TO MY READERS: I have at long last opened a blog: http://naturenewssf.blogspot.com/
It will eventually replace these emailed newsletters. As I expected, I am having problems learning how to do it, so I will be tardy in postings.
When I dispense with emails I expect to increase the frequency and shorten the content of each posting. I will keep emailing newsletters for awhile.
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1. Say NO to commercial dog walking in our national parks
2. Brisbane's Habitat Restoration Day tomorrow April 30
3. A new venture: wildlife restoration gardening
4. Open photo competition to catch the Endangered Species Muni buses
5. Two pesticide banning issues - and some thoughts
6. Pt Molate grassland/wildflower field trip tomorrow, April 30
7. Golden Gate Audubon events, including "Golden Gate Park under siege"
8. Occidental Arts & Ecology Center summer biodiversity sale April 30/May 1
9. Spring Open Studios at Hunters Point April 29, 39, May 1
10. The SFPUC announces the launch of two new tools for planning and designing graywater systems in San Francisco
11. Acterra: Bay-Friendly Garden Tour/Rethinking Our Cities/Sign up for the 20p11 Drive-Less Challenge
12. Thinkwalk tours finds a new lake (?)
13. Planning Commission rules against Knowland Park
14. Niles Canyon update
15. State Water Board weights in on Bay-Delta Conservation Program analysis/Getting High Speed Rail back on track
16. Wild and Weird: Hard Stares from a mollusk
17. Save the date: June 6 for 17th Annual San Francisco Butterfly Count
18. Feedback: Rising water levels v. Treasure Island/problems with wineries/California buckeye on Atalaya
19. I'm exonerated: A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder
20. Notes from California Historical Society
21. Is the internet a revolutionary innovation, something that will overthrow the established order?
22. Notes & Queries: Who thought up the American Dream and how do they continue to perpetuate it?
1. Say No! to Commercial Dog Walking In our National Parks
Commercial dog walking has never been legally permitted on any of our National Park lands. However, the National Park Service is now proposing to allow commercial dog walking within the San Francisco Bay Area’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Commercial dog walking will impact all park user groups and set a dangerous precedent for all National Parks!
• Commercial dog walking is not an appropriate use of our National Park lands. Commercial dog walking is contrary to the purpose and mission of our National Parks.
• Commercial dog walking impacts park resources and park visitors. Commercial dog walkers, each with groups of four to six dogs, will negatively impact park resources and park visitors.
• Commercial dog walking provides no service or benefit to any park users. In fact, commercial dog walking activity will displace park visitors, of all user groups, from trails and other areas of the park.
• Commercial dog walking serves only for the capital gain of private enterprises at the expense of the American public. The costs of administering and overseeing a permitting process, additional law enforcement, additional resource maintenance, additional public relations, and the loss of legitimate park visitors and volunteers will be paid for by the American tax payer!
• Daily volume and value. If permitted, it is estimated that commercial dog walking will bring over one thousand dogs to the GGNRA and net more than $30,000 for dog walking businesses daily!
Say No! Speak up now and tell the National Park Service to keep commercial dog walking out of our National Parks. Comments are due by May 29, 2011 and can be submitted online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/dogplan
Or mail comments to: Frank Dean, General Superintendent
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Fort Mason, Building 201
San Francisco, CA 94123-0022
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2. FIRTH CANYON HABITAT RESTORATION DAY
April 30th 9:00 am – 1:00pm
Meet at Firth Park (Glen Parkway & Sierra Point) on San Bruno Mountain in Brisbane
The City of Brisbane, in partnership with San Bruno Mountain Watch, invites you to join us for Firth Canyon Habitat Restoration Day on Saturday, April 30th from 9am – 1pm. Bring family and friends to remove invasive exotic plants in Firth Canyon and restore the native habitat. Please wear work clothes and sturdy shoes, and bring gloves and small clippers if you have them.
Free Lunch and T-shirts for All Volunteers (while supplies last)
Celebrate Earth Day at Brisbane’s 8th Annual Habitat Restoration Day
For more information and to RSVP, please call 508-2118 or email LPontecorvo@ci.brisbane.ca.us
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3. A new venture: Wildlife Restoration Gardening
Please check it out and consider us if you or anyone you know in the San Francisco Bay Area are interested in Wildlife Restoration Gardening.
We're still getting our site together and need to add some pretty photos and such, but we will....
www.habitatcity.org
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4. Todd Gilens:
Jake, www.endangerbus.org, the four “Endangered Species” Muni buses, are soon to be covered by new advertising. In celebration of the project Muni Diaries and Bay Nature have announced an open photo competition to catch the buses before they’re gone. Here are the details:
· Find the Endangered Species buses (see the ‘Bus Tracker’ at www.endangerbus.org) and catch them in any way you want.
· Enter up to four images by emailing them to endangerbuscontest@baynature.org (minimum 1500 pixels in length or width)
· Winners will be selected by Cheryl Haines, director of Haines Gallery and executive director of the FOR-SITE Foundation, whose Presidio Habitats runs through mid-May.
