo’s expansion plan. Those changes include replacing a proposed shuttle bus route with an aerial gondola, enlarging a proposed visitor center, and building a new veterinary hospital.

But some disagree with Haas-Dehejia’s characterization of the amendments. “There’s no question that it’s going to fence off open space, and it’s going to be visible and audible in other areas of the park,” says Stefanie Gandolfi, a member of the advocacy group Friends of Knowland Park. She has helped run the organization’s campaign to scale back the zoo’s expansion plan.

Recently those efforts have focused on the city’s environmental review of the updated project. The Department of Planning and Zoning has not requested a full Environmental Impact Report, stating that the changes to the original plan are too minor to require one. Instead, it released what’s officially called a Subsequent Mitigated Negative Declaration/Addendum report in February, which evaluates the project’s effects on air quality, biological resources, and other environmental areas.

But Gandolfi says that isn’t enough. “Friends of Knowland Park and a bunch of other groups and individuals are claiming that a whole bunch of changes have taken place, and that a full review is required,” she says. “Our position is that the treatment has been too cursory up to now.”

Among other concerns, Friends of Knowland Park believes the city planning department did not consider new information about the area’s biological diversity. “More than a decade has passed since that first review,” says Gandolfi. “We know a lot more about the species that are in the park.”

A 2009-2010 survey found a previously undetected native wildflower on the site of a proposed wolf enclosure. Though not a state or federally endangered species, the plant, bristly leptosiphon, is included in the California Native Plant Society’s Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. Mitigation measures proposed by the negative declaration report, which include building a fence around the plant population, have not satisfied Friends of Knowland Park.

The group has additionally pointed to the proliferation of sudden oak death and the sighting of a federally threatened Alameda whipsnake on the proposed expansion site as examples of insufficiently accounted for data.

But Haas-Dehejia says the zoo has done a thorough impact analysis. “We rely on the city to determine the adequacy of the document,” he says. “But based on the extensive work that’s been done, we believe that it has been thoroughly reviewed.”

Still, the Planning Commission received so many comments on the negative declaration report that it voted to postpone its final decision from March 16 to April 20. Haas-Dehejia says the zoo is taking this time to look at some of the feedback. “One of the things we are doing right now is reviewing a lot of the public comments that were submitted,” he says. “Is there anything that we can learn from these comments that we haven’t heard in the past?”

For its part, Friends of Knowland Park has taken the delay as an opportunity to step up its campaign. The group’s website encourages citizens to ask for a full EIR by calling city council representatives or writing letters to the editor.

Gandolfi admits that the group has ambitious hopes for a full EIR. “Our goal would be to move the expansion off the hill,” she says. Currently the zoo sits mostly on flat land, but the growth would encompass more of the park’s elevated terrain. “The existing zoo is sort of down in a pocket, in a basin at the bottom of the park,” explains Gandolfi. “It’s insulated visually and sound-wise from surrounding communities. What the zoo is proposing now is extending the zoo up the hillside to the ridgeline, so it’ll be dramatically higher in the landscape.”

But Haas-Dehejia says this intention predates the amendments. “We were always going to be on that plateau,” he says. The approved 1998 plan not only called for developing the hill, but also projected a larger area than the updated version. “There’s some misinformation out there that we’ve made the project larger,” says Haas-Dehejia. “In fact, we’ve made it smaller. It was roughly 62 acres, and now it’s 56.”

Friends of Knowland Park claims that the enlarged visitor center and aerial gondola will affect park users’ views more than the original project suggested. But Gandolfi concedes that the group’s objections exceed the scope of the current amendments. “The whole thing needs to be reevaluated,” she says.

Haas-Dehejia maintains that the expansion is not only environmentally sound, but will inspire greater respect for nature. Most of the enlarged area will encompass a California exhibit, introducing visitors to native plants and animals. “We feel there’s real value and benefit to what the story is to this project,” he says. “It’s about that moment of inspiration when you get connected. It creates a lifelong advocate and hopefully a conservationist.”

In the end, then, both sides assert that they have nature’s best interest in mind. “We actually have very much the same goals,” says Haas-Dehejia. “Protecting and preserving Knowland Park.”

You can download the entire negative declaration document here (item 12 near bottom). Through April 20, comments can be emailed to the case manager, dranelletti@oaklandnet.com, faxed to Darin Ranelletti at (510) 238-6538, or sent via postal mail (or delivered in person) to Darin Ranelletti, Planner III, City of Oakland Community & Economic Development Agency, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, ste. 3315, Oakland, CA 94612.

