06 January 2009 - 16:11, Tinman said:
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Despite our dour predictions for the SFPUC seismic retrofit work at Mt Davidson, we’re extremely pleased to report that the project is nearly finished and has so far been done according to plan — thus avoiding the considerable destruction to critical habitat areas that would have resulted from the initial plans.

Specifically, the pipeline replacement on the north side was correctly placed well within the trees where there was nothing but too-crowded eucalyptus, blackberry, and ivy. Indeed, the work opened up the slope in a most gratifying way, providing the opportunity for much more rapid rehabilitation of this area’s damage from decades of neglect. So far, native grasses (mostly Elymus glaucus) have been seeded along the path, but over time, we’ll probably add a variety of native shrubs as well. Here’s a view looking down the hill along the path:

Along the southern run of the pipeline, the work was correctly constrained within the margins set along the trail. Fences successfully protected some particularly important plant communities along the path, and other areas (particularly the Angelica hendersonii patch) are fine.

The tank work at the summit is still quite a mess, but then that area was mostly a weed patch (notably radish) anyway, so once the construction is done and the area is replanted, it will likely enjoy a net improvement.

There seems to be little doubt that the considerable level of community interest and attention to this project assisted its final satisfactory outcome. Certainly the puny contractual penalties for the contractor played no role. We’re only relieved to see that no one decided that cutting corners to save money was in their best interest. The “hens” won this round, and for that we’re grateful.

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2009-01-16 14:20:59 -0800, TereseL said:

did we send a thank you to anyone for doing this properly? (I know, shouldn’t have to thank folks for doing their jobs but a nice note could make it more likely that we can have decent cooperation in the future)

2009-01-16 14:36:49 -0800, Tinman said:

Various people emailed SFPUC staff, and this blog entry is a public “compliment,” if you want to call it such.

As to what contributed to the outcome, well, it was noise — loud and sustained — just as it always is here in San Francisco. “Nice notes” don’t play into it. SFPUC did not change their plans to do anyone here a favor — other than to do themselves a favor when they realized what they’d have to deal with if they didn’t.

Noise from lots of people is what will be required in any future similar situation. That’s just the way things work here.

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06 January 2009 - 15:59, Tinman said:
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Our monthly “first Saturday” habitat restoration workdays have occurred without miss since the last post here, which we are embarrassed to see was last August. It’s not that there hasn’t been a lot of action. It’s just that we haven’t been conscientious enough to post reports each time. Ah well.

In any case, this past Saturday we had a particularly enthusiastic group because of a bunch of students from the School of Dramatic Arts:

This month we planted in the grand ridge that runs from The Ledge down to the base of Mt D. This is one of the most important areas on Mt D, one of the so-called “MA1” sections because of its significant remnant plant populations that we’re assisting by weed removal and supplemental planting. Here volunteers are planting in an area from which we’d removed blackberry adjacent to a magnificent stand of Pacific reed grass:

We planted a wide variety: Pacific reed grass, California fescue, osoberry, fringe cups, salal, and gum plant.

Exploring the rest of Mt D, we could see some sure signs of spring — polypody ferns emerging above the Levi Site:

and blooming wild currant:

Also, we see that the seismic work on the SFPUC pipes and tank have mostly concluded, and fortunately, the work was done per plan. The pipeline on the north side was indeed placed out of harm’s way within the trees. The path has opened up nicely to allow much more light into this crowded area, and it has been seeded with native grasses (mostly Elymus):

The pipeline on the south side was placed within the boundaries along the trail as per plan — which is a particular relief given the fragile plant communities along the trail.

All in all, we’re quite satisfied with the SFPUC’s results, and we’re grateful to the outpouring of public interest that helped convince the SFPUC to Do The Right Thing!

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