the planning department is proud to be wrapping up our fourth bio diversity work order from our planning graphics and it staff. it's been my privilege to serve as project manager and peter's right hand as we've engaged our agency partners to understand the city's needs and opportunities, lead processes and cocreate useful tools. thank you to all the department leaders and staff who have contributed and worked with us and we look forward to more. some plans include the tool as peter mentioned that's

an online database for plants used by everyone from residents to city staff. i think just adding on the conversation that we just had, one goal is we will ged rid of that need to have to referred to our pest management ordnance. we have developed a b b b bio diversity training mogule. we've been proud to be part of policy tools like this city wide resolution and we offer our support today. our departments commitment to bio diversity is inspired on many levels. we feel that connecting with nature daily is a human need that enhances quality of life and happiness. greening may be realized in all our urban forms

and we are excited about that. our parks, plazas, sidewalks, streets, rooftops. as the city growing, dense fies and warming it will be more critical. we have water conservation and quality, healthier air and environmental justice and especially as these elements are further stressed by climate change. so our support for this bio diversity can be summarized if five main points. first our shared assessment of policies and programs reveal the potential value of a more cohesive san francisco payment. there's an urgency to build with best practices. this includes maximizes cobenefits such as open space, neighborhood greening and cleaner air for our communities and especially with focused efforts on cost neutral

improvements, for example, greening with the right types of plants. third, we are fortunate that countless access are being planned and designed in the grayer neighborhoods of our city, along the bay shore and in inland areas not to mention private spaces and green roofs. we've been proud to work in central sonoma where our regulation will create 20 acres of supportive greening. as we work with project sponsors and fellow departments on the design and quality of our physical environments, institutionalizing key diversities will help us leverage these opportunities towards a greener city. independent greating -- independent independent -- independent great -- independent grading systems

helps also. we will open new pathways for implementation and maintenance funding for integrated more nature. thank you so much for your consideration. the planning document looks forward to continuing our support of bio diversity and seeking opportunities to integrate with other city priorities like housing, transportation and equity. thank you. >> thank you. so before we take public comment, i'd like to call up timber merris, the director of nature resources for sf poc. >> good afternoon. thank you for the opportunity. i'm tim ramirez the manager. we are here to support the resolution. we have and will continue to work very closely with our department of environment colleagues on managing our properties in san francisco to protect and restore diversity.

we work with the rec and park department and i think you will hear from lisa wayne in just a few minutes. just very quickly from our perspective, our commission has adopted a 2020 plan that includes six goals, one of them is focused on environment stewardship and a big part of that is protecting and restoring bio diversity. the water enterprise has adopted a policy and we just gave a full report about two weeks ago. the re resolution is consistent with our waste water program to assist with storm water management in san francisco. we look forward to continuing to work with our city colleagues and our city department friends and bring the experience that we have, managing properties outside of san francisco to this effort here in san francisco. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. now i'd like to call up lisa wayne, natural resources manager for rec and park.

>> i'm lisa wayne with the san francisco park department. thank you for supporting and considering this resolution and i also want to extend a thanks to our colleagues at the planning and the department of the environment for all the heavy lifting they did on this as well. the san francisco rec and park department has been promoting bio diversity in open spaces by restoring and protecting nature and wildlife habitats throughout urban parks for decades. in february of 2017 the rec and park department received the support of the board of supervisors for the department's significant natural resource area management plan. this plan is a road map for the rec and park department that guides the protection of the city's natural resources and wildlife habitats and provides opportunities for human connections with local natural

via recreation, education and stewardship. to build on the momentum of the effort, we support this resolution and the efforts to formally adopt a policy stance on local bio diversity for the city and county of san francisco. moving forward the rec and park's department natural resources team will be continuing to implement our natural resource management plan and to work on the conservation of species including threatened and endangered species such as the california red legged frog and others as well as the restoration of native landscapes such as the old growth woods lands. in addition the department has trained and certified more than 100 gardeners in bay friendly landscape practices that aim to promote bio diversity and landscape practices in our parks

open spaces and squares where possible. the department is implementing native plant scapes in lands to sustain bio diversity and neture and retain species. the rec and park department supports the department of the environment and the evident -- efforts to to resoluti resolution. thank you. >> also michael lambert from the san francisco public library. thanks. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm michael lambert, your acting city librarian. i would like to thank you for sponsoring the san francisco bio diversity policy. the san francisco public library values our partnership with sf environment and we are eager to do our part in establishing bio diversity as a city wide