Toothy Charisma and More at SF Ocean Film Festival

: Photo Lobos, photo copyright Kip Evans.

A film festival about the ocean doesn’t have to look far for charisma: Certain toothy creatures and wave-riding daredevils will easily draw audiences. But the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, now in its eighth year, aspires to do more than just fill seats. “I would hope that people walk away with a better understanding of the ocean and its fragility,” says festival director Ana Blanco, “and what they can do to become better stewards of the ocean.”

That ambition to balance “entertainment and education,” as Blanco puts it, will play out from March 9-13 at Theatre 39 on Pier 39. Surfboards and killer whales will share the screen with portraits of the ocean’s most pressing needs. The line-up includes 55 films and 33 visiting filmmakers, as well as two panel discussions, an awards ceremony, and an opening night party. “It’s everything to do with the ocean and how we interact with it,” says Blanco.

Two issues will receive special attention. On Friday, March 11, in the afternoon, a program dedicated to “International Marine Protected Areas” will feature three films on the subject followed by an expert roundtable. On Saturday, March 12, a similar event will shed light on “Sharks and Vanishing Marine Life.”

The latter topic has received considerable attention recently thanks to proposed legislation that would prohibit the sale or possession of shark fins, considered a delicacy in Chinese culture. David McGuire, who sponsored Assembly Bill 376 through his non-profit Sea Stewards, helped select the films and panelists for Saturday’s program. He says the bill won’t be the only item on the agenda. “The panel incorporates a discussion on legislation, as well as the cultural argument surrounding it,” he explains. “But it’s actually about the issue of threats to sharks at large.”

Those threats include longline and trawl fishing, where sharks may get caught in hooks and nets meant for other species. But McGuire says the greatest danger comes from finning–removing a shark’s fins and throwing its body back in the sea. Federal law bans the practice on American ships, but imported and pre-processed fins remain unregulated. And demand for expensive shark fin soup keeps the product on shelves and menus in California.

“You could comfortably say millions of Americans consume shark fin soup each year,” says McGuire. With adverse effects on shark populations, he believes: “There’s devastating evidence that we’re really losing.” But the proposed law could relieve the problem. “By making it illegal, everybody’s going to make a different kind of soup,” he says. “There are equally illustrious and good tasting and expensive dishes.”

That conversation will be parsed in full on Saturday’s panel, which brings together perspectives from people involved in conservation, restaurants, aquariums, and media. Confirmed guests include Peter Knights (Director of Wild Aid), Chris Bauer (producer for KQED’s Quest science program), Christina Slager (Director of Husbandry at Aquarium of the Bay), Jennifer Fearing (Chief Economist and California Senior State Director of the Humane Society of the United States), and others. McGuire will moderate the panel. “It’s an opportunity for the public to engage in the discussion,” he says.

The same applies to Friday’s panel, which will address Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These government-designated entities do at sea what state parks do on land: protect whole territories rather than individual species. That makes them particularly promising for ocean conservation, as filmmaker Kip Evans explains. “They are a really good habitat protection, instead of just species protection,” he says. I think one of the mistakes we’ve made in this country is to protect species in decline, instead of addressing the issues around why the salmon, for example, are disappearing.”

The United States has more than 300 MPAs, and California is currently implementing a state-wide network of them. But with government budget cuts, the future of MPAs remains unclear. “There’s some problems associated with finding the funding to run them,” says Evans. “I know that Governor Brown’s office is looking at ways to cut the budget, and we want to make sure that the Marine Protected Areas don’t get cut.”

To that end, Evans made a film called “A Wave of Change,” about the state’s MPA system. It is shown in state park visitor’s centers along the Central California Coast, as well as in schools and at various environmental events. It will be screened on Friday afternoon, along with a panel and other films Evans helped select.

Blanco singled out one of the submissions, “Loretanos: Diseñando el Futuro del Mar,” or “Designing the Ocean’s Future,” which depicts a citizen-led effort to establish government protection in Loreto Bay, off the coast of Baja. The grassroots conservation model could be used elsewhere in Mexico and in the United States. “The idea is to use the film to start a conversation,” says Blanco, “and welcome the community to become a part of that dialogue.”

