I am publishing an article today that was published by the San Francisco Forest Alliance, with permission. Many thanks to SFFA for reporting about the continuing assault on San Francisco’s urban forest. You can express your opinion about these tree removals by calling 800-801-2661 Ext 4.
Conservation Sense and Nonsense
Deforestation on Clarendon Avenue
Posted on March 31, 2025 by SF Forest Alliance
There’s a lot of deforestation on both sides of Clarendon Avenue, above the Laguna Honda, and on the slope below Laguna Honda Hospital. This time it’s courtesy of SFPUC – San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (which our followers would recall is managed in the same way as SFRPD – San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department’s “Natural Resources Division.”)
Indeed, Lisa Wayne, who for many years spearheaded the SFRPD effort, moved to SFPUC in 2021.
Note: All pictures in this post copyright Anastasia Glikshtern
SAN FRANCISCO FOREST ALLIANCE WROTE TO SFPUC
San Francisco Forest Alliance is following up with SFPUC for evidence that the trees have indeed been evaluated as hazardous. We also pointed out that the bird nesting season has started on February 1 (it runs through August 31, 2025). It appears that the work continued through mid-February.
This forest added much to the beauty, privacy, and air quality of the neighborhoods around it. It’s historic: This charming article by Rex Bell described it in 2011 and compared it to the same places in 1896, where it was described as “A Genuine Old-Fashioned Country Road Within the Limits of the City of San Francisco.”
RISKS AND ISSUES
Quite aside from the historic beauty of this urban forest, and the many benefits of urban trees , there are issues of risk. One is slope stability – and we wonder if SFPUC actually assessed the risk of that steep slope above Clarendon Avenue being destabilized by this deforestation. The second is flammability. This is an area of the city that gets summer fog, and the fog moisture harvested by these trees kept the area below damp and cool. Now it will be dry and covered in fine fuels; we can only hope we do not face a hot dry summer any time soon.
Finally, since SFPUC uses herbicides as freely as does SFRPD’s Natural Resources Division, we can expect a lot more pesticides flowing into the groundwater.
San Francisco seems to have moved forward quickly with its war on trees. They have been felled everywhere where the urban forest exists in the city: Mount Sutro, McLaren Park, and now Clarendon Avenue. Ironically, they call it “Restoration.”
Conservation Sense and Nonsense 