Friends of Billy Goat Hill Park

Billy Goat Hill Clean-Up: January 14, 2012 1pm - 3pm

2011-12-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like planting native plants on Billy Goat Hill in January! If you haven't experienced this, you haven't gotten to know the 'real' San Francisco! On January 14th 2012, for the second year in a row, Friends of Billy Goat Hill along with the team from the SF Rec & Parks Natural Areas Program will be planting native plants and seeding native grasses on BGH.

Last year in January we were up to our ankles in fabulous, muddy SF soil - planting over 200 native plants. If you walked the new trail sometime this year, I'm sure you enjoyed the smells of the California Sagebrush and the pretty blossoms of Sticky Monkey Bush and Douglas Iris.

On Tuesday January 10th, the crew from the Natural Areas will start preparing for the planting. Volunteers are welcome. On Saturday January 14th from 1pm-3pm (rain or shine) we will do most of the planting and spreading the grass seed. Planting in the mud is hard work so the more volunteers the better!

Put on your boots (I wear an old pair of waterproof ski pants over my jeans to keep the legs dry) and meet us on the hill - top or the bottom - we'll be working on both areas.

DON'T FORGET THE KIDS! Kids enjoy playing in the mud almost as much as adults!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all the Friends of Billy Goat Hill

Time Lapse of Billy Goat Hill

2011-11-25T22:25:00.001-08:00

By filmmaker Ken Murphy

Billy Goat Hill Clean-Up Today Saturday Aug 6th

2011-08-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

Last minute notice but if you are not busy Saturday morning, come on by Billy Goat Hill and help clean-up trash and weed and water the flower beds. 9am - Noon August 6th

April 23rd Workday - Weeding & Flowers

2011-04-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

The best quarterly workday of the year is DEFINITELY April. The flowers are blooming, it's not muddy, the birds are mating - everybody is happy. Join us on Saturday morning, 9am - noon, April 23rd to do some weeding and alittle grass cutting.
It will be a good time to gather feedback on the trail. We know there is still work to do on the muddy lower section - come on by and give us your ideas. I was thinking about applying for a community opportunity grant to get water access at the lower entrance & the upper entrance so we can water plants in the hot summer. Come by and tell me what you think about this idea.
We are looking for volunteers to want to play a bigger role in Friends of Billy Goat Hill. If you love nature and want to help lead the neighborhood volunteer activities to keep this slice of native pasture land clean & beautiful, come by.
APRIL 23 9am - NOON - Grab your neighbors and let's weed!

Next BGH WorkDay - January 15th, 2011

2010-11-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends of BGH,
The bulk of the trail work will be finishing up over the next few weeks. Still to do: finish the lower steps and drainage and build the retaining wall at the lower sidewalk. Also have grass and wildflower seed to scatter. Here is a slide show of the trail work as it was on Oct 30th. We planted over 150 plants along the new trail with the help of over a dozen volunteers. Thanks to everyone for getting muddy!!

Next Official BGH Workday is scheduled for January 15th. We will be doing more planting at the lower entrance which is great fun for kids!
We will also be working with The Neighborhood Parks Council to establish our 501c3 status and have an official 'steering committee' for Friends of Billy Boat Hill. The steering committee will meet quarterly to plan work days and raise funds needed for plants, grass seeds, signs, etc. So far, we have Jeanne Koelling, Kate Haug & Lisa Ghotbi (me). If you are interested in being a member of the steering committee, let me know!

Glen Park News

2010-10-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Check out the October 30 post on The Glen Park News. Nice piece on the work we did yesterday. Thanks to everyone who attended the planting and cleanup.

Park Planting Saturday October 30, 9 AM - Noon

2010-10-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Join your neighbors as we complete some of the trail work and plant more native species. The new stairs and trails are beautiful and the native plantings along the top of the park are thriving, thanks to the work of volunteers and Rec and Park staff. Come be a part of the continuing beautification of Noe's last bit of natural open space. I'll bring coffee and donuts!

Volunteers needed on Saturday, Oct 16th!

2010-10-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

The trail work is underway on the hill with stairs being rebuilt and trail grading starting. The Natural Areas Team will be out in force this Saturday with a bunch of volunteers but we are looking for more! Join us 9am - Noon for alittle hard work but alot of fun and reward.

I'm also coordinating Dogtoberfest at Upper Douglass Dog Park on Saturday Oct 16th from 11am - 2pm so if you can't do the trail work and you have a doggie who likes to party, come join us there for a few hours of fun. see FUDDP.org for more details.

