'Great Unwashed' Feared on Mt. Sutro Trail

By Thomas K. Pendergast

Fires started at homeless encampments by the dope-smoking "great unwashed," muggers and falling trees were among several concerns raised at a meeting about whether or not a trailhead leading into Mt. Sutro's eucalyptus forests should be reopened on Stanyan Street, just south of 17th Street.

Part of Mt. Sutro is owned by the City and part of it is owned by UCSF, though the trails cover both areas. The proposed access point, which hasn't been open in decades, is owned by the City.

Howard Berman, a local homeowner, said he's been to UCSF meetings for planning out their portion of the interior greenbelt area and the old trails that are currently being rebuilt there.

"I've seen extensive planning going on and I see them now trying to mitigate some of the fire danger. They have their own police force so they don't have to worry about people camping up in their woods, or smoking dope up in their woods," Berman said at a meeting held by the SF Recreation and Park Department June 15 at the Grattan Elementary School to gather community input.

"So, they've reduced the danger of fire. I see none of that for our part of the forest and I'm unwilling to have it opened up to the great unwashed to walk through here without doing any of this or even thinking about it. If you do open it up, is it going to be patrolled? What's going to happen when people start camping up there?" Berman asked.

Lisa Wayne, director of the city's Natural Areas Program, responded.

"UCSF has really stepped up and helped us on our property. Their police division has matched with our park patrol and they jointly are responding to homeless encampments, which I know is an ongoing issue there," she said.

At one point earlier in the meeting, more than a dozen people stood up to identify themselves as local residents who have been in communication with each other about concerns over reopening access from Stanyan Street to the interior greenbelt area of Mt. Sutro.

Their first stated concern is safety - like blue-gum eucalyptus trees nearing the end of their life spans, shedding piles of combustible fuel on the forest floor, the dry blackberry that grows up to 15-feet thick, the ivy climbing up the trees to the forest canopy and creating a "fire ladder" - so their position is that opening up public access from Stanyan would exacerbate the problem "exponentially" and make the area more dangerous.

One of them read a statement prepared by the group that said: "In the opinion of those standing here today, the opening of the right-of-way to the 17th Street access is completely unacceptable until there is a plan for fire mitigation, and that plan has been executed, removing the blackberry bush and fire ladders. Clear the forest of its combustible fuel, replant native species and then, and only then, open up the corridor to public access."

Jim Cronander, whose property is adjacent to the forest, echoed the sentiment that it is dangerous to open up that part of the trail from Stanyan as long as the brush and some of the trees have not been cleared out.

"This is not an accident waiting to happen," Cronander told city representatives, standing in front of several dozen locals and neighbors who attended the meeting. "This forest is a disaster right now. Over the last seven years, 10 giant eucalyptus trees have fallen from the forest onto our property. They've destroyed a 100-year-old structure ... they've destroyed a truck. You cannot open a trail entrance and bring hundreds of people a day into an area that has that amount of trees falling. Someone is going to be killed in short order."

Wayne responded to some of the concerns.

"I think it's all of our intent that we're here tonight to understand what the public feels about this and to get feedback, so it's not at all a fait acompli," Wayne said.

Another resident, Brian Turner, stood and spoke in favor of opening up the trail.

"I've lived here for several years now," he said. "This is public property. Every citizen of San Francisco has the right to access this property and I believe it's an obligation of the City to provide that. I use the trails extensively. I like to bike up there, hike around and just sit. It's a beautiful, quiet place that we should all be able to go to. I'm very much in favor of the City opening it up."

Will Aldrich also spoke in favor of accessing the trails from Stanyan Street.

"I'm a parent. I've got a three-year-old little boy and a seven-month-old little girl. My three year old and I now go up there and walk those trails all the time and I've seen other people like me discovering those trails. I first discovered them back in November," he said. "It's had a huge impact, discovering this amenity for me and my kids. I also ride a mountain bike up there. It's phenomenal for riding."

Marvin Yee, a landscape architect working for the Recreation and Park Department, coordinated the meeting with Wayne. After everyone had said their piece, he finished the meeting by stating: "We'll have to regroup. What I'm hearing is that there's a lot of issues to address within the interior greenbelt and ... restoration needs to be part of a larger program to address the issues that we're hearing - that's the fire danger, legal monitoring, homeless activity and maintenance issues. All of those need to be addressed in a comprehensive program that should be a part of the restoration of the trail."