00:00:13.635 --> 00:00:15.734
- [woman] The Mission
Blue butterfly once lived

00:00:15.734 --> 00:00:17.685
all over the Bay Area.

00:00:20.905 --> 00:00:23.175
They now only live on San Bruno Mountain,

00:00:23.175 --> 00:00:26.060
and a few other isolated populations.

00:00:29.830 --> 00:00:33.368
I see the butterfly in my mind's eye.

00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:37.156
I get a stream of flashbacks

00:00:37.156 --> 00:00:38.389
of being on the mountain

00:00:38.389 --> 00:00:40.642
and seeing the different butterflies.

00:00:41.660 --> 00:00:43.261
But what I really see the butterfly as

00:00:43.261 --> 00:00:46.981
is a harbinger of like
what's our future gonna be.

00:00:46.981 --> 00:00:49.050
(guitar music)

00:01:19.164 --> 00:01:20.419
- [voiceover] San Bruno Mountain

00:01:20.419 --> 00:01:22.757
covers 3,600 square acres,

00:01:22.757 --> 00:01:24.502
and was first settled by native people

00:01:24.502 --> 00:01:26.687
over 5,000 years ago.

00:01:28.639 --> 00:01:30.108
Granted in the 19th century

00:01:30.108 --> 00:01:32.391
to the son-in-law of a Spanish general,

00:01:32.391 --> 00:01:34.546
it was mostly used as cattle grazing

00:01:34.546 --> 00:01:36.564
until the 1960s.

00:01:38.416 --> 00:01:40.384
Just a mile from San Francisco,

00:01:40.384 --> 00:01:43.087
today the mountain is
completely surrounded

00:01:43.087 --> 00:01:44.906
by urbanization.

00:01:48.786 --> 00:01:50.167
But parts of the mountain

00:01:50.167 --> 00:01:52.557
are still a pristine wilderness,

00:01:52.557 --> 00:01:54.666
home to three endangered butterflies

00:01:54.666 --> 00:01:58.018
and 13 rare and endangered plants.

00:02:01.740 --> 00:02:05.713
- Right in this little area
is a little creek comes down.

00:02:05.713 --> 00:02:06.944
[Michele] I'm really privileged

00:02:06.944 --> 00:02:10.030
to share San Bruno Mountain
with people who come.

00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:15.857
Many of the animals have
a very tight relationship

00:02:15.857 --> 00:02:17.632
with the native plants.

00:02:17.632 --> 00:02:20.458
For instance, the Mission Blue butterfly

00:02:20.458 --> 00:02:24.929
uses the native lupine for its host plant.

00:02:24.929 --> 00:02:26.731
That's the only plant it uses.

00:02:26.731 --> 00:02:28.316
It doesn't use any other plant.

00:02:32.303 --> 00:02:33.537
You'll see a lot of butterflies

00:02:33.537 --> 00:02:36.041
flying in this area right here.

00:02:36.041 --> 00:02:38.076
There's a Mission Blue.

00:02:38.076 --> 00:02:40.242
The Mission Blue fly in the spring.

00:02:41.246 --> 00:02:43.614
They mate, they taste all of the lupines

00:02:43.614 --> 00:02:45.182
to find the one that's the sweetest

00:02:45.182 --> 00:02:47.001
that they want to lay their eggs on.

00:02:48.920 --> 00:02:51.789
The eggs hatch and
there's an ant that comes

00:02:51.789 --> 00:02:54.908
and cleans the sugar off of the larvae.

00:02:56.161 --> 00:02:59.063
The ant keeps all the
predators and parasites

00:02:59.063 --> 00:03:01.398
away from the larvae of the butterfly.

00:03:01.398 --> 00:03:04.002
The link between the ant and the butterfly

00:03:04.002 --> 00:03:06.704
is essential to their survival.

00:03:06.704 --> 00:03:08.473
See where the edges are bitten out?

00:03:08.473 --> 00:03:10.241
I've always been able to show people

00:03:10.241 --> 00:03:11.510
bite marks on this plant.

00:03:11.510 --> 00:03:13.651
It's obviously a favorite plant

00:03:13.651 --> 00:03:15.462
of the Mission Blue.

00:03:16.381 --> 00:03:19.117
I'm not sure we understand
the whole ramifications

00:03:19.117 --> 00:03:20.899
of what its life cycle is like.

00:03:20.899 --> 00:03:22.803
Our knowledge is lacking.

00:03:23.688 --> 00:03:26.691
When there's 20 lupine plant right here,

00:03:26.691 --> 00:03:28.926
why do they all want to go to that one

00:03:28.926 --> 00:03:30.611
and not that one?

00:03:33.097 --> 00:03:36.367
- [man] Do you recall more
insects on the mountain?

00:03:36.367 --> 00:03:38.236
- [Michele] Oh, way more. Oh yeah.

00:03:38.236 --> 00:03:39.738
Butterflies? Oh yeah.

00:03:39.738 --> 00:03:42.073
We used to just sit here on these hills

00:03:42.073 --> 00:03:45.043
and they would swarm, they would
just be all over the place.

00:03:45.043 --> 00:03:46.210
You were afraid to open your mouth

00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:47.661
when you breathe.

00:03:50.582 --> 00:03:51.917
- [voiceover] The Mission Blue butterfly

00:03:51.917 --> 00:03:55.169
was listed as an
endangered species in 1976.