Trail work beginning soon

2010-09-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

Any day now the construction on Billy Goat Hill trail should begin. Lisa Wayne, the Director of the Natural Areas, has also helped get us a crew of ~70 volunteers scheduled for October 16th to do plantings and trail work. Friends of Billy Goat Hill will be responsible for the finishing touches on the project during our quarterly workday which is scheduled for October 30th.

If you see work activity and you have a camera, take some pictures to share with the group!

Community Trail Planning Meeting - July 14th! Please Attend

2010-06-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Remember the $50,000 in Trail Bond Funds that is dedicated to Billy Goat Hill? Recall what a muddy mess the lower trail is in the winter and how steep it is always? Its time to get started fixing it!!

The evening of Wednesday July 14th, at 6:30 in the Upper Noe Rec Center, we are hosting a discussion about the plans for fixing the lower trail with the SFRPD Natural Areas Program and Capital Improvements Team. They will present the design concept and ask for our feedback. An advanced sneak peek assures me that you will like what you see! The lower entrance will also be much more inviting and will look like a park entrance. A new trail will be carved with switch-backs and an gentler slope. Drainage will be dealt with. Dangerous trails will be covered up. The RPD staff current expect that we can get started as early as September!

We will also discuss ideas for getting more volunteers (particularly young, strong ones) involved in this trail project. Volunteers will critically important to the success of this park improvement project.

Please join us for refreshments and a fun discussion about improving our neighborhood park, Billy Goat Hill.

Summer Clean-Up set for July 31st!

2010-06-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Friends of Billy Goat Hill save the date - Saturday, July 31st from 9am - Noon for our quarterly clean-up day with Licia, Christopher and the gang from SFPD Natural Areas Program. We will be trimming brush up top, clearing weeds down below, and fixing steps in the middle. See U in July! I'll send out reminders as we get closer.

A few friends of BGH are meeting every Wednesday at noon for weed pulling so if you want to spend a few hours in the fresh air, bring your gloves and meet us in the weeds!

Fungus Among Us - More Mushrooms!

2010-05-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Jeanne Koelling & I were weeding the other day and happened upon this gorgeous mushroom. Jeanne has some experience with mushroom identification and deduced that this is most likely "Lepiota rachodes" - commonly found in shade under trees and shrubs. The cap on this mushroom measured 9.5 inches! We found this one under the 25 year old ceonothus trees with the white blossoms at the top of the hill. Although, Lepiota rachodes is supposed to be edible, dogs are known to visit this tree so eating it would be gross! Anyway, its just beautiful to look it. Enjoy!

OMG!! Clean-Up Day This Saturday - March 20th!

2010-03-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a late-notice posting! I FORGOT!
Licia, Christopher and the team from the Natural Areas Program reminded me that we have a clean-up day at Billy Goat scheduled this Saturday, March 20th from 9am-noon. We will again meet both the top of the hill and the bottom of the hill at 9am. At Beacon street, we have tree branches to load into trucks and steps to clear and repair and weeding is always needed. At Laidley street, we need to tend our recent platings, get rid of more cape ivy and radish and maybe strategize on how to divert the river off the lower trail - it was a MESS again this year!
The wildflowers are so beautiful right now - pink checkerblooms, yellow ranunculas, the lupen is about to bloom, even our iris patch is blooming. Not to mention, the famous saxifrage which has cute little flowers the size of ladybugs. Help us drum up volunteers - bring your neighbors, call your friends! It should be a beautiful day!

Check out the Buckeyes - They are getting ready to Bloom!

2010-02-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE Aesculus californica

About 8 years ago, 7 Buckeye seedlings were planted on the north slope of Billy Goat Hill. In addition to being beautiful trees that belong in coastal pastureland like BGH, they also help control erosion with their root system. I admit that Buckeyes are my favorite deciduous tree! Here are some facts that I gathered from various websites, mostly Cal Academy of Sciences:

Cal Buckeyes had multiple cultural uses among California Indian tribes. Many indigenous groups utilized buckeye seeds for food, often when other plant food sources were scarce. These tribes included the Costanoan, Salinan, Kitanemuk, Serrano, Wappo, Sierra Miwok, Coast Miwok, Chumash, Kawaiisu, Northern Maidu, Pomo among others. The seeds are poisonous to humans in the raw state. The bark, leaves, and fruits contain the neurotoxics glycoside aesculin, which causes hemolysis of red blood cells. Thus, the nuts were cracked open with a rock, the shells removed, the seeds pounded into flour, and their toxic saponins removed in a lengthy leaching process. The meal was subsequently cooked and eaten. The seeds have medicinal properties and were cut into pieces, mixed with water, and made into suppositories for hemorrhoids by the Costanoan and Kawaiisu. The Pomo cut bark from the base of the tree and made a poultice, which was laid on a snakebite. Young buckeye shoots were sometimes used as spindles or twirling sticks in fire-making kits of the Sierra Miwok, Northern Maidu, Wappo, Yahi and other tribes. Many tribes mashed buckeye nuts and poured the contents into quiet pools to stupefy or kill fish.