priority. with 28 library locations spread throughout the city and with the leadership of our stagger library kelly trahan we feel that we are well positioned to collaborate. the library can help promote the experience and awareness of san francisco's bio diversity and responsible access and stewardship of nature through our public library programs. the san francisco public library looks forward to completing our own department bio diversity survey and establishing our initiatives. thank you for your support. >> thank you very much. now carol bauch, the manager for the port of san francisco. >> good afternoon supervisors, i'm carol bauch. i'm here on the port's behalf to express our

support for the bio diversity resolution. the initiatives that brought forth the resolution are consistent with the ports core values, they're consistent with the work that we are already doing. we echo these goals in our port strategic plan including our goal that calls us to protect bay and shoreline habitats. additionally we've recently completed the second of three phases of our water front land use plan update process. we've been having public meetings for a year and a half and have had a specific sub committee of the working group dedicated to environmental sustainability. it's perhaps certain that we

recommended 20 environment sustainabilities in our port projects. additionally the working group presented goals for equity throughout its process including access to jobs, recreation and access to nature was specifically called out as a policy recommendation. i think the bio diversity resolution will serve all of these objectives. i'd like to thank our colleagues at department of the environment for working with the various city departments. you have really different missions, different jurisdictions and different kinds of resources to tailor a resolution that could fit all of us so thank you. >> thank you very much. i'd like to open it up to public comment now. i will call names.

denise, bryan, mary, beckie evans and bob paul. please line up. you have two minutes to speak. thank you. >> good afternoon, denise louie. i wanted to start with a definition of the word bio diversity. it was coined by renowned scientist e.o. wilson who referred to natural assembly of plants and wildlife. that's important to me because i'm interested in native plants as a member of the california native plants society. i can tell you there's hundreds of plants native to san francisco. so when you want to plant something that is drought tolerant in your garden think about the local

native plants, not just, you know, those non-native suculants, please. so one of the reasons that it really does matter what we have in our gardens is that, well, okay, a few months ago a professor from san francisco state university explained that according to the historical records san francisco had nine species of local native bumblebees. nine species. two of them for sure have gone extinct and another two are suspected of having gone extinct because we haven't seen them for a while. four out of nine going extinct on our watch and we are just talking about bumblebees. well, our plants need pollenators and they need our help. >> [bell ringing] >> and the wildlife do best with native plants so i want to

encourage everyone to plant local native plants. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hi there. my name is mary ellen hanible. i'm a long time resident of san francisco and a journalist and author. i was the writer on the map that peter showed of nature in the city. i'm very excited about this resolution and this idea. one of the things i've learned as a writer on this subject is that one thing nature needs to persist is connecttivety. plants and animals need each other in relationship and they also need space across space -- to be able to move across space to go from one place to another to renew their genetic inheritance of others with of their own kind and to rest and reproduce. so what are some of the things in the way of saving

nature today, which is under seeing in a dire way, connectivity. the lack of connectivity among human institutions is one of the big problems. so we have all of these incredible achievements in san francisco to bring banative species to integrate new exotic species and to create more and more beautiful nature that characterize our beautiful city. we have all of these different agencies that don't know what each other are doing and they don't coordinate with each other. >> [bell ringing] >> so this is a way to amplify nature. >> thank you. >> beckie evans on behalf of the sierra club. we support this resolution. it's pleasing to be here and see the cooperation of the people from

the different city departments vm i'm impressed by the fact that the san francisco children's program have a swath of san francisco's public open space that was under to guidance of the federal government. i hope you will support this. i think it's a good start. we've got a way to go and i think it's a good thing for the department of environment and the city to be doing during this incredible time of pressure on our public lands. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. board of supervisors and fellow citizens, my name is ryan tachiana, the youth programs organizer from environmental justice. the bio diversity of our city is related to the well being of all living organisms including us. bio diversity is the foundation of the ecosystem services that

clean the air we breathe, protect our homes from rising sea levels and provide a healthier tomorrow for a children and future generations. it's important more than ever to connect the people of san francisco to our city's natural wonders and educate our communities about the values of biodiversity. i support our bio diversity resolution and i appreciate the city investing in a healthier tomorrow. thank you. >> thank you very much. i'll call an up can -- call a couple of names. greg, lou, jake. i believe i called bob hall also. hi, bob. come on up. >> bob hall here. passionate san francisco enthusiast and wildlife enthusiast. across the united states city managers always look to san francisco to lead on tough issues. san francisco is a no excuses, can-do city. we lead on public healthcare, we led on gay

