Trees on February 28

Thank you for coming to the rescue of the Mt. Davidson Forest. Your advocacy was essential and life-saving. I have some good news to share from the big meeting yesterday. 1. Supervisor Yee Votes to Save Mt. Davidson SF Supervisor Norman Yee voted in support of saving the trees and stopping the pesticides! He voted yes to appeal the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the plan. This was the most important outcome because the Mt. Davidson Forest resides in the area he was elected to represent, District 7 in San Francisco. This took an incredible amount of courage by Supervisor Yee, as the pressure from SF Rec and Park to support the deforestation was immense. Please send Supervisor Yee a quick note of thanks for voting to save the Mt. Davidson Forest from chainsaws and pesticides! Supervisor Norman Yee Email: norman.yee@sfgov.org 2. Pesticide Issue Highlighted Supervisor Yee is especially concerned about SF Rec and Park’s use of toxic herbicides like Roundup to kill the trees permanently. He was unsatisfied with the Department’s answers to the questions about increased pesticides and the potential runoff into the Miraloma Elementary School. He doesn’t feel these issues were adequately studied. “That bothers me a lot. I will be supporting the appeal,” said Supervisor Yee. New SF Supervisor Jeff Sheehy for District 8 launched an epic line of questioning about pesticides. It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen at City Hall. Supervisor Sheehy started with, “Walk me through the herbicides and the use of Roundup in parks” and then asked every single tough question one could imagine. “Will these chemicals migrate into the groundwater?” “It doesn’t sound like you reviewed it.” “How can you say that you are using the same amount when you will be using more?” Supervisor Sheehy concluded, “These herbicides make the parks unusable.” Please send Supervisor Sheehy a quick note of thanks for standing up for public health and saying no to Roundup in our parks! Supervisor Jeff Sheehy Email: jeff.sheehy@sfgov.org New Supervisor Hillary Ronen for District 9 also noted that the answers SF Rec and Park provided about the pesticides were “unsatisfying.” Supervisors Sheehy, Yee and Ronen have valid concerns. Glyphosate in Roundup is a probable carcinogen according to the World Health Organization. A 2014 study by the U.S. Geological Survey showed that glyphosate accumulates in groundwater and even in rainfall. Do we really want it raining Roundup in San Francisco? Groundwater is now being mixed into our tapwater, and the risk of poisoning residents is real. SF Rec and Park tries to pass the buck on pesticides to the SF Department of the Environment. They say they are just following SF Environment’s Integrated Pest Management Program which allows poisonous chemicals like Roundup, Aquamaster, and Garlon to be sprayed in parks where children play. 3. Old Trees Matter Both SF Planning and SF Rec and Park went on the record as saying that old trees sequester more carbon than young trees. That is an encouraging sign. Back in November 2016, they were asserting the opposite which is one of the reasons I started this petition. Recent studies prove just how valuable large, old trees are in the fight against climate change. So let’s plant trees and save trees both! 4. Craziest Lines And now for a little comic relief, here are some of the craziest things people said last night: “Eating bacon has the same risk factor as Roundup” – Lisa Wayne, SF Rec and Park ”Wild places do not take care of themselves” – Phil Ginsburg, GM, SF Rec and Park "These trees don't matter because they are all going to die eventually anyway" -- SF Planning describing trees that can live another 200 years “You can walk into Home Depot and buy Roundup” – Lisa Wayne, SF Rec and Park "This is a program EIR and so we don't have to answer Supervisor Sheehy's questions about pesticides" -- SF Planning “The environment is under attack. This plan represents best practices” -- Phil Ginsburg, GM, SF Rec and Park “This arena is going to cause more traffic congestion!” – from a member of the public who crashes every meeting FORESTRY vs. NATURAL RESOURCES: Trees under the Forestry division of SF Rec and Park get managed. Trees under the Natural Resources division get cut down. This is a distinction that virtually nobody understands. People are persuaded to support the Natural Resources plan because “our forests need to be managed.” This is supposed to be the job of Forestry. The intention of Natural Resources is to take San Francisco’s landscape back to how it looked in the 1700s. It was a fairly desolate place with sand dunes, scrub, and limited trees only in creek beds. Many of these park forests haven’t been “managed” because they were transferred over to Natural Resources who has been trying to cut them down for 10 years. SF Rec and Park is cutting down healthy trees in South Park, Glen Canyon, Tank Hill, McLaren Park, Interior Greenbelt, and Golden Gate Park. Plus UCSF wants to destroy the Mt. Sutro Forest, and the City just clearcut all of the trees on Van Ness. Enough is enough. The Chainsaw First policy has to end. We need these trees for oxygen, clean air and well-being. Let's save as many trees as we can going forward. THE FUTURE: In the future, SF Rec and Park may try again to destroy the Mt. Davidson Forest. Hopefully not! If so, this would be subject to public review, and we could ask for your help again in standing up for the trees. For San Francisco residents, if you see a Park Bond on the ballot, please scrutinize the fine print carefully. If you see language about “restoration of parks”, this can mean cutting down healthy trees and converting them to bushes. Please advocate in advance for what you do want in the bond. SF Rec and Park has $1 billion in deferred maintenance. SF taxpayers would rather the Department spend precious dollars on basic maintenance and new playgrounds, rather than deforestation. THANK YOU! The best part of this experience was all of you. It is amazing to see how many people care about saving trees. It gives me great hope. Please keep up your advocacy. The trees need you. Forests rarely receive a fair trial. You spoke for the trees and were their Lorax, and it made a big difference. I cannot thank you enough!