12-Acre
Closure Book
1:FFDW Org
2:Enabling
3:Survey
6:Erosion
Editor: fortfunston@hotmail.com
Webmaster: Wedosites@mail.com
Become a member:
Fort
Funston Dog Walkers
Who
We Are. What
We Do.
Fort Funston Dog Walkers is an association of over 700 Fort Funston recreational users. Not all of our members have dogs">
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12-Acre Closure Book
1:FFDW Org
2:Enabling
3:Survey
6:Erosion
Editor: fortfunston@hotmail.com
Webmaster: Wedosites@mail.com
Become a member:
|
Fort
Funston Dog Walkers Who
We Are. What
We Do. Fort Funston Dog Walkers is an association of over 700 Fort Funston recreational users. Not all of our members have dogs, but they all enjoy walking at the Fort. Most of our members reside in the Bay Area, but some live as far away as Ohio. We formed the organization in 1992 in response to a threat to our continued use of Fort Funston as an off-leash recreation area. We publish a newsletter three times each year, collect dues (now $10 annually), and supply clean-up bags in the park. Our mission is to educate our members, improve Fort Funston, and liaise with Park Service officials. It is important to understand that visitors to Fort Funston differ from visitors to other parks. Many of us are at Fort Funston every day, year-round – rain or shine, windy or calm. We doubt that any other area in the GGNRA (and perhaps the National Park Service) has an equivalent, fully committed base of visitors. Educate
We discovered that, although our members love Fort Funston, they were completely in the dark on issues related to the Fort. In newsletters and e-mails, we tell members what is happening at the Fort, as well as what is expected from them. For example, at the Park Service’s request, we wrote an article on what to do if they are involved in a rescue. We let them know about the unexploded ordnance that has been found or what to do if a seal or sea lion is ill (on the beach). We publish rules of behavior that include zero tolerance for not cleaning up after pets and not leashing unruly dogs. We warned our members about the newly treacherous cliffs along the Sunset Trail. Essentially, we are the Park Service’s communication link to a vast number of Fort Funston’s daily visitors. In addition, we communicate frequently with Park Service employees and always ask if there is anything we should publish in our newsletters. When we were asked to write an article on how to deal with sick seals and sea lions, we drove to the Marine Mammal Center to pick up their materials, and then glued this material into 600 newsletters so that it wouldn’t fall out during mailing. It should be obvious that we are willing to spend many hours to insure that our members are as fully informed as possible. We believe that this has contributed to a more loyal group of park users who treat Fort Funston with a great deal of pride of ownership. Improve
In 1996, we began monthly cleanups, and with the exception of holiday weekends and inclement weather, we have had held a cleanup on the first Saturday of every month since then. Although these cleanups originally focused on dog poop, many members use these occasions to clean a particular part of the Fort that they are particularly fond of. We remove hundreds of cigarette butts, candy wrappers, old cable, glass, and other debris. At one cleanup, several members brought rakes and bags to remove the glass and debris left in one of the Battery Davis tunnels. One member brings a sifter and heavy gloves to clean the glass in front of Battery Davis. Several members bring large plastic bags on their daily beach walks and pick up hundreds of plastic bottles, lids, straws, Styrofoam, and other beach debris. We’ve noted that the litter on the beach is primarily generated by the two sewer outfalls and have notified both Daly City and San Francisco of the problem. If the situation doesn’t improve, our organization will escalate our efforts with both cities so that they stop practices that contribute to beach litter. Until recently, we purchased and stocked the Mutt-Mitt pick up bag (at a total cost to us of $9,000). As a consequence of the high costs of this litigation, however, we have suspended purchasing these expensive clean-up bags. We continue to restock all of the bag dispensers on a daily basis. The important point is that we treat Fort Funston as if it was ours, and we want to leave it cleaner and safer than we found it. Liaise
We worked closely with Ranger Jim Milestone until his transfer in 1995. Subsequent to his transfer, we have been less successful in identifying anyone within the Park Service who has authority at Fort Funston. We always have been interested in participating more fully with the Park Service on projects of mutual interest and in raising funds to support these projects. In 1998, we contacted Liz Scanlan of the GGNPA to ask for help in channeling funds to the Park Service for a new water fountain. Ms. Scanlan put us in touch with Tracy Fortmann of the Park Service and we began an 18-month discussion that culminated in a new water fountain at Fort Funston. (As we envisioned, the new water fountain was an immediate success and has become a popular place to socialize with other recreational users.) Our organization is very interested in working with the Park Service on projects of mutual interest. For example, Fort Funston is overrun with foxtails. These get into our dogs’ skin, lungs, and nasal passages, requiring expensive trips to the veterinarian. Could the Park Service and FFDW join in removing these noxious weeds? Another example is the new water fountain. It would be an even more popular site if new benches were installed to allow park visitors to congregate, socialize, and take advantage of the beautiful view toward Lake Merced. We would be willing to fund this effort. Summary
We understand that the National Park Service developed its first Strategic Plan in 1997. We believe we can assist the local Park Service in meeting several of the goals stated in the national plan, in particular the following: ·
National Long-term Goal: By
September 30, 2002, increase by 10%, over the 1997 level, the number of
volunteer hours. ·
National Long-term Goal: By
September 30, 2002, increase by 10%, over 1997 levels, the dollar amount of
in-kind donations received from friends groups. Our organization’s name is not descriptive of our goals
– we are actually a “Friends of Fort Funston” association. We know the Fort, we love the Fort, and we are willing to
invest time and money in making it an even better place to visit.
We also believe that we are an
untapped resource for the Park Service; think
of what we could accomplish by working together!
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