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GGNRA Claims Tombstones are Blowin' in the Wind at Ocean Beach!
"At Ocean Beach, unclaimed headstones were used to armor the beach to guard against erosion -- and with
the recent wind that has blown sand off the beach and onto the Great Highway, a few of the headstones have become exposed"
-- Alexandra Picavet, GGNRA Spokesperson (June 7, 2012; KRON 4 News; Read more...)
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The tombstone...
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June 5, 2012 - Ocean Beach at Rivera
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the reality...
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June 8, 2012 - Ocean Beach at Rivera
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The GGNRA would love to have us believe that it is
nature alone that is responsible for these ominous reminders of yesteryear to appear. It would be
extremely inconvenient for
them to publicly admit that it is their own bulldozing that is the root cause for the exposure of the
tombstones smack dab in the middle of their so-called "wildlife protection area". For those of us who frequent
Ocean Beach on a daily basis, it appears the tombstones were unearthed and relocated while removing sand from the easternmost
portion of the beach and dumping it over the exposed rocks along the tide line. As you can see from the above photographs,
subsequent bulldozing/dumping has left sand covering the rocks and tombstones almost entirely. The bulldozing is
a necessary evil due in large part to the extreme erosion at Ocean Beach. The erosion and brutal tides make Ocean Beach
completely unsuitable as a habitat for wildlife, and, in particular, the delicate, "threatened" Western
Snowy Plover. Why is it then that in the proposed 2011 DEIS
for the GGNRA Pet Management Policy preferred alternative for Ocean Beach, dogs are completely
banned from this area yet bulldozers and other GGNRA heavy equipment and vehicles are not?
GGNRA Rangers Carry and Discharge Stun Guns Without ANY Internal Guidelines!
"There’s no Use of Force handbook, as it were, that would set definitive rules for when using
a stun gun is okay and when it is not...There is obviously an entire range of options available to them [the GGNRA rangers],
lots of factors that go into making the decision...We’re reviewing the incident, there’re a variety of tools
and processes and procedures they have available to them...Rangers also carry guns, pepper spray and clubs."
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Howard Levitt
GGNRA Spokesperson
Half Moon Bay Patch
January 31, 2012
Click here to view the entire story
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Evidently the rules of the ol' Wild West must apply to the GGNRA rangers
with respect to the carrying and discharging of potentially lethal weapons. Interesting that
the GGNRA finds it unnecessary to provide its rangers with any guidelines or rules regarding the usage
of deadly force yet they had absolutely no problem recently presenting dog walkers with a 2400 page,
14.9 pound Dog Management Policy.
This is yet another example of the GGNRA's long standing abuse of power in the establishment and enforcement
of regulations in this National Recreation Area.
The 2011 GGNRA Dog Management Plan
Feinstein Accusses NPS of Cooking the Books!
"The National Park Service and the Department of the Interior have once again failed
to grasp the severity of recent misconduct at Point Reyes National Seashore...
[Feinstein demanded immediate steps to] eliminate political agendas and instill
in employees a rigorous and objective pursuit of scientific truth...
It is critical that the government publicly disavow the practice of selectively
misusing and misconstruing science to achieve a desired outcome."
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U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
San Francisco Chronicle
March 24, 2011
Click here to view the entire story
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Click here to view Senator Feinstein's March 23, 2011
press release where she criticizes the National Park Service for manipulating Point Reyes
Science
From the Autobiography, "Daphne Hatch, GGNRA-NPS Chief Biological Scientist"
“Some people go to a national park because they don’t want to see any dogs at all.”
Sherwin Smith
GGNRA Spokeswoman
S.F. Examiner Interview
January 12, 2011
This was the response given by Ms. Smith in reference to the about to be released
Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for the GGNRA Pet Management Policy and her justification for
reneging on the 1979 GGNRA Pet Management Policy and excluding off-leash recreation at the designated
sites. Ms. Smith seems to be forgetting that the GGNRA is not a National Park but rather a National Recreational
Area. The enabling legislation of the GGNRA spells out the differences which includes an allowance for
the historical recreational activity of dog walking.
Click here to view the complete article.
What follows is the response from the now Director of the National Park Service Jon Jarvis when confronted with
the possibility of reversion due to the National Park Service's failure to adhere to the enabling legislation of the GGNRA
which allows for historically supported activities such as off-leash recreation.
"I would rather give up those [the GGNRA] properties than have dogs running loose on them."
NPS Centennial Initiative Listening Session
Presidio Officer's Club
San Francisco, Calif.
March 22, 2007
Jon Jarvis
Current Director
National Park Service
This was Mr. Jarvis' response when advised San Francisco
had a reversion clause in their agreement to turn over Ocean Beach, Fort Funston and other properties to
the NPS for inclusion in a recreational area.
Click here to view the
complete OBDOG section on reversion. (Note: OBDOG's campaign for reversion dates back to 2007)
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NPS Caught Fudging Data to Advance Agenda!
"I find it troubling and unacceptable that the National Park Service exaggerated the effects of the oyster population on the ... ecosystem"
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
San Francisco Chronicle
May 6, 2009
Click here to view the entire story
From the Autobiography, "Daphne Hatch, GGNRA-NPS Chief Biological Scientist"
National Park Service Official Advocates AIDS Virus to Rid Planet of Humans!
"We are not interested in the utility of a particular species, or free-flowing river,
or ecosystem, to mankind. They have intrinsic value — more value, to me — than another human body or a billion of them.
Human happiness and certainly human fecundity, are not as important as a wild and healthy
planet. We have become a plague upon ourselves and upon the Earth....Until such time as Homo sapiens
should decide to rejoin nature, some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along...
from the standpoint of just about every other living thing on the planet, human beings are a plague.
