FYI, I just happened to notice this on Tribe.net -- a call for volunteers
to help find/relocate Pacific Chorus frogs whose habitat is being
destroyed by development.
The site is near the proposed Illinois Street bridge off third street,
along Islais Creek ~ about 3rd street and cesar chavez in the SE corner of
the city.
The original posting (for tribe members) is at:
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/listing/2a51e21f-5644-40d2-b089-c0606a7a6970?r=10535
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We will need people (in order of priority) on November 13, 14 and 15.
Type of work will be:
1. Searching/ combing all areas of the dig site for any Pacific Chrous
Frogs, which will be relocated to other areas in the Park.This work will
also be photo documented and put on the web for the record.
2. Transplanting or potting plants in the dig site area. ( one bonus will
be that a good deal of these plants will be free for the taking )
3. Miscellaneous related work to be determined including replanting the
temporary frog pond areas.
Purpose of the work:
To salvage as many frogs as possible, as the area going under the
bulldozer is the habitat is the last sliver of habitat for the last
remaining colonies of Pacific Chrous Frogs on Islais Creek. (there used to
be 10 of thousands a few years back)
To salvage and preserve as much habitat that we can.
To send a message to Muni, PUC, the Port and others that we believe that
habitat and the environment is crucial, especially in these areas in the
southern waterfront district.
Background information:
3 years ago this coming Thanksgiving, while Muni was drilling under Islais
Creek (called Duct Banks, 3 total, each approx 5 feet in diameter) for
what they described as providing power for the Third Street Light Rail
project, the drilling undermined the sewage outfall line and caused it to
collapse, resulting in millions of gallons of secondary effluent to flow
into the Park and Islais creek. Emergency repairs began immediately which
required approx 30% of the Park, and frog habitat to go under the
bulldozer, meanwhile the effluent was diverted into the creek further
upstream.
The Park had just been awarded $75,000 in grants for habitat restoration
and environmental education, which had to be forfeited, and today has not
been mitigated or reimbursed.
In addition, the Park has fallen into shambles and the previously frequent
stewardship days no longer occur. During the past 3 years, the dig site
has remained a gash in the ground , eroding into the Bay.
To make things worse, Muni has announced that the PUC Force main has
failed again, which will require that they return November 15 to re dig
not only the original site, but now everything else West which is the last
sliver of habitat for the Frogs...which explains our call for volunteers.
Meanwhile we have constructed alternate ponds and habitat to relocate the
Frogs.
To make things worse, as I suspected years ago, the Duct Banks are
actually electric transmission lines, which have been re named the Islais
Creek transmission lines, and in fact PGE has gone to court against the
City rejecting this site based on studies indicating that the Lines failed
and irreparable ,are flooded with mud and water, compressed, located on an
extreme liquefaction and landfill area, and should never, ever have been
drilled at this location. Meanwhile PGE has located several alternative
routes, cost estimates are in the $20 to $25 million range currently. To
sum it up, if Muni had never chosen this site to drill, the Park would
still be alive, the Frogs alive, children would have a Park to visit,and
millions of dollars of wasted tax and rate payers dollars would be saved.
More information can be found at the islais creek web site, and here
related links on this subject:
www.indybay.org/news/2004/07/1690592.php
www.islaiscreek.com/islaiscr...inaldestructio.html
www.islaiscreek.com/sewerpip...lapseatislais.html
www.sfbayview.com/110304/po...lants110304.shtml
www.franciscodacosta.com/artic...pipe.html
www.monkeyview.net/id/56/se...ollapse/index.vhtml
and general information and lots of nice photos:
www.islaiscreek.org/
also, here are directions to the site:
Map quest map:
www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp
latest media threads:
sf.indymedia.org/news/2004...1705803.php
www.indybay.org/news/2004/11/1704295.php
Please pass it along, time is critical:
also, if you are member of tribes, here is another link:
sanfrancisco.tribe.net/listin...5b1d56-2e72-4290-b20f-1dc799e659e5
http://www.quietamerican.org
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