By Craig Dawson, Executive Director, Sutro Stewards

At a public meeting held on November 21, 2013, the University of California San Francisco made a statement which has left neighbors, the conservation community, and environmentalists stunned. After 15 years of community planning and commitments to maintain and begin restoration of the the 61-acre UCSF Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve, UCSF is now proposing to ABANDON ALL PLANNED CONSERVATION EFFORTS on Mt. Sutro in favor of “mowing” 25 acres of understory as a “Hazard Reduction Measure” and leave the remaining 36 acres untouched.  

This will in effect remove critical habitat for wildlife as well as wipe out some of the few remaining indigenous plant colonies. Further this proposal does nothing to address the invasive ivies that are in effect killing the older and healthier eucalyptus trees, effectively suppressing re-growth and preventing the reintroduction of other species where ivies dominate the forest understory. 

The revised UCSF plans ignore the restoration of the Woodland Canyon, Woodland Creek, riparian corridor, which is Mount Sutro’s last remaining watershed and seasonal creek, where water often flows well into the summer. 

This stunning reversal by the University is in stark contrast to UC’s own legacy within the conservation movement including the founding of the National Parks system, the Sierra Club and the role it played in creating Yosemite National Park. It also ignores San Francisco’s own environmental policies and those of the neighboring GGNRA and Presidio National Park. By not including the conservation options within the revised DEIR this move could in effect prohibit all forms of environmental stewardship to take place within the 61-acre property. Further, by continuing the mismanagement in 36 acres of forest and proposing to leave it untouched, the fire danger will continue to grow on the Northern, Eastern and Western slopes of Mount Sutro as the rapid decline accelerates.

All of this is taking place as UCSF plans to publish its next Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), and appears to be the second precedent setting reversal in long standing commitments to the Parnassus neighborhoods. The first major breach took place during 2013 when after 30 years of promises to adhere to a self imposed “Space Ceiling”  put in place to govern the rampant growth of the Campus, including the purchase of many Inner Sunset homes converted to UC offices. For three decades UCSF has pledged to demolish a series of older buildings including UC Hall, the most earthquake deficient building on Campus to reduce it’s gross square foot overage. These very commitments began in 1975, were reaffirmed in 1982 and 1996, only to be suddenly abandoned as we approach the 2014 LRDP. 

If UCSF can reverse course on long standing commitments without penalty or consequence where does that leave the rest of us? How can we work to ensure the University is held to its commitments to remain self policing and accountable for Campus growth, congestion and the ever increasing daily population? The answer is through community action to make commitments binding and for the community to become the vocal force that ensures the proposed changes bring benefit, not harm, to those living in the shadow of the Parnassus Campus. 

For more information check out the Sutro Stewards website at http://sutrostewards.org/.