00:03:57.321 --> 00:03:59.089
Urban development and invasive weeds

00:03:59.089 --> 00:04:01.509
threaten its ability to thrive.

00:04:04.228 --> 00:04:06.465
- I bring a lot of students
out to the mountain.

00:04:06.465 --> 00:04:07.716
They have no idea that it's anything

00:04:07.716 --> 00:04:09.300
other than this big, grassy hill.

00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:11.166
Mainly, you can see it from the 101.

00:04:11.166 --> 00:04:13.071
There's a whole bunch of new species

00:04:13.071 --> 00:04:16.007
that had been brought in
here with human activity,

00:04:16.007 --> 00:04:17.809
and you can see that yellow flower

00:04:17.809 --> 00:04:20.267
all over in the bushes over there,

00:04:20.267 --> 00:04:22.247
that is known as French broom.

00:04:22.247 --> 00:04:23.547
It loves the open habitat of grasslands,

00:04:23.547 --> 00:04:25.249
so it'll grow in and cover a grassland

00:04:25.249 --> 00:04:27.085
and shift the whole ecosystem.

00:04:27.085 --> 00:04:29.387
The lupines are impeded by the competition

00:04:29.387 --> 00:04:31.255
with all the other plants around them.

00:04:31.255 --> 00:04:33.524
So, the Mission Blue
butterfly would eventually

00:04:33.524 --> 00:04:35.326
be out-competed by this plant

00:04:35.326 --> 00:04:37.278
and eliminated, and go extinct.

00:04:39.197 --> 00:04:41.099
Plants are bringing food into the system,

00:04:41.099 --> 00:04:42.734
and insects are one of the main ways

00:04:42.734 --> 00:04:44.701
in which that food moves into

00:04:44.701 --> 00:04:46.993
the lizards, the snakes, the birds.

00:04:50.774 --> 00:04:53.927
Lacking that caterpillar,
that food just sits there.

00:04:55.547 --> 00:04:57.832
The energy doesn't move
into the ecosystem,

00:04:57.832 --> 00:05:00.168
and doesn't support any higher animals.

00:05:03.255 --> 00:05:05.656
Ecosystems co-evolve over
long periods of time.

00:05:05.656 --> 00:05:07.693
If we lost too many of these species,

00:05:07.693 --> 00:05:09.444
this system wouldn't be the same.

00:05:10.962 --> 00:05:14.281
There'd be a quiet place with some grass.

00:05:16.968 --> 00:05:19.003
- Our civilization is utterly dependent

00:05:19.003 --> 00:05:21.521
on the functioning of natural ecosystems.

00:05:22.474 --> 00:05:24.543
Not only do we depend on the ecosystems

00:05:24.543 --> 00:05:26.310
of the planet for our food,

00:05:26.310 --> 00:05:28.650
we depend upon them for fresh water,

00:05:28.650 --> 00:05:30.548
for having the right mix of gases

00:05:30.548 --> 00:05:32.800
in the atmosphere that we breathe.

00:05:33.817 --> 00:05:37.355
We're part of the planetary ecosystem.

00:05:37.355 --> 00:05:39.925
When we remove organisms from the system,

00:05:39.925 --> 00:05:41.927
we're essentially gambling that we're not

00:05:41.927 --> 00:05:43.711
gonna hurt humanity.

00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.623
- The fabric of life is woven tight.

00:05:48.623 --> 00:05:52.080
And when you pull on a thread,

00:05:52.080 --> 00:05:55.680
and pull one out and it disappears,

00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:01.078
the fabric that's left is a little weaker.

00:06:01.078 --> 00:06:03.998
And this is what losing species is.

00:06:07.518 --> 00:06:09.537
(banjo music)

00:06:15.678 --> 00:06:16.693
We have stewardship programs

00:06:16.693 --> 00:06:18.717
where people go up in the mountain

00:06:18.717 --> 00:06:21.999
and pull invasive species
and give more opportunity

00:06:21.999 --> 00:06:24.218
for the native grasses to grow.

00:06:25.913 --> 00:06:26.718
- [Joe] A lot of people,

00:06:26.718 --> 00:06:28.473
when they come to a park, there's a fence,

00:06:28.473 --> 00:06:29.940
and they look over at
nature across the fence,

00:06:29.940 --> 00:06:32.310
and they go back in their
car and they go home.

00:06:32.310 --> 00:06:33.310
The view is that's natural.

00:06:33.310 --> 00:06:34.646
There's green stuff over there,

00:06:34.646 --> 00:06:36.831
you have a fence around it, it's safe.

00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:39.551
But nature's changing,

00:06:39.551 --> 00:06:41.789
and we need to interact with it directly.

00:06:41.789 --> 00:06:43.104
We just have to do it well.

00:06:44.889 --> 00:06:46.457
Because of so many things we've done,

00:06:46.457 --> 00:06:48.327
both directly on this land and globally,

00:06:48.327 --> 00:06:49.494
we're gonna have to manage

00:06:49.494 --> 00:06:51.155
for biodiversity going forward.

