Beach Chalet Soccer Fields - Golden Gate Park - documentary

For more information on this project, please go to www.sfoceanedge.org
Send comments to sfoceanedge@earthlink.net.
An original video by SF State Film students:
Crew:
Dexter Ho - Director, Editor
Nathaniel Harris - Sound Mixer, Graphic Designer
Ashlee Szot - Camera Operator
Jen Paquette - First Assistant Camera
Camilla Savoia, Sam Hicks, Sadie Yeager, Laura Wolfe

Special Thanks to:
Noreen Weeden, John Rizzo, Gene Thompson, Roy Leggitt
Dennis Antenore, George Wooding, Dennis Mosgofian, Kathy Howard
San Francisco State University Cinema Department
The Golden Gate Park Preservation Alliance
SF Ocean Edge

All the people who planned, built, protected, and now take care of Golden Gate Park.

Notes on the birds, courtesy of GG Audubon:
350 species 10 million waterbirds use the Pacific Flyway to migrate each spring and fall. Golden Gate Park and adjacent Ocean Beach are parts of the Pacific Flyway, an important migratory route that extends from Alaska and Canada to South America that birds take to their winter feeding sites and to their spring breeding grounds.

Some of the birds that nest in Golden Gate Park include
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Brewers Blackbird
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Robin
Song Sparrow
California Towhee
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Mockingbird
Bushtit
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Western Scrub Jay
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow

There are likely more but we have not done a monitoring survey. Data can be found in the San Francisco Field Ornithologists Breeding Bird Atlas - draft version.
See section 4080 http://sffo1.markeaton.org/Breeding%20Ecology/San%20Francisco%20Breeding%20Bi...


VTS_01_1.VOB

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Ocean Beach park environment
• artificial turf
• wildlife habitat

[SunsetCitizen]

Again, thanks for writing. And I will have to sign off after this comment for a few days, but I wanted to let you know that we support a complete renovation of the West Sunset fields with lights, if necessary. It can be artificial turf or other surface that will hold up. This is part of our Compromise Alternative. We will post more soon on our website. 

[SunsetCitizen]

Thank you for writing. Actually, the field is part of nature now, as we would be glad to talk about on a field trip -- if youl would like to, we could try to arrange that. It is fascinating to learn about the raptors and other inhabitants of the area. The beauty of having a grass playing field in the park is that it can be part of nature and also be used for soccer practice.

Regarding your other question, it seems that West Sunset Playing Field would be a good solution for local players.

[SunsetCitizen]

The following string of comments is an effort to respond to concerns expressed below.

SF Ocean Edge.

[SunsetCitizen]

If we decide to build the soccer complex, and then the water treatment factory, and then more and more -- well, we will have no park left. Just a bunch of paid and paved attractions with a few trees sprinkled here and there to remind us that this was once a great landscape park, in which everyone, young, old, poor, rich, athletic or frail, could enjoy nature. This is worth protecting for future generations of adults and - yes - for future generations of children.

[SunsetCitizen]

(Response) Hunters Point: Actually, a lot of children live in Hunter's Point. In fact, at the DEIR hearing a team leader said that his teams come from southeastern SF. The Draft EIR states that players will arrive at Beach Chalet in cars. Do the Hunter's Point kids all have cars? Wouldn't it make sense to have more fields available where the kids are?

[SunsetCitizen]

(Response) Nature and children: You seem sensitive to the concerns of children.  Have you heard of Nature Deficit Disorder? It is a situation in our contemporary world in which children lose sensitivity to nature and to its value. Do we really want to teach this generation - and future generations - that when nature becomes inconvenient, it is OK to destroy it?

[Drleggo]

West Sunset has no lights and no turf which makes it impossible to play on under these conditions. That is my point. Kids who live in the sunset, like myself, are forced to bus an hr and a half to crocker or kimball to play at night or in rainy conditions. Its a serious problem.

[Drleggo]

Im very "sensitive" to issues concerning children because I myself am a youth and youth coach. Im 15 yrs old and have been playing soccer for 11 of those yrs. Teams, like my own and the ones I coach, are in constant need of fields with lights and artificial turf, especially during these winter months or cannot play at all. And how about the kids, like myself, who live in the sunset and need a field at night? Where do we go? And sorry to break it to you but a soccer field is not part of nature.

[SunsetCitizen]

(Response) Parks and rain: The park is enjoyed by people who like to walk in the rain. This is part of enjoying being out in nature. The park is also habitat for wildlife . They also appreciate the lack of people for at least a few hours. Constant human presence is a detriment to survival for many birds -- listen to the Audubon testimony at the DEIR hearing for this information.

[SunsetCitizen]

(Response) Evening play: There are a few winter months when it is too dark to play at Beach Chalet. Recognizing the need for more hours for kids in the winter, we have proposed the Compromise Alternative. This is to renovate the Beach Chalet fields with real grass and NO lights AND to renovate the West Sunset fields -- or other fields in the city - with a new surface and some lighting. This would have the added benefit of increasing playing time for everyone. SFOE