The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released a recovery plan that calls for reviving an ancient dune ecosystem to help save two of San Francisco’s most-imperiled plants. The plan, released in draft form in 2001, has been substantially revised to respond to comments from the public. The Service also worked closely with the Presidio Trust and the National Park Service in crafting the final document.
Only a few pieces of San Francisco’s historic dune ecosystem remain in existence, mostly within Fort Funston and the Presidio of San Francisco. These remnants are the only feasible sites for the recovery of two endangered plant species, San Francisco lessingia and Raven’s manzanita, as outlined in the Service’s Final Recovery Plan for Coastal Plants of the Northern San Francisco Peninsula. The plan can be downloaded at Published copies of the plan will be available in four to six weeks.
San Francisco lessingia is an annual herb in the aster family, and Raven’s manzanita (also known as Presidio manzanita), is a rare evergreen creeping shrub restricted to a few outcrops of mostly serpentine rock. San Francisco lessingia grows on sparsely vegetated coastal dunes and exists at only six sites in the Presidio and one in Daly City. Raven’s manzanita has been reduced to a single genetic individual, a "mother" plant located in the Presidio with its nursery-propagated progeny.
"Thanks to the outstanding work done by Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Presidio Trust to conserve these plants, they are no longer on the brink on extinction, but we still have a long way to go for their recovery," said Steve Thompson, manager of California/Nevada Operations for the Service. "This recovery plan proposes actions that, if taken, will let us ultimately delist the San Francisco lessingia and reclassify Raven’s manzanita from endangered to threatened."
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recovery plan is an important step in preserving a remnant of the native dune ecosystem in the San Francisco Bay Area, while allowing the public opportunities to learn about this important habitat," said Golden Gate National Recreation Area Superintendent Brian O'Neill. "The National Park Service's mission is to protect and restore the resources for present and future generations, and to that end, we will work in partnership with the USFWS, Presidio Trust and the public to move forward with this plan, using adaptive management."
The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to recover listed species to the point where they are secure, self-sustaining members of their ecosystems and no longer need federal protection. A recovery plan is a blueprint providing guidance for actions by Federal, state and other public agencies and private interests that will lead to the recovery and delisting of a species. Recovery plans are advisory only. They do not obligate the expenditure of funds or require that the recommended actions be implemented.
The recovery plan emphasizes an ecosystem-based approach that will benefit a suite of other species, including two rare butterflies. Because urbanization in San Francisco has reduced populations of these endangered plants to small, unstable, and relatively isolated populations, establishing a network of ecological reserves is a central component of this recovery plan. In order for these reserves to be successful, it will be necessary to eradicate invasive non-native vegetation in selected areas.
The principal reserve for Raven’s manzanita remains the site of the original plant in the Presidio. Other proposed reserves for Raven’s manzanita are along the Presidio’s north shore landslides, outcrops and bluffs; and multiple hilltop bedrock outcrops on municipal and private lands in San Francisco.
The plan proposes several recovery units for San Francisco lessingia, including:
– Lands located on the Presidio of San Francisco and owned and managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Presidio Trust
– NPS-managed lands at Fort Funston
– A reserve on private and municipal land in Daly City
– And smaller "satellite" reserves on undeveloped private and municipal lands in San Francisco.
The plan will also benefit other federally listed species such as the beach layia, Presidio clarkia, Marin dwarf-flax, Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly and the bay checkerspot butterfly, as well as 16 species of concern and 17 species of local or regional significance.
Printed copies will be available in 4 to 6 weeks and can be requested by writing to the Recovery Branch, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825, or by calling the office at (916) 414-6600.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