00:06:52.096 --> 00:06:53.131
What's great with volunteers

00:06:53.131 --> 00:06:54.466
is they actually jump over the fence

00:06:54.466 --> 00:06:55.233
and they come out here

00:06:55.233 --> 00:06:57.051
and they actually interact
directly with nature,

00:06:57.051 --> 00:06:58.669
and it's a way of breaking down this idea

00:06:58.669 --> 00:07:01.004
that nature is this fragile,
little perfect thing,

00:07:01.004 --> 00:07:03.081
that if we just stay on
our side of the fence

00:07:03.081 --> 00:07:04.512
it'll just be fine.

00:07:06.110 --> 00:07:08.145
This is the French bloom seedlings.

00:07:08.145 --> 00:07:10.698
As it spreads, it out-competes
the native butterfly plants.

00:07:14.753 --> 00:07:16.537
The good news is we can get rid of them.

00:07:16.537 --> 00:07:18.156
We'll still have to come
back for the next 10 years

00:07:18.156 --> 00:07:20.642
and make sure individuals don't continue.

00:07:23.724 --> 00:07:24.729
- [Michele] There's a certain joy

00:07:24.729 --> 00:07:26.647
of working together on the mountain.

00:07:28.432 --> 00:07:30.334
There's a bond that grows up around that

00:07:30.334 --> 00:07:33.471
with the people that you
weed with all the time.

00:07:33.471 --> 00:07:35.039
Sometimes you have to almost shame people

00:07:35.039 --> 00:07:36.741
into coming and helping.

00:07:36.741 --> 00:07:40.160
And once they come, they
fall in love with it.

00:07:42.840 --> 00:07:43.628
- When I was a kid,

00:07:43.628 --> 00:07:44.746
the only thing you could see was

00:07:44.746 --> 00:07:46.411
the Bay Bridge sticking up.

00:07:46.411 --> 00:07:49.220
None of these houses were here at all.

00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:51.905
- [Michele] I lived in
Brisbane all of my life.

00:07:53.404 --> 00:07:56.294
My mom moved to Brisbane in 1930,

00:07:56.294 --> 00:07:58.278
and she grew up on San Bruno Mountain.

00:07:59.330 --> 00:08:01.699
My dad moved to California,
he came to Brisbane,

00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:04.184
and met my mom, and
that's where they settled.

00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:07.772
Growing up in Brisbane,

00:08:07.772 --> 00:08:09.107
we had the best of both worlds

00:08:09.107 --> 00:08:10.708
because we lived in a small country town

00:08:10.708 --> 00:08:13.779
but we were on the edge of
one of the largest cities

00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:15.629
on the west coast, San Francisco.

00:08:18.049 --> 00:08:19.483
You'd go up there after school

00:08:19.483 --> 00:08:21.885
and then nestle down in the tall grass

00:08:21.885 --> 00:08:23.487
and let the wind blow over you,

00:08:23.487 --> 00:08:25.022
and the butterflies fly over you

00:08:25.022 --> 00:08:27.209
while you just watched the world.

00:08:31.863 --> 00:08:34.632
I don't think that there
was ever a time in my life

00:08:34.632 --> 00:08:37.918
when I wasn't aware of
environmental issues.

00:08:39.202 --> 00:08:41.656
My awareness of what was happening

00:08:41.656 --> 00:08:45.192
started to pique during my teenage years.

00:08:47.042 --> 00:08:49.146
I can remember the first Earth Day,

00:08:49.146 --> 00:08:51.049
April 22, 1970,

00:08:51.049 --> 00:08:52.850
and making the signs and carrying them

00:08:52.850 --> 00:08:56.137
and protesting what we
were doing to the earth.

00:08:57.723 --> 00:08:59.624
So when I graduated from high school

00:08:59.624 --> 00:09:01.126
and went to San Francisco State,

00:09:01.126 --> 00:09:03.060
my major was Botany and Ecology.

00:09:03.060 --> 00:09:06.431
And ecology was a brand new thing then.

00:09:06.431 --> 00:09:07.866
("Hail to the Chief")

00:09:10.076 --> 00:09:11.970
- [Nixon] Each of us all
across this great land

00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:14.372
has a stake in maintaining and improving

00:09:14.372 --> 00:09:16.740
environmental quality.

00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:18.075
Clean air and clean water,

00:09:18.075 --> 00:09:20.594
the protection of wildlife
and natural beauty.

00:09:21.678 --> 00:09:23.180
- [voiceover] In response to public outcry

00:09:23.180 --> 00:09:24.415
about the environment,

00:09:24.415 --> 00:09:27.818
Congress passed the
Endangered Species Act in 1973

00:09:27.818 --> 00:09:30.070
by an almost unanimous vote.

00:09:31.889 --> 00:09:33.758
President Nixon, a supporter of the bill,

00:09:33.758 --> 00:09:35.643
signed it into law.

00:09:36.495 --> 00:09:38.195
- [Philip] The purpose of
the Endangered Species Act

00:09:38.195 --> 00:09:40.799
was to protect species

00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:43.033
which had been severely imperiled.

00:09:43.033 --> 00:09:45.104
What the act specifically spells out

00:09:45.104 --> 00:09:48.248
is that it's the
government's responsibility

00:09:48.248 --> 00:09:52.043
not just to hold the species at the brink

00:09:52.043 --> 00:09:53.812
and keep it from extinction,

00:09:53.812 --> 00:09:55.646
but to actually recover the species

00:09:55.646 --> 00:09:57.318
so that it could actually be removed

00:09:57.318 --> 00:09:59.720
from the list of endangered species

00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.585
and be saved.

