 Quarterly Newsletter: Volume 1, Issue 2
March 31, 2010
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Special Offer for Newsletter readers: Take $2 off any order from Way Out There Press. Four different guidebooks are currently available at www.wayoutthere.com: A Visitor's Guide to the Presidio of San Francisco A Visitor's Guide to Angel Island A Visitor's Guide to the Marin Headlands A Visitor's Guide to Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods |
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Enter this code on the Shopping Cart page and click on the Apply Coupon button:
1269207336 Offer expires June 30, 2010. One dollar from each sale goes to fund a non-profit organization that helps to support these parks. Today, donations for March will be sent out to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, the Marine Mammal Center, and the California State Parks Foundation. |
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Assemblymember Jared Huffman, Democrat from Marin County and southern Sonoma County, addresses the Park Advocacy Day rally on the steps of the State Capitol Building in Sacramento. |
Park Advocacy Day in Sacramento
This annual event, sponsored by the California State Parks Foundation, took place on March 8, 2010 and was a great success. The purpose of Park Advocacy Day is to bring concerned citizens from all over California to Sacramento to meet with legislators and talk to them about our state parks. More than 180 of us participated in this year's event, meeting with state Senators and Assemblymembers and asking for their support. Meetings were held throughout the day with legislators and their staff, with overwhelmingly positive support for the parks, especially from Bay Area and North Coast representatives. A nice bit of good news that we learned during the day: Governor Schwarzenegger's attempt to link offshore oil drilling to funding for the state parks is almost certainly a dead issue. It has strong opposition from the Democratic majority and even significant opposition from many Republicans.
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Signatures are being gathered through April 15 to put the California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010 on the November ballot. This initiative, which has broad support among environmental, conservation, labor, business, and tourism organizations, would create a stable, reliable source of funding for the 278 California State Parks. The money would come from an $18 vehicle surcharge, which could generate up to $500 million annually and provide free access to state parks for all California residents. Look for signature gatherers at Safeways and Home Depots around the Bay Area and sign the petition! |
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News Updates from State and National Parks around the Bay Area |
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 The proposed site for the Wood Line project |
The Presidio of San Francisco
An exciting new art project may be coming to the Presidio later this year. Andy Goldsworthy, the artist who designed The Spire, near Inspiration Point, has proposed a new site-specific installation that will present visitors with a new view of the historic Presidio Forest, and raise awareness about the efforts to preserve and enhance it. Entitled Wood Line, the project will be an undulating line of salvaged eucalyptus branches and logs that winds through a clearing in the forest, gradually disintegrating over 20 years and becoming one with the forest floor. The site is a long vertical clearing in a forest of mostly eucalyptus, running parallel to Lovers' Lane. Visitors will be able to walk along the artwork, observing its place in the forest, and the project will also be visible from a small overlook near the Presidio Boulevard Gate.
The Presidio Trust took public comments through March 22 about the installation and is now reviewing the comments. The project will also be examined for environmental compliance, and an art review board will evaluate it as well.
A decision is expected by late spring, and if approved, work on the project could begin shortly thereafter.
Construction is taking place all over the Presidio these days, making the area a challenging maze to drive through or hike around. Many exciting projects are underway however, so the reward for our patience will be a much more beautiful Presidio. In addition to the massive construction taking place around Doyle Drive, there are a number of other construction projects underway, including the renovation of the Public Service Hospital into apartments, which is due to be completed this summer. A new scenic overlook next to this project will be opened, taking in the grand view across the Lobos Creek valley to the Pacific Ocean. |
 The new Crissy Field Center at East Beach |
The Crissy Field Center has opened its new location, just off of East Beach, near the Marina Gate. The center, which provides educational programs focused on environmental issues, for students, children, and educators from around the Bay Area, was created by a partnership between the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
The new building is attractive and innovative, a lesson in green design and a candidate for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Certification is achieved by meeting goals in a number of different areas, including energy efficiency, reduction of water usage, recycling of construction materials, and innovative design that minimizes the environmental footprint of a building. The Crissy Field Center has applied for the Gold level of LEED certification, and with planned solar and wind power additions, the building could achieve Platinum certification, the highest level possible.