Prizes
First place receives $150 and publication in Bay Nature Magazine.
Second place receives two tickets to the San Francisco Zoo and two $10 Clipper Cards.
Five other entrants will be picked at random to receive $10 clipper cards.
ENTRY DEADLINE: May 20th (National Endangered Species Day).
Webpage with the competition information: http://www.munidiaries.com/2011/03/16/win-150-in-the-endanger-bus-photo-contest/
Endangered Species project webpage: www.endangerbus.org
Buses move slowly when you are on them waiting to get somewhere. But they move very fast when you are trying to photograph them – and it’s amazing how chaotic urban streets are. I was chasing the Butterflybus on the 71 down Noriega toward the beach. I kept jumping ahead to the next bus stop, then watching it unload while trying to get a good background, light, etc. Trucks would pull up, the bus wouldn’t stop where I expected, poles would end up smack in the middle of a shot, it was hard to tell if I got anything. At the end of the line the driver asked me what I was up to. Yes the project is about animals and insects. He says oh yes there used to be a lot more different kinds; now mostly ants. Ha, we both laugh – Argentine ants he adds. I say transit is also an ecosystem. Yes, he says the competitors are mostly cars. Then there’s the bicyclists, they’re special. Then pedestrians too. Oh riders, some are very nice but there are some special ones too. Time to go; we shake hands, “Nice talking with you!” Off he goes. The light behind me now, I try to get a few last shots as the bus turns onto 47th heading back downtown.
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5. Pesticide banning issues
1. Dr Kerry Kriger: Next week I will personally deliver over 10,000 signatures to the US Environmental Protection Agency calling for a federal ban on the use and production of the harmful pesticide Atrazine, which can cause immunosupression, hermaphroditism and complete sex reversal in male frogs at concentrations as low as 2.5 parts per billion. Eighty million pounds of Atrazine are used in the USA each year. I want to deliver your signature as well, but it looks like you have yet to sign the petition.
PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO BAN ATRAZINE!
If you have friends in the Washington, DC area, please inform them of the Save The Frogs Day Rally I will be leading there this Friday, April 29th!
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2. Barbara Corff:
Jake, I hope people will sign on and support the ban of three pesticides that are a threat to honeybees.
Honeybees are dying off at an alarming rate. And, if Americans don’t act now to deal with what is being called “Colony Collapse Disorder,” we risk devastating our domestic food supply.
Yes, it’s that serious. According to American beekeepers, around one-third of the existing population of honeybees has died off every year since 2006 -- and scientists believe this year could be even worse.
As more than 30% of our domestic food production depends on honey bee pollination, this crisis can’t be ignored.
What is causing Colony Collapse Disorder? There are a number of reasons, but mounting evidence points to pesticides -- and three “neonicotinoid” pesticides in particular: clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiomethoxam.
That’s why a coalition of nonprofits, beekeepers, and concerned citizens are asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban these three pesticides. More than 1.2 million people have already signed onto the coalition’s campaign. Will you?
We don’t have much time. Please click here now to tell the EPA to ban these pesticides and save American honeybees. On May 5, more than 1.2 million signatures -- including yours -- will be hand-delivered to the EPA.
Barbara: One of the problems with my newsletter is that I am deluged with items that I'm not equipped to evaluate. My guess is that I would be supportive of this ban; however, I know very little about it, its history, what effects the chemicals have, why they are being used now and the consequences of discontinuing them, whether this is a (or, the) problem with honeybees or is it other (unidentified) factors, &c.
Part of the problem is that there are many well-meaning people and groups who don't do a thorough job of analyzing the issues and presenting sound, verifiable information. To boot, some of them are self-aggrandizing and play loose with facts--after all, they need to keep the troops charged up in order to perpetuate their jobs and keep the donations rolling in. I don't necessarily think that is the case with this particular issue, but looking into these matters take time, often lots of time. So I often have to let some of them slide.
And I don't find as many black and white hats as I used to before I discovered how imperfect the world is. Even organizations that my membership and donations support need a little scrutiny on some issues. Case in point is Center for Biological Diversity, which kicks butt. It is, eg, the only sizable environmental organization I know that directly addresses the fundamental issue of population. Yet I find it occasionally a bit reckless on pesticide-ban issues. Pesticides need intense scrutiny, but that scrutiny needs to be scientific and give full consideration to the effects of a ban.
And, while I'm riding this hobby horse, I give in to the temptation to take a swipe at inconsistency: How many of those who want to restrict pesticides have a problem in buying strawberries at the supermarket? They are grown with methyl bromide, a health issue for the workers and for the planet. The proposed substitute, methyl iodide, has serious problems, too. I don't want to take strawberries away from our diet, but they should strictly be organically-grown. Higher price, but isn't planet destruction costly?
As often happens, I was planning to write 2-3 sentences and then write several paragraphs. Perhaps I'll post this exchange, since I invested time in it.