00:10:01.585 --> 00:10:03.674
- [Nixon] The time has come for man

00:10:03.674 --> 00:10:05.756
to make his peace with nature.

00:10:05.756 --> 00:10:08.521
The quality of our life on this good land

00:10:08.521 --> 00:10:12.663
is a cause to unite all Americans.

00:10:12.663 --> 00:10:14.414
(applause)

00:10:16.834 --> 00:10:19.203
- [Michele] The passing of
the Endangered Species Act

00:10:19.203 --> 00:10:21.772
was quite a coup when it happened.

00:10:21.772 --> 00:10:25.443
It was an amazing piece of legislation.

00:10:25.443 --> 00:10:26.911
It didn't just change what happens

00:10:26.911 --> 00:10:28.046
here in the United States.

00:10:28.046 --> 00:10:30.515
It kind of increased the
awareness around the world

00:10:30.515 --> 00:10:32.750
of what we were doing to our planet.

00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:35.052
And it was a step forward
for species rights,

00:10:35.052 --> 00:10:36.703
not just human rights.

00:10:43.160 --> 00:10:44.229
- [voiceover] In the 1950s,

00:10:44.229 --> 00:10:47.197
there was a population
explosion in the United States,

00:10:47.197 --> 00:10:49.333
and a lot of land
surrounding San Francisco

00:10:49.333 --> 00:10:51.017
was converted into housing.

00:10:53.671 --> 00:10:55.673
By the 60s, San Bruno Mountain

00:10:55.673 --> 00:10:58.542
had been passed down, traded, and sold,

00:10:58.542 --> 00:11:00.077
and was mostly owned

00:11:00.077 --> 00:11:02.713
by a partnership of
landowners and investors

00:11:02.713 --> 00:11:05.098
named West Bay Associates.

00:11:08.118 --> 00:11:08.952
- [Michele] When I was a kid,

00:11:08.952 --> 00:11:10.720
my mom found out about plans

00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:13.124
to take off the top of San Bruno Mountain

00:11:13.124 --> 00:11:14.459
and fill the bay.

00:11:14.459 --> 00:11:17.868
And it really spurred
the people of Brisbane

00:11:17.868 --> 00:11:22.466
to fight to stop the
urban renewal of Brisbane.

00:11:22.466 --> 00:11:23.783
It would have been gone.

00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:26.338
And we would have been replaced

00:11:26.338 --> 00:11:29.840
by 25,000 household city on what was left

00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:31.499
of San Bruno Mountain,

00:11:31.499 --> 00:11:35.095
and a new city and airport
all along the bay front.

00:11:36.079 --> 00:11:37.782
I can remember being a little kid

00:11:37.782 --> 00:11:39.918
and going around putting flyers on cars

00:11:39.918 --> 00:11:42.135
for people to vote.

00:11:43.354 --> 00:11:45.323
And my mom was really the driving force

00:11:45.323 --> 00:11:47.398
behind a lot of what happened.

00:11:48.888 --> 00:11:51.328
But women didn't run for office.

00:11:51.328 --> 00:11:53.797
It just didn't happen in those days.

00:11:53.797 --> 00:11:55.199
She's the one who convinced my dad

00:11:55.199 --> 00:11:57.724
that he should run for city council,

00:11:57.724 --> 00:11:58.769
and that he could win.

00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:00.220
And he did win.

00:12:01.772 --> 00:12:04.509
And the other thing
that saved the mountain

00:12:04.509 --> 00:12:06.628
was very controversial.

00:12:08.145 --> 00:12:11.132
San Francisco had been
dumping their garbage

00:12:11.132 --> 00:12:14.635
in San Francisco Bay in Brisbane

00:12:14.635 --> 00:12:16.469
for a very long time.

00:12:17.688 --> 00:12:18.655
When I was growing up,

00:12:18.655 --> 00:12:19.957
Brisbane was pretty much a blue collar,

00:12:19.957 --> 00:12:22.810
country western kind of little town.

00:12:23.761 --> 00:12:25.762
A lot of really independent spirits,

00:12:25.762 --> 00:12:27.998
a lot of people who really felt strongly

00:12:27.998 --> 00:12:30.250
about their independent spirit.

00:12:31.435 --> 00:12:32.454
There were conflicts.

00:12:32.454 --> 00:12:33.671
There were conflicts between the people

00:12:33.671 --> 00:12:35.886
who didn't think we should
fill the bay at all,

00:12:35.886 --> 00:12:36.941
people who didn't think

00:12:36.941 --> 00:12:38.642
we should fill the bay with garbage,

00:12:38.642 --> 00:12:40.044
and people who were like,

00:12:40.044 --> 00:12:42.145
"Let's fill it with
garbage and take the money,

00:12:42.145 --> 00:12:44.531
and be able to fight back."

00:12:46.384 --> 00:12:49.586
- I have a fear that if we
can't fill it with garbage,

00:12:49.586 --> 00:12:53.225
that it will eventually
be filled with clean dirt.

00:12:53.225 --> 00:12:54.324
That is fine.

