To a packed house on September 15, Greg Gaar gave a great tour through the history of San Francisco with his collection of slides. The land on which our city sits has irrevocably changed through the hand (and machines) of mankind. There were dunes, lakes, coastal prairies, tidal bays that today are gone, or were buried beneath the expanding city. The sands of SOMA were used to fill in the waters of Mission Bay. Creeks now run underneath our streets, the native trees long since cut down and replaced with the Eucalyptus.
Beach Below Cliff House 1865
Sutro was apparently one of Greg Gaar’s childhood heroes, only later did he realize the damage that the huge groves of tree have done. To highlight these he contrasted a Eucalyptus forest in Australia to one here. The one here was dominated by one tree and two ivys, it looked nothing like the Australian forest.
The story is as much a social one as a natural one: with tales like Sutro’s, but also involve cemeteries, grazing, private water companies, railroads, laundries, butchers, and now restorations. Greg also gave us a tour of the 32 Natural Areas that are spread through the city, and while there are many challenges they is also hope. The restoration of Heron’s Head with its recently spotted Clapper Rails being a highlight, but overall it is an exciting time: we now know how to repair biological systems — and can repair them.
There is also a hopefully growing appreciation of nature: when the sea lions first appeared at Pier 39, people wanted to get rid of them. It’s hard to imagine that mindset now.
Greg encouraged us to imagine other possibilities, no matter how seemingly outlandish. We cannot site back and let the planet go to ruin at our hands.
SF Natural History Series 