Jake, I am in agreement with your analysis of this. As I first read it, I was in support of the idea, but I also wondered if it was too simple, without enough depth to consider fully. I know what you mean about the scramble for funding and the activist issues associated. Center for Biological Diversity is the one organization that takes action and seems solid. I only subscribe to a few newsletters, and yours and the CBD are on my list. Thanks again for the response. Barbara
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6. Celebrate our (temporary?) victory on the Pt Molate casino
Field Trip: Point Molate Grassland (Contra Costa County)
Leader: David Amme
Cosponsored by CNPS East Bay & Yerba Buena Chapters
APRIL 30, Saturday, 10am to 2pm
With the fate of Point Molate still hanging in the balance, we will again visit this lovely grassland on the Potrero Hills Peninsula just north of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, a site with terrific views of San Francisco, Marin, and San Pablo Bay to the north.
Its intact native coastal bunchgrass prairie is virtually the last of its kind within the Bay and boasts a unique mix of grasses: California oatgrass, purple needlegrass, squirreltail, junegrass, and red fescue adjacent to patches of California fescue, creeping wildrye, and Diego bentgrass.
Despite encouraging outcomes in November’s election in Richmond. a progressive majority on the city council and the defeat of an advisory measure favoring the casino, it’s too soon to let down our guard against the mega-casino development proposed for this area.
From the Bay Bridge, head north on I-80, take the I-580 split on the right just before Albany Hill, and head toward the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Just before the toll plaza take the Western Drive/Point Molate exit. Continue on this road as it climbs a hill and curves north; as it descends the hill, park at the parking lot on the right before the Point Molate Restricted Area open gate/chain link fence. Be sure to bring lunch, sunscreen, a hat, and water; a hand lens and camera are also recommended. Part of our route is a steep climb and may be slippery. Very heavy rain cancels.
Contact: David Amme damme@epiphany2000.com; office 510-544-2344; cell 510-432-6141
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7. Golden Gate Audubon Society
CONSERVATION DIRECTOR AT COMMONWEALTH CLUB Join park supporters, preservationists, neighbors and environmentalists for “Golden Gate Park Under Siege.” Learn about current construction plans for Golden Gate Park and what can be done to protect our open space today and for future generations. GGA Conservation Director Michael Lynes will be one of the panelists.
Commonwealth Club of California, 595 Market Street, SF.
May 11, 2011 Time: 6 p.m. networking reception, 6:30 p.m. program
Registration: on-line at www.commonwealthclub.org or call: 415-597-6705
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Golden Gate Audubon has these upcoming volunteer events:
May 7 from 9-12noon at Pier 94 in San Francisco
May 14 – Celebrate International Migratory Bird Treaty Day by participating at a bird census in the Presidio in San Francisco.
May 21 from 9-12noon near the Bison Paddock in Golden Gate Park with the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department
May 21 from 1-4pm at the East Wash in the Presidio with Parks Conservancy
May 21 from 10-12noon stop by the Golden Gate Audubon table and speak with the docents at Lake Merritt in Oakland
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8. Occidental Arts and Ecology Center - Summer Biodiversity Plant Sale
April 30 & May 1 from 9AM to 5PM
We will be selling hundreds of open-pollinated, heirloom and rare varieties - all California Certified Organic - many started from our own seed collection.
Free Tours at 11AM & 1PM both days! Light Refreshments Available for Purchase.
For more information click HERE. Please bring your own trays or boxes, if possible. No pets please!
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9. Sharon Beals: It's time again for Spring Open Studios at Hunters Point Shipyard this weekend, April 29th, 30th and May 1
Friday night Preview 6 to 9
Saturday and Sunday 11 to 6 Laurie Wigham, the illustrator of my new book Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them will also be showing her wonderful bird drawings. I hope you will join us.
Building 116, Studio 9
My cell is 415-377-4214 if you need directions
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10. The SFPUC announces the launch of two new tools for planning and designing graywater systems in San Francisco
San Francisco Graywater Design Manual for Outdoor Irrigation --
San Francisco‚s Draft Graywater Design Manual for Outdoor Irrigation is now online: http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/168/MTO_ID/758/C_ID/5421
The manual is an educational resource for homeowners and professionals who want to install residential graywater systems for outdoor irrigation. It provides an overview of the benefits of graywater systems, when and where to install different systems, permitting requirements, what products to use, and operation and maintenance requirements. The manual also provides a detailed step-by-step process for designing and installing laundry-to-landscape systems. We would like to make the Graywater Design Manual as useful as possible! If you would like to provide us with suggestions on how we might improve it, please use the form on the above site and email your feedback to landscape@sfwater.org by June 30, 2011.
Laundry to Landscape Pilot Graywater Program --
The SFPUC is now accepting applications for its Laundry-to-Landscape Pilot Graywater Program. Up to 150 qualifying single-family and two unit San Francisco residential properties will be eligible to participate. Participants are required to attend a free workshop, review and use a free guidance manual, and meet the program requirements to receive a $95 subsidy toward the purchase of a $100 laundry-to-landscape starter kit.