00:12:54.324 --> 00:12:55.860
But clean dirt may come from the top

00:12:55.860 --> 00:12:57.831
of our San Bruno Mountain,

00:12:57.831 --> 00:12:59.680
and this I am opposed to.

00:12:59.680 --> 00:13:01.065
- [Michele] So it was
either dirt or garbage,

00:13:01.065 --> 00:13:02.817
that's the way my dad saw it.

00:13:03.801 --> 00:13:05.936
And so, people didn't come here, really,

00:13:05.936 --> 00:13:08.173
and develop a lot

00:13:08.173 --> 00:13:09.407
because, after all, who wanted to live

00:13:09.407 --> 00:13:10.541
on San Bruno Mountain

00:13:10.541 --> 00:13:12.993
and look down on San Francisco's garbage?

00:13:14.612 --> 00:13:15.851
They didn't develop the mountain

00:13:15.851 --> 00:13:17.981
until they were done
with the garbage dump,

00:13:17.981 --> 00:13:20.851
and it started to look more covered over.

00:13:20.851 --> 00:13:24.027
And that's when really the
fight against development

00:13:24.027 --> 00:13:26.707
got hot and heavy for Brisbane.

00:13:28.792 --> 00:13:30.093
- [voiceover] By the 1970s,

00:13:30.093 --> 00:13:32.128
most of San Bruno Mountain had been bought

00:13:32.128 --> 00:13:35.115
by a company called Visitation Associates.

00:13:36.468 --> 00:13:38.903
Their plan for the mountain
was to cover most of it

00:13:38.903 --> 00:13:42.222
with housing, commercial
developments, and roads.

00:13:45.743 --> 00:13:48.945
David Schooley, a recent
UC Berkeley graduate,

00:13:48.945 --> 00:13:50.915
learned of the plans
and joined with locals

00:13:50.915 --> 00:13:52.900
to stop the development.

00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.888
- Among all the local people
of a small town around,

00:13:57.888 --> 00:14:00.011
the mountain was a very special thing.

00:14:00.858 --> 00:14:02.875
And so the word with connection

00:14:02.875 --> 00:14:04.479
getting people together.

00:14:06.497 --> 00:14:09.165
It's a mint and a set
of other things, too.

00:14:09.165 --> 00:14:11.602
- [voiceover] His activism
began a lifelong dedication

00:14:11.602 --> 00:14:13.653
to San Bruno Mountain.

00:14:16.040 --> 00:14:17.775
- All the people who
lived in Brisbane said,

00:14:17.775 --> 00:14:19.477
"Wait a minute, this is our backyard.

00:14:19.477 --> 00:14:22.080
This is our garden. This is our secret."

00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:23.531
And people began to fight.

00:14:28.941 --> 00:14:30.220
- [voiceover] In response to protests,

00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:33.347
the company created a park
with some of their land.

00:14:33.347 --> 00:14:35.793
But the remaining land that
was slated for building

00:14:35.793 --> 00:14:38.278
was prime butterfly habitat.

00:14:41.732 --> 00:14:44.754
- [David] The rare Mission Blue butterfly

00:14:44.754 --> 00:14:48.006
was right in the areas where the owners

00:14:48.006 --> 00:14:49.639
were planning to build.

00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:50.741
The question that came up is

00:14:50.741 --> 00:14:51.942
- (was) private property,

00:14:51.942 --> 00:14:53.310
do you think we can stop them

00:14:53.310 --> 00:14:55.830
from building on top of that?

00:14:58.682 --> 00:15:01.619
- [Philip] A lot of critical
habitat for endangered species

00:15:01.619 --> 00:15:03.520
is on private land.

00:15:03.520 --> 00:15:04.221
Because of that,

00:15:04.221 --> 00:15:06.891
there's a potential conflict
with the Constitution

00:15:06.891 --> 00:15:09.427
and the Endangered Species Act.

00:15:09.427 --> 00:15:12.829
The Constitution requires
that if the government

00:15:12.829 --> 00:15:15.632
deprives that owner of the economic

00:15:15.632 --> 00:15:17.000
use of that land,

00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:20.538
the government then has
to pay just compensation

00:15:20.538 --> 00:15:22.189
to that landowner.

00:15:23.907 --> 00:15:24.909
- [Michele] The problem was,

00:15:24.909 --> 00:15:27.945
they couldn't build on the land

00:15:27.945 --> 00:15:30.881
that they had agreed that
they were gonna build on

00:15:30.881 --> 00:15:33.117
because it was Mission Blue habitat,

00:15:33.117 --> 00:15:34.417
and that was now protected

00:15:34.417 --> 00:15:36.586
under the Endangered Species Act.

00:15:36.586 --> 00:15:39.190
How were they going to get around this?

00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:40.191
Because the rest of the land

00:15:40.191 --> 00:15:42.927
was already the county park.

00:15:42.927 --> 00:15:43.894
- Our own group,

00:15:43.894 --> 00:15:45.896
the Committee to Save San Bruno Mountain,

00:15:45.896 --> 00:15:46.797
some of us were saying,

00:15:46.797 --> 00:15:49.500
"We have to compromise
with these builders."

00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:51.368
And the rest of us were saying, "What?

00:15:51.368 --> 00:15:52.536
You can't go ahead and destroy

00:15:52.536 --> 00:15:54.739
a rare species that has
just been discovered."