marriage and san francisco is the first and only city in the united states where all residents have access to a park within a 10-minute walk. now we must lead on protecting the foundation of life. no sweat, right? although concerned about athletes to species, diversity tend to focus on large species such as bald eagles, threats to the bio diversity of small organisms are the same or of greater importance. small organisms are often more specialized and adapted to certain plant species and habitats than are the large animals and therefore they are more susceptible to extension. we need policies that protect them. species support biological protection and regulation through the food chain in a variety of ways such as adding to the soil fertility,

pollination, plant growth and waste decomposition. the more deverse a system is the more stable it is. >> [bell ringing] >> so i encourage you to adopt these great policies that you're putting forward today and please make san francisco proud and have all the other cities look at us again as a leader. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is greg gar. i have lived in san francisco all my life. i volunteer in the parks and open spaces to battle the weeds that are displacing our native plant communities. it's important to realize that this planet is the only place in the universe that we are aware of where life exists. bio diversity is the barometer that determines how healthy this

planet is. we don't want to lose this precious planet and the life it has produced but as things are going if you look at the history of the bay area which is the micro causism of the entire plant we've gone from one of the richest ebbing -- eco systems to a remanence of what existed 250 years ago where there was mountain bears, grizzly lions, a much larger bay that has much -- much of it has been filled in. the tidal marshes have been destroyed. now we are aware of how to restore these areas. it's very spiritually reward ing to go out and restore an area and see the butterflies and the birds return. in san francisco we

have the natural areas program, we have the national park service and the -- >> [bell ringing] >> -- and there's so many opportunities to get involved in stewarding the land. i hope you support this bio diversity resolution. thank you so much. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hello. any -- my name is lou springer. i'm a proud partner of many of the city's efforts restoring bio diversity throughout the city. i'm here to read a letter on behalf of our chief executive officer, jean frasier. i'm writing on behalf oh the city in strong support of the city bio diversity resolution. it is a bio diversity hot spot within the city of san francisco and a member of the united nations the bio spear reserve. the trust

shares the city's goals of preserving the city's diverse biological resources and partner with the city on a number of efforts in support of stewardship. the trust also recognizes there's a great urgency to address the loss of bio diversity as much of san francisco's natural remaining heritage is threatened. we will support existing bio diversity by providing a unified vision. enhancing inner agency collaboration, completing a survey of current work of bio diversity and strategies going forward to increase efforts, collaboration partnership. articulating a commitment through commission resolutions or presentations and outlining a specific frame work for the department of the environment to convene the departments on a regular lbasis to move forward. thank you so much. >> thank you very much. next

speaker, please. >> jake thig speaking for the local chapter of the california native plant society. i'm glad to see san francisco once again in the lead on questions of the environment. even though the public is rather vague on what bio diversity is, the actual fact is they're all in favor of it. variety is the spice of life as everyone knows. the current issue of the guardian of london has this on the front page. it's a major story. this week. the economist is just like it sounds, a business paper. they're paying attention to this too. they recognize the -- what is at stake. it is

titled a crisis in the natural word, major study reveals how run away resource exploitation threatens water and food security for billions. human destruction of nature is rapidly eroding the world's capacity to provide food, water and security to billions of people according to the most comprehensive bio diversity study in more than a decade. such as the rate of decline and risks posed by bio diversity loss should be considered -- >> [bell ringing] >> on the same scale of those of climate change noted the authors. among the major findings are the exploitable fisheries of the world, the asian pacific is on course to decline to zero by 2048. so on. it goes on much more. thank you.

>> i will call up two more names. kelly trahan and orie heartenstein and then we have nadine will. >> each day i have the privilege of serving library patrons who care deeply for the environment. the library is proud to support this bio diversity policy and the vision to connect all san francisco residents to nature and inspire stewardship. it's impressive but we know it faces significant challenges. the library's vision includes the provision of free and equal access to information for our diverse community. as part of this vision the library is excited to

continue our partnership with the department of environment to bring information to the public and to provide conservation to come. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> hello. good afternoon. my name is orie. i'm an intern with the san francisco department of viefrmeenvironmen hyperwith my cointern to politic the two minutes. >> sure. >> thank you. i'm very proud to see the city taking this policy in consideration considering the current administration that we have and even hearing you-all speak of that as well and recognizing that. san francisco serves an

example nationally and globally so i'm really happy to see that and i'm sure the world as well. so thank you. >> thank you. >> and i just wanted to quote a native american proverb that says, we aren't inheriting this land from our ancest secestors are borrowing it from our children. so just think about it. i think we need to do better. thank you. >> thank you very much. other public speakers? >> hello. my name is nadine wild, the executive director of the thorn foundation. we have a partner of the environment. we are concerned this bio diversity resolution will threaten public safety unless amended. we would be grateful if the committee