For more information on both of these graywater projects, please visit: http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/168/MTO_ID/758/C_ID/5421
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11. Acterra
Bay-Friendly Garden Tour
May 15 (Corrected Date)
The date listed for the Bay-Friendly Garden Tour in last week's EcoHappenings was incorrect. The correct date is Sunday, May 15. For more information about the tour and to register, please visit click here.
Rethinking Our Cities:
Spring Film and Discussion Series
Fridays, May 6 - June 3
Sunnyvale Community Center, Laurel Room
550 East Remington Drive, Sunnyvale [map]
A look at how sprawl replaced traditional neighborhoods and what can be done to bring back community and sustainability to our cities and towns. Group discussion follows. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., films start at 7:00 p.m. Admission is FREE.
Co-sponsored by Acterra. For more information about the films, please visit the Sunnyvale Cool Cities website.
Don't Forget! Sign Up Now to Take the 2011 Drive Less Challenge - April 22 - May 5
The Drive-Less Challenge is a fun way to try alternatives to driving your car to work, school, shopping and other local places. To sign up, please visit the Drive Less Challenge website and join Acterra's group.
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12. Thinkwalk tours by Joel Pomerantz
Some great news of SF natural history sleuthing!
Before I reveal my news, I'd like to make sure you have a chance to sign up for the weird event I'm planning on Saturday, May 7. WalkSF, our city's pedestrian advocacy group, is holding an event with a specially-designed Thinkwalk as the feature. I've designed a playful game called Caption walc (Walking Around Linking Clues).
This is not your ordinary clue-seeking event. Learn about SF nature and history, then apply that knowledge to old and new maps and photos. Meet fun, random people. You can even bargain with them for more clues! Win astounding prizes and have a blast. Put on your walking cap and your thinking socks for this sweet combination of a Hayes Creek watershed tour and a cooperative game of mental recall.
Topics will include historical geography, urban development, transportation, urban agriculture, and brutal population shifts in this magical boomtown we call home.
All money goes to WalkSF. To sign up (hurry!) just visit http://hayeswalc.eventbrite.com.
Now for the news: [No, wait, first a plug for my May 4 Mission Waters Walk (Wednesday at 9:30, 2 hours) and my May 8 Street Art History Walk (Sunday at 10:15, 2 & 1/2 hours). $20 or limited half-price spots. Sign-up: http://thinkwalks.org]
Okay...now...The EXCITEMENT is about a new lake that I just rediscovered. Really.
This is quite an irony, since it comes, coincidentally, just as I've helped **remove** another lake from the books! I've been assisting the inestimable Christopher Richard (of the Oakland Museum and SF Watershed maps fame), who has thoroughly debunked the mythical "now-vanished freshwater Laguna Dolores" where SF was supposedly founded. My own research contributed to that. If you saw Carl Nolte's piece in the Chronicle, he got the story very wrong. Hadley Robinson did do a good job at http://tinyurl.com/hadleyrobinsonlaguna on MissionLocal, the outlet of the Cal Journalism School.
My new lake was called Phelps' Lake, when it was called anything at all, and was 25 acres--that's big. It was located, sometimes, in the Panhandle-Divisadero area, it seems. I found complete proof of it through chasing all sorts of rumors about destructive 1862 floods (my obsession these days).
I've blogged a very complete, fun, rundown of the evidence. (http://thinkwalks.org/blog)
Hope you're well and having fun thinking. I hope to see you at the May 7 event (Do sign up now: http://hayeswalc.eventbrite.com ) and at other events, too!
Feel free to request tours on days not scheduled--but I'll be away May 14 to 28.
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13. Dear Knowland Park Supporters - Planning Commission Decision:
The four members of the Planning Commission present Wednesday night (the minimum for a quorum of the 7 member body) approved the Mitigated Negative Declaration Addendum and the Zoo expansion project Wednesday night on a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Zayas-Mart saying she felt there were still too many unanswered environmental questions. The project now will go to the City Council for final approval. This is a great disappointment, but we want to thank all those supporters who turned out and spoke so eloquently in support of our park and in support of full environmental review and serious consideration of alternatives to this plan. Unfortunately, this time around the Zoo had more bodies in the room, including many employees, so when the Chair asked for a show of hands we were outnumbered--not by a lot, but enough to make clear that we didn't have as many people present. The fact that it was not a unanimous decision is a small comfort.
If you want to watch the meeting, it is available on DVD for $2.50 per copy. Call the KTOP studio at 510-238-3566 to order them.
The California Native Plant Society and California Grasslands spoke out strongly but were dismissed, with commissioners indicating that the grasslands "might not survive anyway," even without the project. It was sad to see environmental accountability trumped by political expediency, and the wildlife and plants of Knowland Park will pay a high price for that.
But it is not over yet and the flurry of media attention in the last couple of weeks brought a rush of contributiuons and interest from environmentally conscious residents. We will be filing a formal appeal of the Planning Commission decision, which will be heard by the City Council, based on the inadequacies of the environmental report. We will let you know when that hearing will take place.
