Board certifies Natural Areas Management Plan EIR after lengthy appeals and public comment

The Board of Supervisors on Feb. 28 certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Natural Areas Management Plan, clearing the program-level environmental review that will govern management of 32 natural areas across San Francisco and Sharp Park in Pacifica.

The certification follows a long public hearing in which appellants and hundreds of residents, scientists, and park users spoke for and against the plan. The Planning Department and the Recreation and Parks Department defended the EIR as adequate at the program level and said project-level review will be required where site-specific actions may cause new impacts.

Why it matters: The Natural Areas Management Plan sets policy for roughly 1,100 acres and about 30 miles of trails in the city's wild and semi-wild parkland. Supporters said the program is necessary to protect biodiversity and manage unsafe or declining stands of trees; opponents said the EIR underestimates greenhouse gas losses from tree removal, understates herbicide use and public-access impacts, and requires recirculation for new technical information.

The debate included testimony from planning and park staff and from environmental and neighborhood groups. Melinda Hu, an environmental planner with the San Francisco Planning Department, told the board the FEIR "accurately estimates tree removal and replacement quantities" and concluded additional recirculation under CEQA was not required. Lisa Wayne, Natural Resources manager at Recreation and Parks, described the department's approach to invasive-plant control and tree care and said the department has reduced use of certain herbicides and applies treatments under the city's Integrated Pest Management rules.

Appellants asked the board to reverse certification or send the FEIR back to Planning for more analysis on public access limits, herbicide use, and greenhouse gas accounting. Among the issues raised were whether restricting off-trail access in many managed areas effectively removes park acreage from public use and whether the FEIR properly treated new greenhouse-gas calculations and a late addition addressing Sharp Park dredge-spoil handling.

Park staff said the management plan is programmatic and that detailed site-specific environmental review will follow as the city seeks to implement site restoration and access projects; those project-level reviews, staff said, will include additional environmental analysis where required. Phil Ginsberg, Recreation and Parks general manager, said the plan is the product of more than a decade of technical review and public process and that it aims to protect habitat while continuing public access and safe maintenance.

What happened next: After the public comment and deliberations, the board voted to certify the FEIR, allowing Recreation and Parks to proceed with planning and project-level approvals under the program. The board's action affirms the Planning Commission and clears the program-level hurdle; it does not by itself approve any particular tree removals or herbicide applications, which will return to the city for further review and public notice as individual projects are proposed.

Looking ahead: Opponents said they will monitor implementation closely and expect project-level reviews for significant field work. Recreation and Parks said it will continue to work with the Department of the Environment to minimize pesticide use and to use the least-impact methods feasible.