00:15:54.739 --> 00:15:59.110
So this major battle split
our own group in half.

00:15:59.110 --> 00:16:01.379
Some of us joined up with plans

00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:05.115
to compromise the Rare and
Endangered Species Act.

00:16:05.115 --> 00:16:07.667
The rest of us went to
court to try to stop it.

00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:10.823
- There was a big question
and a big conflict.

00:16:10.823 --> 00:16:13.447
What's the balance between private profit

00:16:15.467 --> 00:16:16.743
and the public good?

00:16:19.263 --> 00:16:21.899
- [Philip] In 1982, the
Reagan Administration

00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:24.268
amended the Endangered Species Act.

00:16:24.268 --> 00:16:26.704
The amendment became a giant loophole

00:16:26.704 --> 00:16:28.972
within the Endangered Species Act,

00:16:28.972 --> 00:16:32.944
that was specifically crafted
for San Bruno Mountain,

00:16:32.944 --> 00:16:36.848
but which has since become a precedent

00:16:36.848 --> 00:16:41.685
for well over a thousand other
habitat conservation plans,

00:16:41.685 --> 00:16:43.220
as they came to be called,

00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:45.506
across the country.

00:16:45.506 --> 00:16:46.890
- [voiceover] Mission Blue butterflies

00:16:46.890 --> 00:16:49.659
were protected by the
Endangered Species Act.

00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:51.562
But under the new amendment,

00:16:51.562 --> 00:16:54.197
landowners were allowed
to kill the Mission Blues

00:16:54.197 --> 00:16:55.993
and destroy their habitat,

00:16:55.993 --> 00:16:58.135
if they made a plan to create new habitat

00:16:58.135 --> 00:17:01.034
for the butterflies
elsewhere on the mountain,

00:17:01.034 --> 00:17:04.024
or improve existing
habitat by pulling weeds.

00:17:07.211 --> 00:17:09.279
It wasn't really known if the butterflies

00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.299
would actually use the
new or restored habitat,

00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:13.883
but there was no requirement to prove

00:17:13.883 --> 00:17:15.586
that this plan would be successful

00:17:15.586 --> 00:17:18.038
before or even after building.

00:17:19.857 --> 00:17:20.958
- [David] In private property,

00:17:20.958 --> 00:17:23.260
you can destroy a rare species' habitat

00:17:23.260 --> 00:17:26.263
but you're going to attempt,
that's all you have to do,

00:17:26.263 --> 00:17:28.532
attempt to recreate the habitat

00:17:28.532 --> 00:17:32.470
for that troubled species.

00:17:32.470 --> 00:17:35.273
That's all you have to do is try it.

00:17:35.273 --> 00:17:36.807
- [voiceover] Scientists
and environmentalists

00:17:36.807 --> 00:17:38.608
from all over the country wrote letters

00:17:38.608 --> 00:17:40.427
in protest of the plan.

00:17:42.312 --> 00:17:43.980
- We went up to the state appellate,

00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:45.950
and the judges were not interested

00:17:45.950 --> 00:17:48.236
in scientific things, but legal things.

00:17:48.236 --> 00:17:49.820
And for the legal situation

00:17:49.820 --> 00:17:51.654
for the owners of the land.

00:17:51.654 --> 00:17:53.073
So we failed.

00:17:58.213 --> 00:17:59.997
There was no chance to even question

00:17:59.997 --> 00:18:02.382
the power of the HCP.

00:18:02.382 --> 00:18:03.477
And that was it.

00:18:06.337 --> 00:18:09.373
- The HCP was touted as
being this great compromise,

00:18:09.373 --> 00:18:12.343
and became the poster child or the model

00:18:12.343 --> 00:18:16.413
for other killings of endangered species

00:18:16.413 --> 00:18:19.549
across the land, across the country.

00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:20.583
- [voiceover] San Bruno Mountain

00:18:20.583 --> 00:18:23.453
was the first habitat
conservation plan in the country.

00:18:23.453 --> 00:18:25.489
Today, thousands of them exist

00:18:25.489 --> 00:18:27.224
in almost every state.

00:18:27.224 --> 00:18:30.261
The plans cover tens of
millions of acres of wilderness,

00:18:30.261 --> 00:18:32.430
affecting rare and endangered species

00:18:32.430 --> 00:18:35.441
that live in forests, deserts,

00:18:35.441 --> 00:18:38.619
beaches, caves, and grasslands.

00:18:46.344 --> 00:18:49.014
♪Little boxes on the hillside ♪

00:18:49.014 --> 00:18:52.015
♪Little boxes made of ticky tacky ♪

00:18:52.015 --> 00:18:55.251
♪Little boxes on the hillside ♪

00:18:55.251 --> 00:18:57.854
♪Little boxes all the same ♪

00:18:57.854 --> 00:19:00.825
♪There's a green one and a pink one ♪

00:19:00.825 --> 00:19:03.828
♪And a blue one and a yellow one ♪

00:19:03.828 --> 00:19:06.763
♪And they all made out of ticky tacky ♪

00:19:06.763 --> 00:19:09.882
♪And they all look just the same♪

00:19:11.675 --> 00:19:13.137
- See? The hill up there?

00:19:13.137 --> 00:19:14.811
They cut all the way over to here.