We're trying to improve the navigability and contents of our website, www.saveknowland.org, with all the most timely and important information on the main page. There's now a button for getting onto our mailing list, recently added to those for petitions, surveys, and emailing city officials. We're trying to populate a slide show with interesting photos of the park, and find we need photos of wildlife, both flora and fauna. We welcome photo submissions, as well as suggestions for content and layout; please them them to info@friendsofknowlandpark.org.
SOD Blitz Reminder: Don't forget this weeken's Sudden Oak Death blitz if you signed up (see previous email)--we can at least try to help protect our oaks by participating!
Meanwhile, let us know if you can help with:
--yard signs
--lobbying City Council members
--spreading the word to neighbors
--contributions to our legal fund--the City charges more than $1000 for us to appeal the Planning Commission decision.
Checks should be made out to Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger, LLP, and mailed to Lee Ann Smith, Treasurer, Friends of Knowland Park, 111 Shadow Mountain, Oakland, CA 94605. Please be as generous as you can to help support our park!
Most of all, today we still have the park and its beauty. Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and the peaceful oasis of Knowland Park while you still can! Thanks for your support of our park. We may not win, but we can't not try to do better as a species!
Ruth, Jason, Tom & the Friends of Knowland Park Leadership Group
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14. Niles Canyon Update
Over 200 people showed up for the April 14th hearing with Caltrans arranged by state Senator Ellen Corbett and Assembly member Bob Weickowski to address concerns regarding the Niles Canyon Highway Safety Improvement and Widening Project.
Residents and conservation groups eloquently and passionately disputed Caltrans safety data, decried the severe environmental impacts, and lambasted the agency for refusing to conduct a transparent and thorough environmental review and for not being forthcoming in disseminating information to the public about the project. The public sent a clear message to Caltrans and elected officials to stop the project and prevent more tree cutting and destruction of the creek environment in Niles Canyon.
At the hearing Caltrans agreed to reopen the formal public comment period for phase two of the project for 45 days (stay tuned for comment period date), but refused to put phase one on hold.
On April 26th the Fremont City Council voted to direct the Mayor to send a letter to the Governor objecting to the extreme removal of trees and plants in Niles Canyon and objecting to Caltrans' blatant disregard to get project input from the public and the City of Fremont about the Niles Canyon Safety project. Fremont is requesting that the Governor intervene to review future phases of the project in an effort to reduce the environmental impacts.
We will keep you updated on legal efforts and upcoming protests to stop this project and prevent further damage to Alameda Creek.
Read the April 21 San Jose Mercury News article: Protesters Say "Hell No" to More Tree Cutting in Fremont
The Niles Canyon protest makes the New York Times – read the April 16 Times article on the Niles Canyon Railway
Read the Alameda Creek Alliance April 8 editorial in the Fremont Argus: Must Save Niles Canyon From Caltrans Project
Read the April 6 East Bay Express article: Destroying Alameda Creek
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15. Planning & Conservation League
State Water Board weighs in on Bay-Delta Conservation Planning Program analysis
Last week, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) sent an important letter to Dr. Jerry Meral, the Resources Agency Deputy Secretary for the Bay Delta Conservation Planning Program (BDCP) in regards to the required oversight and project specifics. The letter points out that any changes in conveyance (e.g. a new canal or tunnels), a component of BDCP, will be subject to approvals by the State Board. The letter drew Dr. Meral’s attention to the Flow Criteria report adopted by the State Board last year, which includes flow criteria for the Delta to protect public trust resources.
Based on the points highlighted in the letter to Dr. Meral, and consistent with previous communications to Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the State Board staff specifically suggested analyzing an alternative adding 1.5 million acre feet to Delta outflow. This recommendation has the potential allow flow consistent with the standards adopted by the State Board last fall is consistent and in turn make the Boards approval of the project more appealing.
Getting High Speed Rail back on track
Last week, U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA 14), CA Senator Joe Simitian (D-11)and CA Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-21) all gathered at the Menlo Park Caltrain station to announce their vision for the future of high speed rail in California. “High speed rail done right” was the sentiment echoed by the lawmakers as they discussed what a comprehensive Bay Area high speed rail system should look like. The lawmakers’ plan is centered on three major components: rail alignment, funding and oversight.
Eshoo, Simitian and Gordon together stressed that if California wants its mass transportation to be ushered into the 21st century, Caltrain and the high speed rail alignment need to be blended together. In regards to funding, the lawmakers stated “If we can barely find the funds to do high speed rail right, we most certainly cannot find the funds to do high speed rail wrong.” The funding mechanism and the rail alignment will not be successful without the necessary oversight to ensure a high speed rail project that will benefit Californians.
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16. Wild and Weird: Hard Stares From a Mollusk
Think your mother-in-law has a stony gaze? Turns out, so do marine mollusks called chitons.
On the backs of their shells, chitons have hundreds of beadlike structures making up rock-crystal "lenses." Before now, nobody knew what these eye-like structures could do. But a new study shows that not only can they allow chitons to detect changes in light intensity; they actually let the creatures see shapes -- signaling, for example, whether a predator is approaching.