Anything that reduces human populations or reduces their growth is a benefit to just about everything
else on the planet."
David M. Graber
Chief Scientist
National Park Service
Composite of Interviews
BNET, Feb. 1999
Los Angeles Times, 1989
Click here to view the interviews
Woman Found Dying in GGNRA!
A dejected Smokey the Bear learns the GGNRA decision to remove
the ambulance at Fire Station No. 2 cost a woman her life
(Click here to read more about the GGNRA service cuts)
"Medical CPR was delivered within minutes. So I don't know [how] much difference it would've made. I don't believe it's an issue."
Michael Feinstein
GGNRA Spokesperson
Assistant to Supt. Brian O'Neill
KTVU Channel 2 News
January 4, 2009
Click here to view the entire story
Mr. Feinstein is responding to the accusations made by Presidio firefighter and paramedic Brandon Treat with respect to a
dying woman found on the GGNRA's Rodeo Beach property in Marin. The Marin Independent Journal reports the woman died at 9:15 a.m. Sunday at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco after a park maintenance worker found her unresponsive at about 7 a.m. at the north end of the Marin Headlands beach, near the parking lot. Reports are that she was suffering from hypothermia, a condition that does not necessarily require CPR but rather transport to a hospital in order to optimally restore body temperature to normal.
According to Mr. Treat, budget cuts enforced by the GGNRA in spring 2008 cost nearby Presidio Fire Station No. 2 the
use of their ambulance, and could have made the difference between life and death for this woman
(click here for details).
It's all about priorities. With respect to the GGNRA, their high cost discretionary projects
(e.g., the $12 million spent by the GGNRA to create the new Giacomini Wetlands in Marin; see
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com for details) always take precedence over everything else
-- most notably public safety. Projects like the GGNRA Mori Point frog pond creations (see picture below),
countless native plant habitat creations, and other million dollar plus
boondoggles, e.g., Negotiated Rulemaking, continue despite
crumbling infrastructure and inadequate public safety provisions. This disturbing tale is representative of the GGNRA's
"nature first, people last" management philosophy for an area that was legislatively set aside to facilitate
recreational opportunities for people in an urban environment.
The new million dollar GGNRA frog ponds at Mori Point
"We [the GGNRA] really strive for access, and we have some success stories we are really proud of."
New York Times
March 18, 2008
Click here to view the entire article
Rich Weideman
GGNRA Spokesperson
Assistant to Supt. Brian O'Neill
Mr. Weideman seems to overlook the GGNRA's longstanding practice of choosing to
minimize, even diminish, access to GGNRA parklands by the public as well as the disabled. This is
the primary reason that the GGNRA and its parent organization, the National Park Service, are now the
target of a class action lawsuit which contends that they have “systemically discriminated against
plaintiffs on the basis of their disabilities, failing
to make adjustments, required for decades, to assist people with restricted mobility, poor or no
vision, hearing loss or other needs."
What follows is a quote taken directly from the Environmental Assessment for Sweeney Ridge (a GGNRA parkland located in the City of Pacifica) as
published in 1984.
"The assessment of alternatives for the development of Sweeney Ridge presents three possible
alternatives for development : A. Enhance the natural qualities with minimum change ;
B. Increase visitor services and access ; C. Maximize visitor services and access."
So which of the three alternatives did the GGNRA choose? You guessed it. The GGNRA chose Alternative A, and additionally closed down the horse stables that were
available for public recreation at the Sweeney Ridge site.
"We [the GGNRA] have removed all garbage cans from Mori Point because we want people
to take their garbage home."
Chris Powell, GGNRA Spokesperson; Aide to Supt. Brian O'Neill
Response to Inquiries
Winter 2007
Assemblywoman Ma and Assemblyman
Leno catch National Park Service GGNRA Superintendent Brian O'Neill in a bundle of
lies!
Stewardship?
"Your letter then references California Environmental Protection Agency
(CaI/EPA) Complaint Record Number 699 regarding a sewage spill of approximately 50
gallons from M/V The Islander on October 13. 2006 at Alcatraz Island. This complaint
is erroneous and unjustified; allow us to clarify what really happened."
Brian O'Neill, Superintendent, GGNRA
Correspondence to Assemblypersons
Feb 13, 2007
The following excerpt is taken from the Assemblypersons March 27, 2007 response to Superintendent
O"Neill's allegations of no wrongdoing:
Mr. Dan Cooke, the GGNPC Educator/Historical Interpreter on Alcatraz Island, documented the
October 12, 2006 spill as follows:
"Sewage spill on dock approx 16:30 (4:30 p.m). Alcatraz Cruises Staff hose down area - flush waste into bay."
According to Mr. Cooke, GGNPC staff and NPS did not interview or follow-up with him about his entries or the
circumstances that led him to report it…As of this date, Captain Jack Goldthotpe, who filed the Cal/EPA
complaint, has not been interviewed by NPS of any other public enforcement agencies.
In addition, we were surprised to learn that the National Park Conservancy recently terminated Mr. Cooke's
employment and that he filed a claim with the U.S. Department of Labor for unlawful termination in violation
of the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Mr. Cooke's claim of retaliation
for revealing information about problems with the storage and transportation of sewage from Alcatraz Island
is very serious and one that our offices will closely monitor.
This "Quote of the Day" is courtesy of Bay Woof reporter Lisa Razzo who writes the "Rover Report" at
www.baywoof.com. This article was part of the May 2007 issue. The Bay Woof publication can be found online
or at vet clinics, pet stores, animal shelters and community gathering places such as bookstores and cafes.
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Paul Jones addresses the Pacifica City Council
The Father of the Audubon Society
