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Mount Sutro Forest: 30,000 trees to be cut down

February 15, 2013

I guess by now, most people in Forest Knolls have some idea that big changes are planned for the forest behind our neighborhood. Essentially, UCSF plans to cut down over 90% of the trees on three-fourths of the forest, and remove 90% of the undergrowth. The only bit to be spared would be 15 acres or so of steep hillside on the western side, above Inner Sunset.

UCSF is having a hearing on Feb 25th at 7 p.m. (They sent around postcards about this.) It’s at the Milberry Union, 500 Parnassus, CA 94134. If you can attend, please do, and speak up. If there’s a big turnout, they may limit each speaker to 2-3 minutes, so have your points ready.



We’re concerned that it would ruin the forest’s character, and Forest Knolls would face consequences like:

  • Changes in wind patterns (the tall, closely-spaced trees are an impressive windbreak);

The implementation would be in two phases; it would start with the “demonstration” plots, around 7.5 acres in Phase I. The largest of these, #1 in the map is a 3-acre strip directly above Forest Knolls. Most of the trees would be cut, and tarping or pesticides used to prevent resprouting. Later, UCSF would extend the same plan to the entire forest (except for the 15 acre piece mentioned).


1. Write to the Board of Regents, who will ultimately decide whether to approve this project. Ask them why they are undertaking this controversial, expensive, and ecologically destructive project, and gutting a San Francisco treasure to achieve a “parklike” environment. You can contact the Regents at their website HERE. (Their email address is: )

2. Write a comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report. The report is HERE. (It will take some time to load.) The person to write to is Diane Wong, and her email address is at:

3. Sign a petition to ask the Regents not to approve this plan. (And see how many signatures we have already!)

Copy (2) of sign button


The article below has been copied with some modifications from, which is a website set up to inform people about Mount Sutro Cloud Forest and to defend it.


(CLICK HERE to see the Google Map of the forest.)

Mount sutro forest greenery



[Edited to Add:














The project is to be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, trees will be felled and the understory removed in four “demonstration areas” totaling 7.5 acres. They are shown on the map below in yellow, as areas #1-#4. [The 3-acre area #1 is right above Forest Knolls.]  One of these, #4 “East Bowl”, is the two-acre area slated to have only 12-15 trees per acre.

hand-drawn map not to scale



In the Second Phase, the plan would be extended to the remaining forest, with the proviso that not more than a quarter of the forest would be “thinned” at “any given time.”


Why it’s called “Forest” Knolls – and described as “Marin-like”


Digitally-altered image – Forest Knolls without Sutro Forest. Maybe there’ll still be some trees left after this Plan is implemented.

5 Comments leave one →
  1. Forest Knolls Neighbor permalink
    February 16, 2013 12:07 pm

    No forest in Forest Knolls? Toxic chemicals in our yards and streets?
    People and tour buses parking on our streets 24 hours a day to go up to the “new twin peaks”?
    New crappy 34-unit development clogging the streets with 100 more cars?
    Bus line eliminated?

    Does anyone else see our property values plummeting? Our neighborhood changed beyond recognition? Anything else to wreck our neighborhood possible? Everyone brokering the above propositions want to just ruin what is and move on – they don’t live here.

    All of these projects must be protested and at least downsized.

    • Michael Rinaldi permalink
      February 17, 2013 11:31 am

      What is the reason for this draconian culling? Why 900 sqft per tree? Why not a more reasonable 100 sq ft/tree? Anyone have any ideas why this is so draconian?

      [Webmaster: To be frank, we don’t completely understand why they don’t allow the forest to ‘self-thin’ – the most adaptive form of forest-thinning, so the spacing becomes what is appropriate to that particular terrain. Possibly because they wish to grown sun-loving native plants where the forest is now.]

  2. Terry Thompson - Midtown Terrace permalink
    February 17, 2013 10:59 am

    Very sad. There is most certainly a lot of money driving this, no respect for the tiny bit of wild left here. I am going to protest the ruining of the forest. Please get involved.

  3. February 17, 2013 11:08 am

    I absolutey agree with the plans of the university to restore Mount Sutro. I do live in the neighborhood. My family has lived in the neighborhood since it was built after WW2, and have lived in San Francisco for what is now our 6th generation. We were here before Sutro Forest was planted, and we will be here long after the restoration will bare it’s fruits.

    [Webmaster: Thanks for your comments, and of course individual preferences can differ. The 125-year old Sutro Forest that was planted in the late 1800s. It can never be “restored” to what it was. Even Twin Peaks, which is probably the nearest comparison, has a mix of non-native plants growing naturally, and native plants being introduced there. Also lots of pesticide use.]

    I am far less concerned with property values (considering that we intend on staying in the neighborhood; hopefully for centuries to come) and have no intention on selling our home and moving to some other state were we have no knowledge of the indigenous flora and fauna. I inharetted from my family the knowledge of the names of the plants that are intended to replace the Eucalyptus groves. I know that what is proposed comes from an understanding of the local biology and science, not greed or some alterer motive. This project comes at a price, a sacrafice to nature. It isn’t as if the removed trees can be sold as lumber; they can not.

    [Webmaster: There’s no plan to sell the lumber. It’s going to be mulched and left on the mountain, releasing carbon as it decays. Why not share the names of some of the plants that are intended to replace the Eucalyptus forest?]

    I beleive the spirit of the author is genuine and with good intention, but doesn’t from education, rather it comes for sentimentality and an emotional motivation as apposed to a real understanding of the local enviornment, the local community, and the natural sciences.

    [Webmaster: I would argue that I do in fact understand the local environment, the local community, and the natural sciences. I am not biased in favor of (or against) native plants; I recognize that San Francisco had no real native trees, and I believe that trees have tremendous eco-system benefits. They sequester carbon – and eucalyptus is one of the best trees in the world at doing that. They reduce air pollution by trapping particles on their leaves. This forest, with its intergrafted root system, stabilizes the mountain; Twin Peaks sees rockslides nearly every winter, and so does Forest Knolls from time to time when its steeper hillsides are bared. Right now, the forest is pesticide-free; if this project goes through, it might not be. It’s also an important habitat for forest birds, both resident and migratory. The flowers provide food for honeybees at times when nothing else blooms. If you want more information, try – there’s articles on every aspect, often with links to scientific articles or references to papers.]

    For example, did you all know that native bird species are threatened by the Euctalyptus? Their short beaks and nostrals get clogged in resins and in turn the birds sufocate when they eat from the sweet bloosoms of the trees. It is not uncommon to find dead birds under the Eucalyptus canopy.

    [Webmaster: Actually, that’s a myth. It is uncommon to find dead birds under the eucalyptus canopy, no one has reported any. There’s an article about it HERE: Another Eucalyptus Myth: Bird Death (via Audubon)]


  1. How Many Trees to be Cut? Meeting on 21 April 2013 | FOREST KNOLLS

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