00:19:14.811 --> 00:19:16.790
This whole thing is gone.

00:19:18.476 --> 00:19:19.866
- [Philip] Do you remember whether

00:19:19.866 --> 00:19:21.435
there was Mission Blue habitat?

00:19:21.435 --> 00:19:22.879
How much there was?

00:19:22.879 --> 00:19:24.948
- [David] Oh, definitely
looping all over the place.

00:19:24.948 --> 00:19:26.249
And the Mission Blue.

00:19:27.969 --> 00:19:30.888
- So this shows the
actual development plan.

00:19:30.888 --> 00:19:32.590
- [David] Here's all the Mission Blue,

00:19:32.590 --> 00:19:33.924
right in the center.

00:19:33.924 --> 00:19:36.076
- [Philip] This is where they
did most of the building.

00:19:36.076 --> 00:19:37.894
That's where they built
all of these buildings,

00:19:37.894 --> 00:19:39.996
and all of these roads, too.

00:19:39.996 --> 00:19:42.115
Cul-de-sacs with
buildings all around them.

00:19:43.409 --> 00:19:46.670
It's almost dead center.

00:19:46.670 --> 00:19:49.038
Part of the agreement
was that the landowners

00:19:49.038 --> 00:19:51.475
would mitigate for their destruction

00:19:51.475 --> 00:19:53.311
of critical habitat.

00:19:53.311 --> 00:19:57.080
And do this by enhancing habitat

00:19:57.080 --> 00:19:58.865
elsewhere on the mountain.

00:20:00.771 --> 00:20:04.423
That might mean removal of invasive weeds,

00:20:04.423 --> 00:20:06.222
planting of host plants

00:20:06.222 --> 00:20:08.693
and nectar plants for the butterflies,

00:20:08.693 --> 00:20:12.129
and paying to perpetuate those projects.

00:20:12.129 --> 00:20:14.598
This designated enhancement area

00:20:14.598 --> 00:20:17.167
is supposed to start
pretty much right here

00:20:17.167 --> 00:20:18.885
and go that direction.

00:20:19.926 --> 00:20:21.805
I see mostly invasives here.

00:20:21.805 --> 00:20:25.217
And out of this entire expanse here,

00:20:25.217 --> 00:20:27.978
I see only that little grassland.

00:20:27.978 --> 00:20:30.597
- [David] I see no Mission Blue lupine.

00:20:31.915 --> 00:20:34.651
- [Philip] The problem was
that there's no standard

00:20:34.651 --> 00:20:36.887
that called for demonstrating success

00:20:36.887 --> 00:20:39.255
of these mitigations before the developers

00:20:39.255 --> 00:20:42.042
were allowed to proceed
with their destruction.

00:20:43.062 --> 00:20:45.568
Okay, so we're not in
the enhancement area.

00:20:45.568 --> 00:20:46.830
The enhancement area to me

00:20:46.830 --> 00:20:49.269
looks like it's almost all scrub.

00:20:49.269 --> 00:20:50.258
- [David] It's impossible.

00:20:50.258 --> 00:20:52.378
That's not Mission Blue at all.

00:20:52.378 --> 00:20:54.572
- [Philip] And so there's
very little utilization

00:20:54.572 --> 00:20:56.006
by Mission Blue,

00:20:56.006 --> 00:20:58.324
and yet the buildings are all there.

00:20:59.876 --> 00:21:02.078
If the San Bruno Mountain

00:21:02.078 --> 00:21:07.078
habitat conversation plan
fails to protect a species,

00:21:07.208 --> 00:21:10.169
I don't think there's any real consequence

00:21:10.169 --> 00:21:13.673
as far as I know, there's no penalty.

00:21:15.693 --> 00:21:17.795
The profits will have been made,

00:21:17.795 --> 00:21:20.030
and the developers will
have had their way,

00:21:20.030 --> 00:21:21.781
and the butterflies will be gone.

00:21:25.335 --> 00:21:27.070
- [Michele] When the
habitat conservation plan

00:21:27.070 --> 00:21:29.005
was first agreed upon,

00:21:29.005 --> 00:21:30.634
I had trust in the people who

00:21:30.634 --> 00:21:33.210
had engineered the compromise.

00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:35.755
When things started to
really change for me

00:21:36.785 --> 00:21:39.068
was when

00:21:40.258 --> 00:21:44.315
the plan really started to take shape.

00:21:44.315 --> 00:21:48.158
And I saw that it wasn't
what was envisioned.

00:21:48.158 --> 00:21:50.694
The conservation of
areas that were disturbed

00:21:50.694 --> 00:21:52.195
with erosion happening,

00:21:52.195 --> 00:21:54.197
the protection and what was going on

00:21:54.197 --> 00:21:55.465
on the rest of the mountain

00:21:55.465 --> 00:21:58.102
wasn't what I expected either.

00:21:58.102 --> 00:22:01.774
And I realized just how horrible

00:22:01.774 --> 00:22:03.323
of a mistake we had made.

00:22:05.108 --> 00:22:06.877
- The Habitat Conservation Plan

00:22:06.877 --> 00:22:10.383
for San Bruno Mountain is managed

00:22:10.383 --> 00:22:12.632
by San Mateo County.

00:22:15.219 --> 00:22:17.821
When the habitat
conservation plan was set up,

00:22:17.821 --> 00:22:21.825
we had a goal to restore
about 1,800 acres.