Bees – NoNo! Butterflies Hummingbirds – YesYes! The nectar of the buckeye flowers is also toxic, and it can kill honeybees. However, Azure butterflies (Celastrina ladon echo, aka Echo Blue) can often be seen all over a tree-- buckeye flower buds and flowers are its caterpillar cuisine! Buckeyes are a great butterfly nectar plant, being so large and flowering in a season of butterfly abundance. Hummingbirds also visit buckeye flowers.

Successful Planting Day on BGH!!!

2010-01-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

WOW! Hard Work, Fun, and Overall Satisfying Day!!

We had No Rain (hooray!), Lots of Neighbors (fun!), and literally Hundreds of Native Plants (hard work!) and I know there were a few sore backs on Sunday!

It may not look like much more then a pile of wet straw but over the next few years this planting effort will transform the Laidley entrance to Billy Goat Hill into a shaded, fragrant haven for bee, butterfly, and birds as well as for kids and adults to enjoy.

With the existing huckleberries and the added coffeeberry & hollyleaf cherry trees, the birds will have a feast! It may take 20 years til we can picnic under the oaks & buckeye trees but it will be worth the wait! We should see more butterflies and bees as early as this summer! The beacon street native wildflower garden should also be in full bloom by summer.

There is still more to do...

at the Laidley entrance, there is more Cape Ivy that needs to be removed or it will cover and kill all the new plants. Stay tuned for a regularly scheduled gardening plan! In the mean time - check out the photos and congratulations neighbors for a great day of neighborhood improvement!

PLANTING DAY IS FINALLY HERE!!!

2010-01-12T14:03:00.001-08:00

Join us this Saturday, January 16th from 9am - noon for tree and wildflower planting!

It's that time again for the quarterly community workday at Billy Goat Hill Natural Area! Join your neighbors, SF Park & Rec Natural Area Dept & Friends of the Urban Forest to plant trees at the Laidley Street entrance and a native wildflower garden at the Beacon Street entrance to Billy Goat Hill Natural Area. If time allows, we will also do our usual invasive weed pulling, trash pick-up, and trail maintenance work. There are lots of wildflowers getting ready for a big spring bloom and the naturalists will end the day with a wildflower educational walk around the

park.

The more neighborhood volunteers that show up and support Billy Goat Hill, the more chance we have of getting funds to rebuild our trails and resources to help maintain the park! So even if you can't join in the digging and planting fun, please join us for coffee and socializing with neighbors. Don't forget to bring your friends!

We will gather at the top-of-the-hill (Beacon Street) and the bottom-of-the-hill (Laidley Street) at 9am. See you there!

Holiday Greetings from Billy Goat Hill

2009-12-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

A red kite tail hanging from the Monterey Pine at the top of Billy Goat Hill looks like a holiday ornament.
Happy Holidays Neighbors!
See you in 2010 at the January 16th tree planting!

Bevan Dufty, Can you help us get a sidewalk?

2009-12-11T12:33:00.001-08:00

We met with our Supervisor, Bevan Dufty, this morning to update him on our 2009 activities to improve Billy Goat Hill, our planned activities for 2010 and to personally ask for his help in getting a decent sidewalk along the Beacon street perimeter of park. No hard promises yet but Bevan understood the need as a safety issue and promised to investigate. GO! BEVAN! GO!

We also mentioned to Bevan the great team at SFNAP (the Natural Areas Program of Park & Rec) and said we'd like to see their lovely faces (and their trucks, tools & plants) more frequently - SFNAP needs more funding!! Lisa, Licia, Christopher & the whole staff at SFNAP - thanks for a great year of collaboration!

Billy Goat Hill should be a place for Noe Valley children to safety hike, learn about native plants & butterflies, and have a picnic (pack in, pack out of course). We aren't there yet but hopefully in a few years.

What are those giant Mushrooms on BGH?

2009-11-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Siullus pungens commonly refered to as Slippery Jacks. Apparently nasty and slimy to eat. Lives in harmony with the Monterey pines. These mushrooms are growing on the north slope just below the top of the hill below the pines and above the buckeyes

$50,000 for Trail Improvements!!