could please consider four small amendments. one, please add a one to one tree replacement rate. right now any trees failed under this policy will fall through the cracks causing deforestation and climate change. climate change is the number one threat to bio diversity. two, please add back the urban forest plan. it was in the original resolution twice, other plans like green connections are still in but the urban forest plan was deleted. please add it back as trees are our best defense against climate change. three, please ensure that this will not lead to any tier one pesticide use. applications increased 411% last year. it was because of bio diversity policies just like this one. other cities like seattle and portland have pesticide free parks where san

francisco is falling further behind. these pesticides are poisoning our children, our land and our bio diversity including monarch butterflies. four -- >> [bell ringing] >> please add back plants on page three. the environment commission wanted to make sure this was not just about native plants. they voted to include non-native, noninvasive plants. this phrase hand become deleted and the agenda has become narrow. it mentioned native plants six times on four pages. this is overly prescriptive and -- >> [bell ringing] >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. and anastasia glintenterisha. >> i doesn't matter. first i

brought two letters from san francisco forest alliance. you may have received them by e-mail or maybe not. you might have not read them. i don't know. please include it in the meeting minutes. i'm here to oppose this resolution. the main reason is because bio diversity in the city of san francisco is totally completely in separately connected to highly toxic herbicides. those are herbicides. those things kill plants and there's absolutely no need, no possible need to use them. this book was published in october of last year. i only started reading it recently. it's called killer of cancer and corruption of science. it only talks about round up and this round up was just used on march 7th in mount davidson. it was a very toxic herbicides. the herbicides are used all the time. all the time. last year

the use was up by 50%. they were used in mount davidson 17 times, in glen park 30 times and people just have no idea that it is done. like i tell people and they have no clue. those who knows are only those who have dogs and walk all the time and pay attention to all the signs. it's total unacceptable and has to be banned. it can no go. >> [bell ringing] >> it's too much. they cannot be used as the last resort. they are not appropriate. they are used from carpet so it should be banned. please stop the stupidity and please do --

>> thank you very much. anymore public comments? seeing none. public comment is now closed. >>

>> so we don't have any parks that are "pesticide free"? >> well, we don't have them denoted as such, but if you look at pesticide use in the city, it's almost half had not had any herbicide use since 2010. so the staff have done a really good job of minimizing use. >> there's different ways of talking about the pesticide use, and those cities that have pesticide free parks, then they don't have a whole bunch of parks that don't have those restrictions. what i said was i don't care if there's a playground, you cannot use pesticides. so because we have so many

parks, we just make them all have the same requirements. you can see that most of the parks regardless do not. >> and the answer was -- was sufficient -- sufficient. >> yeah. >> no, i just know sometimes the public feels safer knowing this named park will never get pesticide, but i understand the approach that you've taken, and the answer satisfies me. thank you. okay. supervisor safai? >> i just want to go back to my original request of page four, line eight, and i just want to ask the city attorney and department of environment if you can work on some language between now -- >> i actually have some language. do you want me to offer it now or to be cleaner, do you want to wait? >> supervisor safai: sure. >> we would let me know -- and let me know, supervisor, if this clarifies: pursuant of opportunities to enhance native

biodiversity on city owned lands unless those lands are mandated to another city use. >> supervisor safai: i think that reads a lot better. >> yeah. that gets rid of the whole middle part. >> thank you. and did your city attorney get that or would you like it in writing. >> actually, if you could get it to me. >> satisfy. >> all right. so seeing no questions, comments, maybe we can get a motion on item four? first, a motion to amend. >> supervisor safai: i'd like to make a motion to amend as proposed by the department of environment read into the record, page 4, line eight through ten. >> okay. we'll do that without objection, and then, on the amended item? >> supervisor safai: and send this item to the full board this item to the full board

- working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city that's on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. after all, we're at the meeting of land and sea. - our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and world- class style.

it's the birthplace of blue jeans, and where "the rock" holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. - the city's information technology professionals work on revolutionary projects, like providing free wifi to residents and visitors, developing new programs to keep sfo humming, and ensuring patient safety at san francisco general. our it professionals make government accessible through award-winning mobile apps, and support vital infrastructure projects like the hetch hetchy regional water system. - our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. but most importantly, working for the city and county of san francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the city's future. - thank you for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco.

adjourned. >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop & dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 my name is jim woods i'm the founder of woods beer company and the proprietor of woods copy k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that we're reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the rp