Read more in National Geographic. Then check out the Center for Biological Diversity's campaign against ocean acidification, an immediate threat to chitons and other marine species with hard skeletons and shells.
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17. Save the Date: June 6
"It's time for folks to mark their calendars for the 17th Annual San Francisco Butterfly Count -- Monday, June 6th -- 9am -5pm. An intense, one-day inventory of all the butterfly species / individuals flying in our county. We will begin at the Randall Museum (199 Museum Way) before heading out with assigned groups. (The Presidio Group, lead by Matt Zlatunich, will meet there.) Each group will have a copy of Nature in the City's Butterflies of San Francisco Field Guide to make it easier on the novice. BRING YOUR LUNCH. It's really a magnificent day, folks, to help with important field work. A $3.00 participation fee is collected by all that goes to butterfly conservation. We broke all our records last year: 24 species , 775 individuals and 34 observers! We also had "National High' on two species: Anise Swallowtail - 53 seen (Papilio zelicaon) and West Coast Painted Lady - 23 seen (Vanessa annabella). Over 300 counts throughout the nation, our count is starting to get noticed. Come help us keep up the momentum!
Any questions? Liam O'Brien -- liammail56@yahoo.com . The count is sponsored by The North American Butterfly Association."
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18. Feedback
On Apr 26, 2011, at 5:32 PM, Louise Lacey wrote:
I have been thinking about Treasure Island, and the vast plans "enjoyed" about it.
How many years do you think the water will rise above the earth there -- and above the housing planned for it now? No one seems to even have considered that.
People have considered it. They're not in power. The people in power only look to this quarter's balance sheet, or to the coming election. Not the way to run a planet.
I haven't even seen any media thought about it. You've got it, that's for sure.
Been paying attention to the media lately? Investigative reporting?
1. The *Wall Street Journal* is read by the people who run the country.
2. The *Washington Post* is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The *New York Times* is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. *USA Today* is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. *The Los Angeles Times* is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country--if they could find the time--and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The *Boston Globe* is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The *New York Daily News* is read by people who aren't too sure who is running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The *New York Post* is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The *Miami Herald* is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The *San Francisco Chronicle* is read by people who aren't sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feminist, atheist, and also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.
11. The *National Enquirer* is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
12. None of these is read by the guy who is running the country into the ground. (ie, George Bush--this is from my archives. JS)
===
This is actually a gloss on an earlier typology expressed in the essential Britcom "Yes, Prime Minister":
===
Sir Humphrey: The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers' prejudices.
Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the Press. I know *exactly* who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country. The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country. The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care *who* runs the country - as long as she's got big tits.
Vern Waight:
Jake: The only better vision of the Central Subway Project is through Rose Pak's perverted vision of the project's benefits for her people.
Karl Young:
I was recently reminded of a great series of articles detailing the devastation wrought by the wine industry in Northern California (the author, Will Parish, was on KALW's Your Call this week). You may have already covered this issue in Nature News but between my aging brain and failing to read an issue all the way through once in a while, I figured I'd mention it just in case you didn't know about the series. There are links to all the articles in the series at:
http://www.gualalariver.org/headlines/2011DrainingOurRiversDry.html
Karl: The main reason you haven't seen anything in my newsletter about the devastation caused by wine growing is because of the Ostrich Effect. I am keenly aware of the damage wineries are doing to our Coastal Range natural communities, but can't bear to face it. I invite discussion of this from my readers. I may as well add wine drinkers to the groups I piss off, although if I keep this up I won't have any friends left.
I have been amazed at the environmental gatherings I have attended where the only choice of drink is wine. I used to give them a tongue-lashing and angrily ask why they don't offer beer too. But they finally wore me down with their indifference, and with my declining energy I have to ration who is the target of my anger. I finally reluctantly came to the realization that with the exception of a handful of committed activists, environmentalists can be just as inconsistent and hypocritical as others.
I re-post from most recent newsletter:
20. Tongues cannot tell
A survey of hundreds of drinkers found that on average people could tell good wine from plonk no more often than if they had simply guessed. In the blind taste test, 578 people commented on wines ranging from a $6 bottle of claret to a $50 bottle of champagne. The study found that people correctly distinguished between cheap and expensive white wines only 53% of the time, and only 47% of the time for red wines. Guardian Weekly
James Thurber's sendup of wine fanciers (vintage 1940s, 50s): "It's a naive little domestic burgundy, but I think you'll find its impertinence amusing."
So why are we destroying our coast ranges? Snobbery, largely.
Philip Gerrie (re my blog site vs emailed newsletters):
What is the difference between the two? Looks like the same information. Why is one preferable? Maybe a group blast to us post modern luddites versus just replying to me. I'm probably missing behind the scenes of what it takes to send the newsletter out. Its like why buy a new car? Your old car still runs and works and does the same thing, gets you from point A to point B?