2009-10-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I attended the SF Rec & Park, Natural Areas Program Open House Barbeque. It was nice to socialize with Lisa, Licia, Christopher as well as meet other neighborhood groups working to improve their local natural areas. Among the many educational displays was a report on the planned distribution of Trail Improvement Bond Funding.
I'm happy to report that thanks to the advocacy of 'Friends of Billy Goat Hill' and the support of the SFNAP leadership, Billy Goat Hill is currently allocated $50,000 of the Bond funds for trail improvement! Great news!! We look forward to the planning process in 2010 and the trail improvement work to begin in early 2011.
That's to Lisa and the SFNAP team for their support. The SFNAP Barbeque was great fun and educational for kids and adults alike. Next year, we'll make sure to send everyone an e-mail reminder of the date.

January 16th Planting Date Confirmed

2009-08-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

We will be planting trees on Billy Goat Hill on Saturday, January 16th from 9AM - Noon, with the aid of the Rec and Park folks and the Friends of the Urban Forest. I encourage everyone to give suggestions on the types of native trees that you'd like to see. We are not removing any trees but will trim back dead or dangerous branches as well.

I hope we'll have a large turnout, as this will be a lot of work!

September 19th - Next Cleanup

2009-07-04T09:21:00.001-07:00

Quarterly cleanups continue. I was thinking Sep 19th. Also, I've contacted the folks at The Noe Valley Voice, and am trying to arrange some coverage of the event. I think it would be very interesting to explore the history of the neighborhood and the efforts that went into the preservation of BGH as a natural area. Also, Rec and Park is interested in planting several native trees, but that may have to wait until later in the Fall.

Mo

June Clean-up Completed!

2009-06-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lisa, Licia, Jon and Tom from the Park and Rec Natural Areas team for some great Clean-up efforts on Saturday, June 20th!

Working with volunteers - Dot, Frank, Lenny, Jeff, Evelyn, and Lisa G down at the Laidley entrance - Lisa and Tom helped us clear the entire sidewalk and start clearing invasive radish away from the trailhead. Mo and Katie worked with Jon on installing 5 more steps on the upper trail and David and Jeanne worked with Licia on trimming back brush along beacon street. Our injured neighbors helped also with Fred supplied cold soft drinks and Jodi cheering us on with the help of Kobi the beautiful boxer.

Vacations schedules impacted the number of neighbors available Saturday (nine working volunteers) so we had more work planned then we accomplished but that's okay - we'll save it for next quarters clean up! Tentatively save the third Saturday in September (Sept 19th) for the next clean-up day.

June 20th - Next Cleanup

2009-04-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our next quarterly cleanup and trail maintenance day is set for Saturday, June 20th from 9AM - Noon. This is the weekend of Father's day. Put it on your schedules! Check out the photos from our last cleanup!

2009-03-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 27th was a spectacular day. This is the view under the Eucalyptus trees.

2009 First Quarter Clean-up a Huge Success!

2009-03-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

With over 25 neighbors working with the awesome team from Rec & Park Natural Areas , we completed all the work that we set out to do! Congratulations everyone!
Trails were repaired, brush was cut back and cleaned out. Several steps were replaced down by the rope swing area and an interim drainage trough was built to help with the muddy steps at the bottom of the hill.
It was great to see the kids involved as well. Jacob and Brian helped build the steps and Josh and Elena hauled away brush.
Thanks so much to Christopher, John, Elisha, Lisa , and others from SFNAP - see you next quarter! In the mean time, we'll keep weeding and cleaning up. Pictures coming soon!

Please join our Google Group!

March 21st Cleanup

2009-03-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Clean-Up and Trail Maintenance Day
Saturday, March 21st - from 9am to Noon

Did you know that Billy Goat Hill is one of San Francisco's 31 official "significant natural resource areas", city-owned open spaces that contain significant remnants of the city's original vegetation and ecosystems? Lesser goldfinches and barn swallows breed at Billy Goat and the locally significant native plant, California saxifrage (saxifraga californica), was recently spotted on the north slope. Join the SF Rec and Park Natural Area Dept to trim bushes, build trails and pull invasive weeds. While we work, the staff will teach us about the native plants that live on Billy Goat Hill.

!!! Neighborhood Volunteers Needed !!!

The more neighborhood volunteers that show up and support Billy Goat Hill, the more chance we have of getting funding to rebuild our trails! We will gather at the top-of-the-hill (Beacon Street) at 9am. An RSVP to ghotbifamily@gmail.com will help the Rec and Park Staff ensure they have enough equipment.