Reflections & Poems

Photo Courtesy Vincent Nicolosi

Nature around us
Lifts us like a soaring hawk
Guided by the wind

We are welcoming summer but saying goodbye to our academic intern, Michael Larkins. Many of you have come to know Michael over the course of his internship and we ask you to join us in wishing him all the best in his future academic and professional endeavors. We will miss him!  

Announcements

Want to become a long-term Steward at Lands End? Read on!

If you love being outside, interested in habitat restoration, and want to make a positive impact in your national park, we encourage you to sign up for our new Lands Ends Volunteer Steward Program.

This volunteer opportunity is different from our drop-in programs. Volunteers will be trained and be a part of the greater National Park Service Volunteer-In-Parks (VIP) Programs. For more information and the application, please click here.

Restoration and Volunteer Management Internship 
Park Stewardship Program - Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

Are you excited about working in the outdoors and learning about natural resources management?  Are you interested in engaging communities in the Golden Gate National Parks through volunteer programs and land management projects? 

Working in some of the Bay Area’s most dramatic and beautiful landscapes, home to 36 rare and endangered plant and animal species, the Park Stewardship Program engages and sustains vibrant communities in the conservation of park lands. Established in 1993, the Park Stewardship Program is part of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the non-profit support partner of the Golden Gate National Parks.

Overview of Internship 
We have internship positions with all three of Park Stewardship’s regional teams- San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin. Through a one-year position on one of these teams, you will be a field ecologist, environmental educator, and community builder. As an intern, you will be introduced to many aspects of habitat restoration and help maintain climate resilient ecosystems by managing invasive plants, planting natives, and species monitoring. Throughout the year, you will also participate in various elements of land stewardship which include developing and running volunteer programs for youth, adults, school groups, corporate groups, and community organizations. Interns also have the opportunity to build a strong professional network, as well as benefit from considerable formal and on-the-job training.

Most importantly, you will be an integral part of a diverse and fun Park Stewardship team, and will obtain an in-depth understanding of the values of the park system through shared experiences, workshops, and ongoing dialogue.  

For more information, click here

Events

For a complete list of upcoming events please visit the Presidio Trust and Parks Conservancy events homepages!

June 16, 9 – 11 am: Mindfulness & Meditation in the Park

We invite you to join us for a quiet, peaceful, and meditative walk through the forests in the Presidio. Let’s experience the beauty and magic of nature in this part of the city, and find ways for calm and balance within and around us.

We will explore simple ways to connect and reconnect with nature through short mindful meditations and other interactive activities. No prior experience is necessary, just an open mind!

To register for this event, click here.

June 16, 1-4 pm: South Asian Community Volunteer Day (Eid Special) at Lands End

Please join us for a celebration of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan (a month of fasting) and is celebrated by Muslims across the world. According to Islamic tradition, fasting expresses many of the basic values such as patience and empathy, and is a time for personal reflection. We will begin the program with some meditative habitat restoration work, and will end with a 25-minute Bollywood dance workout choreographed and facilitated by Doonya SF instructor Shruti Marathe Devdhar. A special shout out to our local Indian eatery ‘Kasa’ for sponsoring delicious snacks for this special event!

For more information, click here and to register, click here.

June 16, 10 am – Noon: Ocean Beach Clean Up

All volunteers welcome for this beach cleanup day! Every third Saturday of the month volunteers help clean up Ocean Beach. This is a fun and easy team building program that helps keep our community beaches clean!

Rain cancels events, registration not necessary but encouraged, click here.

For more information, click here.

  June Wildlife

Red Tail Hawk, Red Eared Slider, Numenius
Photos Courtesy Vincent Nicolosi

Reflections

By Michael Larkins
 Ecological Restoration and Volunteer Management Academic Intern

I would like to say farewell to everyone I've had the privilege to interact and work with during my time as an academic intern with the Golden Gate National Parks. Being part of the San Francisco Park Stewardship Team has definitely been an adventure. It has given me many pleasant memories to cherish as I move into a new season of my life. I've enjoyed being a part of the Parks Conservancy and I'll miss the team spirit and enthusiasm that made each day fun and enjoyable. Thanks for being such terrific team members, volunteers, and coworkers. I wish you all the very best in your professional and personal lives.

