[S-C] Fwd: Tennessee Hollow Workshop tonight at 6:00

[Kevin Shrieve]

=46rom: Ruth Gravanis <gravanis@earthlink.net>
Subject: Tennessee Hollow Workshop tonight

Action Alert

SUPPORT THE RESTORATION OF TENNESSEE HOLLOW

Please come to a public meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) to support the
efforts of the Urban Watershed Project to fully restore the Tennessee
Hollow Watershed in the Presidio.  The Presidio Trust's announcement
says:

--
"TENNESSEE HOLLOW WATERSHED PROJECT - PUBLIC SCOPING MEETING
Wednesday, November 20, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Presidio Officers' Club, 50  Moraga Avenue (PresidiGo Stop #7
<http://www.presidiotrust.gov/shuttle> ).
Please contact (415) 561-5414 with questions.

Tennessee Hollow is the Presidio's largest watershed and has an
interesting history.  Over the next year, the Presidio Trust will
develop and analyze  a range of alternatives to improve water quality,
expand plant and wildlife habitat, provide public access, and share the
rich history of the area.

Analysis and public review will be conducted pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation
Act (NHPA).  Please join us to help shape the range of planning
alternatives and identify the issues that should be addressed.  This
meeting is sponsored by the Presidio Trust."
--


PLEASE INSIST ON AN ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS THAT SUPPORTS THE REAL,
COMPLETE AND FULL RESTORATION OF TENNESSEE HOLLOW'S CREEKS AND RIPARIAN
HABITAT.

Stress the need for a maximum restoration alternative.

The Presidio Trust needs to hear that there is very strong and
compelling support for a complete restoration.

Written comments might be accepted up to 30 days past the meeting.
(We need to get verification.)


Some possible points to make:

=95We need to bring back the creeks, willow corridors, live oak riparian
forest and wildlife that once thrived in the Presidio's Tennessee Hollow
Watershed.

=95The desire to "balance" cultural resources with ecological resources
should not be allowed as an excuse to avoid doing things that need to be
done for natural resources.  Obviously, if Native American artifacts are
found they should be respected, studied and protected.  However,
"cultural resources" are too often used to mean housing, roads and other
human-built items.  We ought to be moving these kinds of things out of
the way, creating bridges and building buffer spaces so the restoration
can really work.

=95There is plenty of water for establishing habitat.  Some people will
suggest that the creek is too small or parts of it even seasonal, so
these areas are not worth restoring.  On the contrary, seasonal creeks
are an important part of California habitat and are often used
improperly.  We have a chance to change that here in this national park.

=95We need a full restoration plan for bringing back the functions and
values of a self-sustaining hydrological, ecological system.

=95The restoration area should include the entire watershed.

=95All hazardous waste sites within the watershed should be removed.
=20 These include Fill Site 1, Landfill 2, Landfill E and Fill Site 6.

=95Remove/relocate inappropriate roads and trails that interfere with
wildlife.

=95Provide sufficient buffers/setbacks along the riparian corridors to
protect the creeks, habitat and wildlife from human activity

=95Protect and Restore El Polin Spring and other sensitive sites.  El
Polin Spring should not become an overrun picnic area, but rather an
interpreted, natural/cultural resource setting protected/stewarded by an
effective and involved public.

=95Because the Presidio, unlike most of San Francisco, has separate
collection systems for sewage and stormwater, Tennessee Hollow's creeks
provide the only opportunity in SF for any significant daylighting of
historic streams.

=95The creek should enter an expanded Crissy Field marsh through an
above-ground connection.