Several reasons: MANY people have been ragging me for years to open a blog site--for a variety of reasons. One reason is that it has the potential of greatly increasing my audience. That's the good news. The bad news is that it has the potential of greatly increasing my audience. I might not have time to respond to comments.
The newsletter has been exhausting for me. The mailing process alone is time-consuming. Apple Mail is not set up for mass mailing, and there are almost 3000 on my recipient list, so the twice-a-week mailing is a task.
The blog has some liberating aspects, allowing me to do several things not feasible now. (Can't afford to go into details now.) That is a double-edged sword, however, and it can be (I'm sure will be) just another device for self-enslavement. I am much too ambitious.
Not a full explanation; it will have to do for now. The transition period will be painful for me; too much I don't understand.
See ya later,
Ned Ludd
Ned Ludd
The Leader of the Luddites, engraving of 1812
Ned Ludd or Ned Lud, possibly born Ned Ludlam[1] or Edward Ludlam,[2][3] is the person from whom the Luddites took their name. His actions were the inspiration for the folkloric character of "Captain Ludd", also known as "King Ludd" or "General Ludd", who became the Luddites' imagined leader and founder.
Although no actual proof of his existence has been found, it is believed that he came from the village of Anstey, just outside Leicester in England.
The incident that inspired his transformation from 18th century common man to 19th century hero of the proletariat occurred when he broke two stocking frames in a fit of rage. This incident is identified as having occurred in 1779, rather than at the time of the Luddites in the 1810s. (From Wikipedia)
Bob Hall:
I'm responding to the person who asked you about the large tree at the end of Atalaya Terrace (near Fulton and Masconic). It's a buckeye. I went over there and took a picture. Then I realized that you could spy on it with Google Streetview. Attached are both images.
(I post only one.)
Mike Sullivan:
Jake – here are some more details on the landmark California buckeye at McAllister and Willard Street North (feel free to share). Back in 1999, the owner of the lot with the buckeye wanted to develop it and put a new building on the lot. The initial plans would have put the development right in the way of the tree – the tree would have had to have been removed. As you can imagine, this provoked a huge outcry among tree lovers, who protested to the City. The owner needed some kind of approval from the city for the development, and so the “good guys” had some leverage. But this story ends well – the owner agreed (rather readily, as I recall) to change the plans for the development – the new construction went to a different part of the lot, and the tree was preserved. But to protect the tree in the future, the City required the owner to grant a formal legal easement (recorded in the Assessor’s Office) to Friends of the Urban Forest to protect the tree from removal/harm in the future. I was on the FUF board at the time, and I arranged for my firm to give some pro bono help to FUF to write up the easement. All’s well that ends well!
PS - I just tried “google maps” to check out the tree on Atalaya – it is a Buckeye (the photo shows it in bloom). It’s a big one!
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19. (JS: Hastily scribbled, sketchy notes heard on NPR by a pair of very receptive ears.
I consider that my style has now been officially sanctioned: It’s OK to be a perfect mess.)
Corporations spend billions on organizing and efficiency, but it is counter-productive. Neatness is extremely expensive. Those with cluttered desks rummage through items that they haven’t seen in a long time and perhaps had almost forgotten about, making connections that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. A Nobel Prize was awarded to a scientist who was notoriously sloppy, but creative. Beethoven was a classic example of an extremely messy and disorganized creative personality. Let randomness in.
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder--How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place
by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
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20. California Historical Society
This is the centennial of women’s suffrage in California, for instance. California women secured the right to vote on October 10, 1911, as featured in the last issue of California History, our remarkable quarterly history journal. In addition, the League of Women Voters collections at the California Historical Society document how this revolutionary change has continued to shape our political life over the past century.
The broader Progressive Movement also is celebrating its centennial moment in California. Think Hiram Johnson, direct primary, the recall and referendum processes. Researchers from across the state and the nation rely on the personal, political, business, and organizational papers and images at the California Historical Society to understand the origins and continuing legacy of these reforms.
The California Art Club has been supporting California’s artists and defining California art for 100 years. You will experience the priceless heritage of this important cultural treasure at the upcoming exhibit, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Paintings by the California Art Club at the California Historical Society from July through October 2011.
Memorial Day weekend 2012 will mark the diamond anniversary of one of the world’s great architectural and engineering treasures—the Golden Gate Bridge. You will want to celebrate this birthday with an exhibition opening at the California Historical Society in October 2011.
(My god, we just celebrated the bridge's 50th anniversary. What's going on? JS)
There is still more to come. The California Historical Society will join Fort Ross State Historic Park and other state and local partners in 2012 to celebrate the bicentennial of the founding of Fort Ross by the Russian-American Company. And, preparations already are being made to celebrate the centennial of the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. (The silver spade with which President Taft turned the first dirt in 1913 is part of our collection.)
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21. The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, by Tim Wu; review by John Naughton
At the heart of this fascinating book is one of the central questions of our age - rendered more urgent by recent events in the Arab world. The question is this: is the internet a revolutionary innovation, something that will overthrow the established order? Or will it turn out to have been just an unruly technology that the ancien regime will eventually capture and subdue?