Environmental remediation work is happening above El Polín Spring, where two old Army-era landfills are being removed. More than 100 trees have been cleared, leaving the area somewhat barren looking. After the landfills are removed, the area will be restored to a more natural state and native plants will be reintroduced. This project requires the closure of the stairway that goes up the hill above El Polín, which leads to the trail to Lover's Lane. This temporary closure of this trail requires an update to one of the hikes in A Visitor's Guide to the Presidio of San Francisco. The History and Nature Loop Hike has been revised to go from El Polín Spring down MacArthur Avenue, meeting up with the old route at the footbridge at Lover's Lane. The revised hike description can be downloaded from the Way Out There Press website. |
 Project leader Arlene Halligan stands by the brakes of the Gravity Car  |
Mount Tamalpais
The Gravity Car Barn at the top of Mount Tamalpais opened last May, after a 14-year effort led by Mount Tamalpais Interpretive Association member Arlene Halligan. The Gravity Car Barn is an interpretive center and museum that houses a replica of one of the original Gravity Cars that were part of the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway. From 1896 until 1930, visitors could ride up the mountain from Mill Valley on a steam train, and had the option to return down to Mill Valley or Muir Woods on the Gravity Car, an open railcar that was powered solely by gravity. The brakeman would joke as the car rolled out that "it was time to turn on the gravity."
The Gravity Car Barn is now open Saturdays and Sundays, from noon until 4:00 PM, with docents on hand to explain the history of the Railway and the exciting experience of the Gravity Cars. The next phase of the project is to bring the #9 Heisler, an old locomotive that was part of the Railway, back to the top of Mount Tamalpais for visitors to enjoy. The #9 Heisler currently sits in front of a museum in Scotia, although negotiations are underway, with the help of Assemblymember Jared Huffman, to find a way to bring the locomotive back to Mount Tamalpais, where it is such an important part of the mountain's history. |
 One of the many waterfalls that grace the canyon of Cataract Creek |
This is a great time of year for a hike on Mount Tamalpais. The rainy winter has produced spectacular waterfall shows around the mountain, and now the break in the storms brings out the wildflowers and the lush greenery.
Cataract Creek has a mile and a half of one cascade after another, tumbling down the steep canyon. The dense forest is filled with ferns and moss covered rocks, in a palette of every shade of green. The roar of rushing water fills the air, as the trail winds down and around the artfully crafted stairways and wooden bridges built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The Cataract Trail is truly a work of art, demonstrating how man-made structures can blend seamlessly into the natural environment.
The hike along the Cataract Trail is covered in A Visitor's Guide to Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods, along with other hikes and bike rides. |
 The recovering fire zone on Angel Island |
Angel Island
The Angel Island Immigration Station is marking its 100th anniversary this year by honoring the memory of the immigrants who were detained there. The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AAISF) is holding a Centennial Campaign, creating a wall of memorial plaques for donors to pay tribute to ancestors, family, friends or other immigrants. The Centennial Wall campaign will raise funds for a new exhibit called Immigrant Voices, which will focus on the experiences of the many immigrants who passed through Angel Island.
More information can be found on the AAISF website.
Angel Island is showing signs of recovering from the fire that swept across the southern side of the island in October, 2008. The winter rains have helped to break down the charred remains of hundreds of trees that were burned. As damaging as a fire may seem, in the natural environment it has the effect of renewing and enriching the landscape, restoring organic matter, clearing insect-infested underbrush, and greatly increasing the fertility of the soil. This is evident in the burn zone of Angel Island, where a rich green carpet of grasses, vines, and mosses covers the hillsides, still marred by the skeletal remains of trees. It will be decades before the land is healed completely, but the natural processes are at work now, greatly aided by the steady rains of this winter. We've been lucky that there have been small breaks in between storms, allowing the water to sink into the ground and preventing mudslides. Now we can see the healing process, with verdant hillsides and a rich profusion of wildflowers. |
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A Visitor's Guide to the Marin Headlands The newest guidebook from Way Out There Press was published in January, 2010. The Marin Headlands make up a large part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and are just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The guidebook covers the many sights to see in the Marin Headlands, including the stunning coastal scenery, historic military installations, and great places to view wildlife. A number of hikes and bike rides are described in detail, and there is practical information on camping and accommodations as well. Also included is information about the non-profit organizations that are making good use of the former military forts. $1 from every sale goes to support the Marine Mammal Center, which is dedicated to the rescue and treatment of ill, injured, or orphaned marine mammals. |
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