Visit www.LoveYourParksDay.org for event times and details. Free lunch and T-shirts for volunteers!

The Controller’s Office would like to thank the staff of the Recreation and
Parks Department for their cooperation on the Park Maintenance Standards
Program.

To view the full report, please visit our website at:
http://co.sfgov.org/webreports/details.aspx?id=1401

You can also access the report on the Controller’s website (
http://www.sfcontroller.org/) under the News & Events section.

On display for public review and comment will be:

• the final draft of the schematic plans based on the community’s input

• the proposed construction phasing

Last year, the Mission Dolores Park community came together in over 30 meetings and workshops to develop a park improvement plan. Drawings reflecting the community’s input are now ready for your review.

The project team has also carefully developed a phased construction schedule to minimize park disruption while efficiently completing the improvements. We need your input to ensure that we have the best schedule for everyone.
Please join us for this Open House to provide feedback and celebrate the community’s success in creating a shared plan for an improved Dolores Park.

For more information, please visit: http://sfrecpark.org/doloresParkProject.aspx

Join the Planning Department for the Kick Off Event
Wednesday February 15th
5:30 to 7:30 PM
LGBT Community Center, Rainbow Room
1800 Market Street, San Francisco

Green Connections will increase access to parks, open space and the waterfront, by re-envisioning City streets and paths as ‘green connectors’. This project builds on current efforts to create sustainable corridors that enhance mobility, green neighborhood streets, and improve pedestrian and bicycle access to community amenities and recreational opportunities.  Green Connections will result in a Citywide network of green streets that can be built over time, improving pedestrian and bicycle access to parks, open space and the waterfront.

In the first year of the project, the focus will be to map a citywide network. The second year will build on this framework to design a green connection in the following six neighborhoods: Bayview-Hunters Point, Chinatown, Potero Hill, The Tenderloin, Visitaction Valley and The Western Addition.

Green Connections is a collaborative effort between the San Francisco Planning Department, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Mayor’s Office of Housing. The City agencies have partnered with three community based organizations: San Francisco Parks Alliance, WalkSF and Nature in the City.

GET INVOLVED!
The project team will host many public events to engage communities in
developing Green Connections.

To learn more:

• Visit the project website http://greenconnections.sfplanning.org
• Join the project mailing list by sending an email to greenconnections@sfgov.org

In May of 2004, the Board of Supervisors declared the property located at 341 Corbett Street as surplus, and the parcel was transferred to the Mayor’s Office of Housing. For almost a decade, Corbett Heights Slope has been fenced off and inaccessible to the community. “For the last few years, the Corbett Heights Neighbors have worked to find a way to protect it as a park and community garden,” says Weiss.

On January 10, 2012, the Board of Supervisors supported the efforts of CHN by passing Supervisor Weiner’s legislation to have Corbett Slope transferred to the Department of Public Works (DPW) allowing the Corbett Heights neighborhood to create a park and community garden on Corbett Slope. DPW, in partnership with San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA), manages and implements the Street Parks program. The Street Parks program supports the development and maintenance of community-managed open spaces on DPW-owned properties.  Through the Street Parks program, DPW and SFPA work with residents to transform vacant underutilized lots into vibrant community gardens.

Supervisor Wiener commented in his monthly newsletter, “Our neighborhood open space is precious, and once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. This legislation will prevent that from happening.” This legislation is a tremendous victory for CHN and the Corbett Heights neighborhood. Corbett Slope is located between 315 and 341 Corbett Street, between Mars and Clayton.  Volunteer workdays are held on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. Please contact gary@cobettheights.org for more information.

Create or update your estate plan with a free SFPA organizer

January is a time to look ahead and make plans for the year-and beyond. When you set your goals and make your list of things you need to do this year, you may wish to create or update your estate plans. It will allow you to gain or maintain control during life and the distribution of your estate at death by creating or updating your estate plan.

San Francisco Parks Alliance complimentary estate-planning organizer, available both in hard copy and electronic form, allows you to estimate the size of your estate and list vital information your attorney will need to draft or update your plan.

Even if your plan is in place, you can use the organizer to express your wishes about everything from obituary content to final ceremonies, issues that can create family conflict without your guidance. It also lets you provide those you love with an inventory of important documents and the whereabouts of vital assets needed by you during life or required to settle your estate.

An organized estate plans brings solace to your family and can be a blessing for the parks.  If you would like to receive a complimentary estate-planning organizer, please contact Donalda Watson-Walkinshaw, Director of Membership, at 415-750-5443 or e-mail donalda@sfparksalliance.org.  Specify the hard copy or electronic versions, leaving your mailing or email address.

Support your parks with a stroke of the pen

You can help ensure that the parks you’ve enjoyed will be preserved for future generations with a stroke of the pen by remembering the San Francisco Parks Alliance in your estate plans.  A bequest in your will or living trust to SFPA will support citizen stewardship of our parks and makes you immediately eligible for membership in the Parks Alliance Legacy Circle.

If you want your charitable bequests to support your favorite parks project you can do so.  Have your attorney review the following language:  “I give, devise and bequeath to the San Francisco Parks Alliance, located  in San Francisco, California, Tax Identification Number: 23-7131784 ( specific amount, percentage of estate, or describe property) for the benefit of its general purposes (or specify the program you wish to support).”