Best wishes to you all!

Wildflower Walk Reflections

By Vincent Nicolosi
 Ecological Restoration and Volunteer Management Intern

Over the past month and a half our team facilitated five wildflower walks across three of our San Francisco locations: the Presidio Coastal Bluffs, Lands End and Fort Funston. Each walk was special with beautiful flowers. But all the people sharing stories is what made these walks truly memorable.           

Leading up to our first wildflower walk at Lands End, we spent many hours gathering information and looking at plants outside. I had never led a wildflower walk before and wondered, how do you tell a story about a flower? What I realized was that the plants around us already have a past, present, and future that is full of information and interesting.

Stories about the ethnobotany we learned came from research based on Ohlone traditions. The Ohlone were the first stewards of the Bay Area and continue to possess an intimate knowledge of the medicinal and practical value of plants. The soap plant for example can be used not just for soap, as the name suggests, but the fibrous roots that surround the bulb of the plant can also be made into a brush. With its unique wavy foliage and delicate white flowers that only open at night, the soap plant provides a perfect example of a plant that has so much to offer.

As stewards of the land, our responsibility is not only to use the land and admire flowers, but to give back. On our wildflower walks we shared the story of the California bee plant (Scophularia californica). We often walk by the bee plant, perhaps even take it for granted with its tiny scarlet flowers, and lanky growth habit. But the story of the bee plant is the story of restoration and emblematic of how we can give back to the land that has given us so much. Ironically, this story does not begin with the bee plant but with another living organism, the Variable Checkerspot butterfly.

Nearly forty years ago, the Variable Checkerspot caterpillar could still be found in the Presidio. What starts as a black and orange caterpillar and eventually evolves to become a magnificent and similarly-colored butterfly. But after years of urbanization, and the introduction of invasive species, the native vegetation eaten by the native caterpillar was outcompeted. By the twenty-first century the Checkerspot Butterfly was gone.

Beginning in 2017 the Presidio Trust began a restoration project to bring back the Variable Checkerspot caterpillar. The Natural Resource Team collected the caterpillars from San Bruno mountain and released them onto the bee plant in the Presidio. The restoration project has been really successful thus far and is a great example of giving back to the land (Click here for full story).

Wildflower walks remind us of all the amazing stories that can be found around us, from the showy Douglas iris flowers to the inconspicuous bee plant. Sharing these stories with other people connects us to the land and to each other.

Photos Courtesy Maria Durana & Yakuta Poonawalla

Wildflower Walk Poem

By Aurora Perez
 Ecological Restoration and Volunteer Management Intern

Below is the poem we wrote and read at the end of our wildflower walks that summarized our experience. 

Flowers can be big
Flowers can be small
But we are here today
To appreciate them all.

We love the way they smell,
We love the way they taste.
But plants do more than that,
They connect us to this place

Cuando era una niña
A la flor le pedía
Me quiere, no me quiere
Me causaba tanta alegría

As we grow older
And work in the sand,
Our perspective shifts
To the needs of the land.

Together we thrive.
Las plantas y la gente
In unison with Earth’s elements
Pa’ un mejor medio ambiente.

We wrote this poem because we wanted to acknowledge and appreciate all types of flowers—both big and small. The poem begins by describing how we use the land in our own ways and transitions to the idea of asking the land what we can do for it. Through our shared experiences we can learn to both use the land and give back, to appreciate, and nurture.

Wildflower walk season may be over, but be on the lookout for flowers throughout the year. You never know what you may find in our parks!

Highlights from the Field

Photos Courtesy Maria Durana & Yakuta Poonawalla

• Wished our Academic Intern – Michael Larkins – off to his new adventure as his internship concluded.
• Held a BioBlitz at Fort Funston!
• Wrapped up wildflower season with two more walks!

Drop-In Volunteer Programs