Faced with the upheavals triggered by the network so far in economics, social life and politics, most people would probably say that the internet is indeed sui generis. But Professor Wu is not so sure, and therein lies the importance of this book. If the internet does indeed succeed in escaping the controlling embrace of corporations or governments, he argues, then it will be a historic first. For every other modern communications technology - telephone, radio, cinema and TV - has eventually succumbed to these forces.
...What's particularly striking is Wu's demonstration that the early years of each new communications medium were accompanied by optimistic hopes that it would ameliorate the ills of society. There was a period of openness, excitement and a feeling that nothing would ever be the same again.
...This is what Wu calls "the Cycle", with its progression "from somebody's hobby to somebody's industry; from jury-rigged contraption to slick production marvel; from a freely accessible channel to one strictly controlled by a single corporation or cartel - from open to closed system. It is a progression so common as to seem inevitable, though it would hardly have seemed so at the dawn of any of the last century's transformative technologies."
Does the Cycle apply to the net? Nobody knows - yet. But the risks are real as we see the rise of modern-day equivalents of the charismatic moguls of old with their plans for "vertical integration" in the online world. Cue Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, currently the world's second most valuable corporation and the man who wants to combine Hollywood's production engine with Apple's distribution system in order to take over everything.
The stakes, too, are higher than they were in the 20th century. Then, our media were published via a variety of non-intersecting channels. Nowadays, they are all converging on to a single network. If that were to be captured, the implications are truly frightening. The great merit of Wu's book is that he forces us to face the possibility in the hope that, by being forewarned, we may be forearmed. Let's hope he is right.
Guardian Weekly 22.04.11
(Good luck, Mr Wu and all the rest of us. For awhile I had a nice fantasy that the internet was uncontrollable, as many believe, and that it could raise all sorts of hell with those who would control us. I no longer have much faith in that scenario. History is against us, and it is a matter of time before they accrue enough power to control it. Another reason to fear: Truth is, we want to be deceived. There are always those ready to give us what we want. JS)
Some history: The Master Switch: the Rise and Fall of Information Empires
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22. Notes & Queries, Guardian Weekly Tuesday 26 April 2011 14.01 BST
A 'sales associate' at Wal-Mart.
What really makes America great
Who thought up the American Dream and how do they continue to perpetuate it?
The term People of Plenty, coined by David Potter, exemplifies the American Dream. It has legs because of the twin beliefs in American exceptionalism and "manifest destiny" that culminated in Frederick Jackson Turner's essay The Significance of the Frontier (1893), which argued that American continental expansion was unique constitutionally, economically, politically and socially.
Other commentators, such as Leo Marx and Henry Nash Smith, take a more nuanced approach to American continental development and its significance.
Bruce Cohen, Worcester, Massachusetts, US
• They did not think it up; they dreamt it up, and they perpetuated it because they do not want people to wake up to the reality of the American Nightmare.
Dick Hedges, Nairobi, Kenya
• The Founding Fathers, who were dogmatic about an inalienable constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, with belief in this right being perpetuated by the masses' conviction that the Founding Fathers were and are infallible.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, BC, Canada
• I do not know, but I wish someone would wake them up so they can get real.
Peter Shaw, Hastings, New Zealand
• It was a dream in an idle. Now in the light of day it's become the nightmare of American Idol, invading the dreams of fame-seekers and perpetuated worldwide.
Jennifer Rathbone, Toronto, Canada
• An optimist. Unfortunately, the American Dream is living on borrowed time and borrowed money.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia
Very smart squawky bird
Why do small songbirds sing sweet musical notes, while bigger birds can only squawk and screech?
Tell that to my pet parrotlet, who is sparrow-sized but who squawks and screeches as loudly as any of her large parrot brethren. To make matters worse, her avian sibling, Fudgie the budgie, has opted to imitate her instead of supplying his own coloratura range of warbles and chirps.
The only thing that keeps him in seeds is that I've taught him a splendid wolf whistle, which he employs each time I enter the room. Smart bird – very, very smart bird.
Additionally, ravens and eagles are big birds and are very capable of producing tuneful whistles. I've heard them.
Irene Marushko, Ottawa, Canada
You can't take it with you
When it is said, "they can't take that away from you", who are "they"?
The Have-Nots.
James Carroll, Geneva, Switzerland
• Well, not your detractors.
Arthur Hay, Carseldine, Queensland, Australia
• Definitely not us.
E Slack, L'Isle Jourdain, France
• I don't know who "they" are but I do know "they" are not the tax authorities.
Alan Williams-Key, Madrid, Spain
• Nobody.
Gabriele Wohlauer, Pittsford, New York, US
• The same bastards who are trying to get you down. Don't let them.
David Curtis, Auckland, New Zealand
Any answers?
How much space would each person have if the the planet's land surface were shared equally?
Lori Clarke, Gloucester, UK
If not stamps and coins, what are children collecting nowadays?
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
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