Your bequest when received may also make you eligible for the Commemorative Bench Program.  If so, you can have your bequest specify that San Francisco Parks Alliance place a memorial bench in the parks with an inscribed plaque honoring you or a loved one.  You can also fund this welcoming and practical memorial through a lifetime gift.

For more information, please contact Donalda Watson-Walkinshaw at 415-750-5443 or e-mail donalda@sfparksalliance.org.

SFPA’s approach to developing public policy positions will be nimble, data-driven, collaborative, and the positions will be clear. Once formed in early 2012, the PPC will craft policy positions and employ advocacy tools to further our mission and will be broadly inclusive of neighborhood park groups, community leaders, and park activists. This Committee will develop advocacy and policy directions on issues presented to them by PPC members, SFPA staff, the public, and City agencies, and act as the link to a broader audience of grass-roots park advocates, park groups, and the general public by providing opportunities for facilitated discussions. The Committee will provide the SFPA Executive Director, SFPA staff, and the Board of Directors grounded opinions on policy issues and advocacy priorities.

The SFPA Board of Directors will decide positions on significant issues of city-wide importance and long-term impact. The SFPA Executive Director and Director of Policy & Stewardship will guide advocacy interactions with city land managers on day-to-day matters as well as implement adopted policies and practices.

For more information about SFPA, please visit http://www.sfparksalliance.org.

11.29.2011

Volunteers engaged in the Strawberry Hill Butterfly Habitat Restoration Project are making important connections – both to how their actions impact the natural world, and to each other. At every volunteer work day since the program’s inception in September 2010, expert guest speakers have provided lunchtime talks on ecology, botany, and natural history.

Renowned lepidopterist (butterfly expert) Liam O’Brien has spoken to the volunteer group on numerous occasions.  He has served as crucial consultant to the project, advising on prime locations for developing butterfly corridors on Strawberry Hill, as well as the selection of beneficial California native plants.  Liam is also an artist and created illustrations for the brochure Butterflies of San Francisco.

When out on Strawberry Hill, Liam excitedly points out various butterfly species as they float over the heads of the volunteers, and his passion for butterflies is contagious.  Liam’s goal is to turn every volunteer into a lepidopterist.  As Liam notes, “The first step in stewardship is being able to name the species you’re seeing.”

Thanks to an anonymous donation from a dedicated volunteer, a beautiful porcelain enamel sign with full color illustrations of butterflies by Liam O’Brien has been funded and was installed at the summit of Strawberry Hill in time for the project’s one year anniversary party in September 2011.  Liam was excited to invite his parents to the festivities, especially his mother June O’Brien, as she had always been supportive of his work as an artist. Sadly, Liam’s mother passed away two weeks before the anniversary celebration, so neither of his parents made it to the sign dedication.

The sign itself has a direct maternal connection: the donor for the sign contributed the funds in honor her elderly mother who passed away in 2010 – the mother was someone who studied and loved butterflies. In her later years the mother lost most of her memory, but even to the end she never forgot the species names for countless butterflies.

The November volunteer work day on Strawberry Hill was an especially poignant one: Liam O’Brien visited the summit with his father, Robert O’Brien, and his brother, Colin O’Brien, so they could finally see the sign and enjoy the butterflies floating about the summit.   Liam, Robert, and Colin had the opportunity to chat with the volunteer who funded the sign, and she talked about how her mother was with them in spirit. Just then a butterfly flitted closer.  A young boy volunteering that day wondered out loud, “Which butterfly is that?” and then used the sign as a guide to identify the species, and happily yelled, “It’s a Red Admiral!”  Liam and the rest of us smiled.  It was a good day indeed.

If you would like to become a lepidopterist and/or simply be involved in meaningful habitat restoration work on Strawberry Hill, please consider joining community volunteers, SF Parks Alliance, and the SF Recreation & Parks Department at the next volunteer work day.  We meet the second Saturday of every month at 10 am at the Stow Lake Boat House. For more information, contact Julia Brashares at julia@sfparksalliance.org or 415-621-3260. Our next workday is on Saturday, 12/10/2011.

Captions for Photos:
Robert O’Brien reads the sign illustrated by his son, Liam O’Brien, at the summit of Strawberry Hill.
Red Admiral basking in the sun on Strawberry Hill.

A piece of legislation introduced by Supervisor John Avalos that would amend the Park Code regarding the management of Sharp Park will be heard by the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee of the Board of Supervisors on Monday, December 5th at 10am in Room 250 at City Hall- Agendas and details HERE: http://www.sfbos.org

The legislation can be viewed HERE and  reads in part, “Ordinance amending Section 3.20 of the San Francisco Park Code 1) requiring the Recreation and Park Department to offer a long term management agreement to the National Park Service for certain property under the jurisdictions of the Recreation and Park Commission located in San Mateo County that is within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s legislative boundary (” Sharp Park”); and 2) making environmental and other findings.”

The San Francisco Parks Alliance has not taken a position on this legislation. For more about the policy process of the SFPA, Click HERE.