Craig Dawson's Blog (27)

More answers to your questions regarding plans for Mount Sutro directly from the source.UCSF%20Sutro%20FAQ%202013%200220.pdf

If you want a better understanding of what the 1,000+ page DEIR responds to, please take a look at the 80 page UCSF Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve Management Plan. This is the document that has guided the process of creating the trail network (SF's first multi-use trails), Rotary Meadow and numerous restoration sites, and the Sutro Stewards.…

While I always love to hear how wonderful a visit to Mount Sutro can be… I'm sorry to see no mention of the thousands of volunteers who helped to create this Urban Oasis. Here is a link to a fresh article…I'll leave it up to you to send in your comments on the lack of recognition the Sutro Stewards and our volunteers have received!…

If you've visited or volunteered at the propagation nursery we started this year you've seen and used many materials supplied by our partner Recology. We have everything from green compost cans (salvaged due to holes in them) to drip irrigation supplies, plant containers and tons of gravel,…

Wednesday's Sutro Nursery work was a treat! We transplanted our first flats of seedlings into larger containers, 500 in all! Very rewarding to really begin to fill up the tables with plants. At this rate, within a few more months, we'll be moving plants out of the nursery and locating them throughout Mt. Sutro. Our next Nursery event is on Saturday April 21st, join us if you can.…

Overjoyed to have a bonus day this month! It means I can be 1/29th more productive than the average February. Currently my desk is well hidden under layers of Sutro Stewards paperwork. Strategic planning, event planning, March 3rd planning, a very special event coming up in May, National Trails Day in June, the…

Dawn broke on Saturday November 5th with the most beautiful blood red sky behind a still dark Mount Sutro. I regarded this as a good omen for a very challanging day of stewardship that had been in the making for several months. The Sutro Stewards hosted the Bay Area Ridge Trail (BART)/REI service day for the first time. We set the bar (rock bar if you will) very high and capped registration for the event at 100, making this our largest event ever. We reached that goal with a few days to…

Take a Hike... Using Newly Uncovered Mount Sutro Trail

LINK TO SFRPD BLOG

UCSF is famous for many things but probably most overlooked is its amazing on-campus mountain, the verdant and mysterious Mt. Sutro. How many of the busy people on Parnassnus have explored its trails, seen its ocean views, or lolled in its fragrant meadow? With colorful flowers and grasses now bobbing in Spring’s breezes, the time has come to hike up Mt. Sutro.

There are basically four routes to the summit, each approaching from one of the cardinal directions. From Parnassus, the most…

Published in the SF State Xpress [magazine]

At least sixty people congregate in a parking lot hidden in the woods.  Young, old, hip, plain, flannels, jeans,…

Right now, mid April has got to be the best time to hike the Sutro trails and view first hand the wonderful selection of native plants in bloom. While I love to take groups out for guided tours, it's often exploring at your own pace with camera in hand that can be personally rewarding. If you've already…

The Sutro Stewards hosted a group of stewardship volunteers from Clif Bar on Wednesday the 16th.

We performed habitat and trail work on the Fairy Gates and Edgewood trail intersection area. Cape and English ivy, nightshade and other assorted weeds were removed and the trail corridor was pruned. We also…

Don't be alarmed if you pass through Rotary Meadow and find a patch of bare soil in one small area. The meadow is being replanted this winter with several new species of grasses and plants which are not already found within the garden area. This is part of the intent of the original demonstration area, to determine what succeeds and what doesn't. The area where the work is taking place was one of the lowest performing of the areas planted in 2004. Now six years after the original planting,…