I Know, It’s Been A While….Main Post SEIS is Calling

Vacation. I know, I could have left a note or something.

Now, I’m reading the Main Post SEIS and all the other supporting documents. More to come on that subject.

Meanwhile, the 4th of July is an important day for all of us to celebrate what it means to be Americans. If you haven’t been all that happy with the government, then get involved and participate. Vote. And celebrate the diversity….

America the Beautiful

The Star Spangled Banner

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Controversial Main Post SEIS Released

You can find the multipart document online here. It’s over 300 pages. Some startling renderings of the museum proposal on the main post. (Pages 185 and 187 in Part 4.)

Historic fight predicted over this proposal and the Chronicle makes it their top headline this morning. 

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Double Standard?

A San Francisco Chronicle article shouts today, 

Hunters Shoot Aggressive Coyotes In Presidio. 

Disappointing article. Over-reaches. Exaggerates. Fear. Hype. Typical.

One person sent to kill one coyote. I doubt it was much of a “hunt.” They knew where it was. I’m sure the officials who called for the coyote’s destruction viewed it as a measure of last resort rather than “dispatching a sharpshooter.” Sheesh.

The Presidio and other lands of the GGNRA are special places. We work hard to keep open space and wildlife in the Bay Area. Open space adds to our quality of life. I have seen many coyotes in the City and around the Presidio and they run away from me. It’s a special (and usually quite brief) pleasure to watch them. We must continue to educate people not to feed or attract coyotes by leaving pet food outside for their own pets or by actually intentionally feeding the animals. No one wants a pet or child injured. Perhaps our pet and wildlife education efforts need to be stronger.

On the other hand some owners of domesticated pets seem to operate with a different standard. We don’t seem quite so alarmed when domesticated dogs charge people or wildlife. 

I’ve seen dog-owners revel in their pooch running through flocks of birds and chasing them at the beach. Maybe it seems like good and appropriate “dog fun.” They’re entitled, after all. The dogs love to run and chase birds. It’s what they do. The owners probably did not realize these birds were resting during a long migration.

I’ve been mobbed and jumped on by a pack of dogs being walked by a “professional” at the Presidio while I was just walking on a trail. No apologies given. The dogs have the right-of-way when they’re in an 8-pack. 

I’ve also been charged and bitten by a dog on the Presidio. My clothing was torn and the skin heavily bruised in an unprovoked charge from over 50 yards by an unleashed dog. No apologies from the owner. Just a hasty exit with the dog.

After reporting the incident to Park Police the aggressive dog was not shot and destroyed for its actions. The owner was not punished.

Double standard?

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Main Post SEIS Arrives Next Week

According to the Presidio Trust website the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Main Post Update will be available during the week of June 9, 2008.  You can get the document online or request a copy at (415) 561-4183 or via email at mainpost@presidiotrust.gov.

No movement on the comment period deadline…the end of July.  Should be an interesting comment period with thoughts like these and these coming in before the release of the document.

–Doug Kern

 

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Marine Hospital Cemetery Underneath Landfill 8

Back in 1994 I commented on the Army’s Record of Decision for the Public Health Service Hospital (PHSH) which included Landfill 8, a 2.6 acre deposit of rubble and debris up to 15 feet deep, located just to the north and behind the PHSH. I was deeply concerned that this landfill was placed over an old neglected merchant marine cemetery. The poor treatment of this forgotten cemetery was not appropriate within a national park. Something more needed to happen.

The years went by.  Priorities came and went.  The cemetery remained, buried under waste.

Periodically, the Presidio Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) would comment on the subject. In 1997 the RAB developed a set of Landfill Closure Principles and passed a Landfill Resolution.

As recently as 2006, the RAB submitted this comment to the Presidio Trust regarding Landfill 8.