Evans invited the director of Loreto Bay National Park to join the panel, along with two other speakers from Mexican conservation programs. With the presence of American professionals like the California Department of Fish and Game’s Marine Life Protection Act Program Manager, a cross-border dialogue should ensue.

“I’m hoping that there’ll be an exchange of ideas between our California experts and our Mexican experts,” says Evans, “a sharing of trials and tribulations.” But he expects attendees will also benefit. “I think letting people know the importance and the urgency of this issue is one thing that will be good,” he says, “and just hearing an international perspective, which we don’t get very often.”

For a full schedule and tickets, visit oceanfilmfest.org.

Green Film Festival Coming to San Francisco

Washington, D.C. has one. Seoul has one. Bristol, Tokyo, and Turin have one. And now, finally, the Bay Area has one. The first annual San Francisco Green Film Festival will take place from March 3-6, joining a growing number of environmentally focused film festivals throughout the world.

The event seems a natural fit for eco-friendly San Francisco. “When we first started telling people,” said festival deputy director Daniela Rible, “they would pause and say, ‘oh really, there isn’t one already?'”

But favorable conditions just recently coalesced. “The time is right,” said Rible. “San Francisco is seen as a leader in the green movement around the state and around the country. It’s also a hub for many independent filmmakers and film festivals.”

“The time is right. San Francisco is seen as a leader in the green movement around the state and around the country. It’s also a hub for many independent filmmakers and film festivals.”

As always, things will proceed uniquely in the city by the Bay. “What differentiates us is that we have the films that we’re showcasing,” said Rible, “but we’ll also be having a lot of panels and discussions. The idea is, people go to the film festival then they go to a panel. It’s a whole day event.”

Festival-goers will move between two venues on opposite sides of the street: the Landmark Theatres Embarcadero Center Cinema and the Bently Reserve. The former will host screenings, while the latter will house a “Festival Hub”– educational programming interspersed with social events. “There’s just going to be a lot of energy around,” said Rible.

That was evident on February 17, at the festival’s pre-screening party. Held in conjunction with the California Academy of Science’s weekly “Nightlife” soiree, the event featured screenings of shorts, along with ecology-themed computer games and tabling by festival staff. Most visibly, two “bag monsters” wandered about, handing out festival postcards and posing for photos.

Carola Di Poi, a festival volunteer, spoke from within one of the suits, made of 500 plastic bags. “It’s pretty heavy,” she said. “I’m pretty hot. But it’s cool to be raising awareness about plastic bags.” Joy Chen, a fellow bag monster, agreed. “It was hot inside,” she said, “but you feel amazing. It’s about environmental action.”

Interactive education will continue at the festival, where parties and panels will riff on issues raised in the films. Opening night will feature Susan Beraza’s “Bag It,” a documentary about plastic bags, followed by a plastic pollution-themed party. On Saturday night, Kevin Tomlinson’s documentary “Back to the Garden: Flower Power Comes Full Circle” will set the tone for a flower-power party.

Other film and event pairings will include a panel discussion on water in California, preceded by a set of shorts on the same subject, as well as a panel on green film production, inspired by Miranda Bailey’s documentary “Greenlit.”

Several filmmakers will attend the festival, representing a broad range of nationalities. Swedish documentarian Fredrik Gertten will discuss his film “Bananas,” about Dole employees in Nicaragua, and Canadian Sean Walsh will attend the U.S. premiere of his documentary “Hauling,” which portrays people who recycle for a living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Huaqing Jin will fly over from China for the U.S. premiere of his film “Heavy Metal,” about electronic waste workers in the town of Fengjiang.

One guest will make a virtual appearance. Margaret Atwood, subject of the documentary “In the Wake of the Flood,” will engage in a live satellite Q&A. “We’re excited to have someone as prominent as her in our first year,” said Rible.

Prominence figures in the festival’s long-term aspirations. “We’d like to be seen as the lead green film festival on the West Coast,” said Rible. To that end, she anticipates “inviting more top-level films, reaching out to more filmmakers, traveling to those international film festivals, and making those connections.”

But Rible also hopes the festival grows locally. “We’d like this to be a year-round event,” she said. “We could maybe have monthly screenings and smaller events that are linked to the festival year-round.”

For now, the focus remains on March 3-6. After a year of planning, the festival leadership looks forward to executing its vision. “The Bay Area is ready for this,” said Rible.

For tickets and a complete schedule, visit sfgreenfilmfest.org.