By Murray Schneider
Beginning earlier this week a behemoth earthmover positioned itself in front of a Islais Creek culvert and began clearing the creek and the surrounding banks of debris, with the goal of improving the quality of water flow into San Francisco Bay.
Friends of Glen Canyon Park, in partnership with Recreation and Parks Natural Area Program, routinely work along the banks of Islais Creek in what are dubbed “pools.” Here weeds are pulled, debris is bagged, and native plants and shrubs are reintroduced, which account for much of the habitat diversity valued so dearly by the NAP.
Pool 1, sometimes called the Levi site, because Levi Strauss donated money for its initial plantation, is closest to the Recreation Center. It is here Islais Creek enters a culvert, beginning its underground journey that will eventually end in the bay not too far from where the San Francisco Giants will engage the Cincinnati Reds in tonight’s opening game of the National League baseball playoffs.
While the Friends of Glen Canyon volunteers contain their interests to the well being of its neighborhood 70-acre canyon, the NAP broadens its sights to protecting 31 other natural open spaces in San Francisco. While safeguarding San Francisco Bay may not exactly fall under this rubric, it didn’t deter Lisa Wayne, the NAP Program Manager, from writing a government grant that funded work dredging Islais Creek of offensive sediment that, left unattended, would deposit unhealthy silt into the bay.
Work will continue, probably ending by the time the Giants defeat the Reds and move to the next level of baseball playoffs!