From Murray Schneider, Glen Park News correspondent:
Led by their teacher Eliza Shepard, a class of San Francisco State University biology students posed for a photograph preparatory to beginning a trek through Glen Canyon Park on Wednesday, September 29th. Their undergraduate class, “World of Plants,” studies California native plants, which the students found in abundance as they walked past Islais Creek and then along the rising slopes and canyon trails.
Native Arroyo willow is abundant in Glen Canyon Park, acting as an important habitat for nesting birds. It grows exponentially, however, layering itself and re-rooting if not annually pruned. Left to its own devices, willow encroaches upon other plants such as Friends of Glen Canyon Park reintroduced California Alder trees, themselves sanctuaries for song birds due to their unique horizontal branch structure. Pictured on Wednesday, September 29th is Randy Zabell, San Francisco Recreation and Park naturalist, completing his task of trimming Islais Creek willow from intruding upon adjacent Alders.