We believe that the Presidio is better served in the long run by excavating a portion of the waste that currently covers the cemetery, without disturbing the remains.  We believe that the extra costs associated with this remedy are small compared with the benefits of additional waste removal.  The additional 3 feet of debris and waste removed from over top of the cemetery in Alternative 5A more appropriately addresses a permanent and respectful treatment of the cemetery, while at the same time, leaves space for the proposed sand cover material, so that a 5 foot mound is not created as we visualize would occur in remedy 5B. 

Now, due to the development at the PHSH, the site remedy has been moved to the front burner. The team is working on a final remedy for this site. There are metals, pesticides and other contaminants at or near the surface of the landfill. The Presidio Trust favors covering the area with three to five feet of sand, restoring native dune habitat and creating a memorial for the Marine Hospital Cemetery.  This remedy would protect human health and the environment by covering up the area. It would also not disturb any human remains.

While I think this would work, we still haven’t fully vetted this situation. There are a large number of bodies (between 500 and 600) buried at this site. The interred are from many countries.  A large effort has been made by the Presidio Trust to understand the origin of the remains and a site history compilation is contained in this thoughtful report.  Here is a very brief excerpt on the nationalities of those interred at the site.

The sailors buried in the Hospital Cemetery hailed from ports all over the world. The list in Appendix D represents 30 of the United States and 43 countries. After American sailors, most came from Sweden, followed by Norway, Finland, Germany and Ireland. Some even came from such exotic locales as Tahiti and the Cape Verde Islands. It is quite possible that these foreign sailors ended up in the Hospital Cemetery because they were unable to communicate information regarding family or friends to their doctors.

I believe that we must examine this situation more closely prior to implementing a final remedy, which would further bury the site. We need to examine the various laws that are relevant to this complex issue. When that analysis is complete we may then consider whether it is indeed appropriate and necessary to engage in a larger project to carefully restore this piece of Presidio history.  Here is an article originally published in the San Francisco Call on March 29, 1896 that gives a sense of the history we need to preserve.

– Doug Kern

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PHSH Update

Back in April I noted that the time crunch was on to develop cleanup remedies for the Public Health Service Hospital.  The two landfill remediation projects need to happen so the Presidio Trust can move ahead with development plans.  We’ve worked pretty hard over the last several weeks and the team (Presidio Trust, National Park Service, Department of Toxic Substances Control, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Presidio Restoration Advisory Board) is meeting tomorrow with senior management (from the same agencies) to work over various proposals.  We may be close to a resolution, but I’m sure that many concerns will be raised by all parties before a final proposal moves ahead.

– Doug Kern

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Neighborhood Groups Oppose Presidio Development Plans

Press release from the Presidio Historical Association.  This document details mounting opposition to the Presidio Trust’s plans for a modernistic 100,000 square foot contemporary art museum to be located on the Presidio’s Main Post.

– Doug Kern

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Not. Happy. Presidio. Main. Post.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation comments on the Presidio Trust’s “Main Post Undertaking”.

– Doug Kern

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Snowy Plover Outreach Volunteers Needed

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one of the world’s largest urban National Park systems encompassing 80,000 acres of California coastal landscape visited by 17 million people each year. The Golden Gate National Parks also hold more threatened and endangered species than any other national park (33!), and this project aims to spread awareness of one of those species, the threatened Snowy Plover. 

Look here for the full position description.

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Baker Beach Landslide Update

Received this update from the Presidio Trust Remediation Department regarding the landslide at Baker Beach. The Trust, in coordination with regulatory agencies and the National Park Service, will be making repairs to the slope next week. Progress. This is good news. Beach goers are going to appreciate when the site is eventually opened again to the public.

The short term work to smooth the top of the slide area to prevent toppling failure will occur next Wednesday (May 21st). The work is anticipated to take one day. Equipment will mobilize to site on May 20th. The beach will be cleared and personnel stationed there during the smoothing work to advise beachgoers of the activity, and monitor for safety.

Comments welcomed.

– Doug Kern

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