00:22:21.825 --> 00:22:24.661
With the amount of funding
that we have right now,

00:22:24.661 --> 00:22:28.147
we can manage about 600 acres a year.

00:22:29.633 --> 00:22:30.867
You take the weeds out,

00:22:30.867 --> 00:22:32.602
you try and ensure the right grasses,

00:22:32.602 --> 00:22:35.391
the native grasses are coming back in,

00:22:35.391 --> 00:22:37.090
but it's a constant battle.

00:22:42.402 --> 00:22:46.165
- San Mateo County administers the funds

00:22:46.165 --> 00:22:50.404
to private contractors
that work on the mountain.

00:22:51.254 --> 00:22:54.745
- The crew is using machetes today

00:22:54.745 --> 00:22:56.792
to cut down the fennel.

00:22:56.792 --> 00:22:58.932
We're working on the most invasive

00:22:58.932 --> 00:23:01.514
non-native plants that
are here on the mountain.

00:23:03.567 --> 00:23:06.128
That was part of the mitigation

00:23:06.128 --> 00:23:09.122
to allow them to build on this site.

00:23:14.377 --> 00:23:15.778
After they're done with development,

00:23:15.778 --> 00:23:18.497
it turns out all these
invasives showed up.

00:23:20.820 --> 00:23:23.338
The seedlings will last 20, 30 years.

00:23:24.253 --> 00:23:26.689
Picris has moved in rapidly,

00:23:26.689 --> 00:23:29.025
which wasn't here in the past.

00:23:29.025 --> 00:23:30.776
Mustard was minimal.

00:23:31.896 --> 00:23:34.814
Raphanus was minimal.

00:23:36.123 --> 00:23:37.951
(weed whacker buzzes)

00:23:42.906 --> 00:23:45.275
If you look behind us,
all of these grasses,

00:23:45.275 --> 00:23:46.275
it's not native,

00:23:46.275 --> 00:23:49.579
but this migrated in when
they graded the slope.

00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:52.732
So do I see any natives
here besides toyon?

00:23:59.289 --> 00:24:00.974
Hmm. Not yet.

00:24:05.629 --> 00:24:07.797
- We have 600 acres that we try

00:24:07.797 --> 00:24:09.900
and maintain and habitat,

00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:12.579
and we have about $140,000 a year.

00:24:14.549 --> 00:24:15.805
That's all that could be managed

00:24:15.805 --> 00:24:17.591
with the available money.

00:24:19.442 --> 00:24:21.568
- They're spending all our
time just killing weeds.

00:24:21.568 --> 00:24:23.146
They haven't really spent any time

00:24:23.146 --> 00:24:24.798
restoring the habitat.

00:24:24.798 --> 00:24:26.617
All they're doing is
trying to stem the tide

00:24:26.617 --> 00:24:28.335
of invasive species.

00:24:29.853 --> 00:24:31.344
The process is flawed.

00:24:31.344 --> 00:24:33.256
Through no fault of the people

00:24:33.256 --> 00:24:35.542
on the ground that are doing the work.

00:24:38.261 --> 00:24:39.497
- If we hadn't done anything,

00:24:39.497 --> 00:24:41.182
it would be worse than it is,

00:24:41.182 --> 00:24:42.866
because there would be more encroachment,

00:24:42.866 --> 00:24:44.177
and the weeds would take over more.

00:24:44.177 --> 00:24:46.159
There'd be a lot less habitat

00:24:46.159 --> 00:24:49.306
and the species would not have maintained

00:24:49.306 --> 00:24:50.823
the numbers it's at.

00:24:52.576 --> 00:24:55.795
I'm pretty confident in
being able to say that.

00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:02.051
- [Michele] When you introduce
housing into native habitat,

00:25:02.051 --> 00:25:04.488
it changes it forever.

00:25:04.488 --> 00:25:07.007
There's no mitigations for that.

00:25:11.327 --> 00:25:12.995
- [voiceover] San Bruno
Mountain's grasslands

00:25:12.995 --> 00:25:16.512
are also home to the Callippe
Silverspot butterfly,

00:25:16.512 --> 00:25:20.187
which was placed on the
endangered species list in 1997.

00:25:21.372 --> 00:25:24.375
- The Callippe is also on this mountain.

00:25:24.375 --> 00:25:26.392
It's food plant is the viola.

00:25:27.610 --> 00:25:30.181
The Callippe will meet on the hilltop

00:25:30.181 --> 00:25:33.249
above where their patch is.

00:25:33.249 --> 00:25:34.885
The males usually take a ridgetop

00:25:34.885 --> 00:25:37.888
and fly back and forth, and will compete.

00:25:38.738 --> 00:25:40.857
Then the females come up and choose

00:25:40.857 --> 00:25:42.492
based on those displays.

00:25:42.492 --> 00:25:44.994
So, they're specific about the topography

00:25:44.994 --> 00:25:47.513
of where they hang out and mate.

00:25:49.232 --> 00:25:52.069
- [Michele] The Callippe
Silverspot now is only found

00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:53.470
on San Bruno Mountain.

00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:56.490
This is its last place on earth.

00:25:59.209 --> 00:26:00.443
- [voiceover] On San Bruno Mountain,

00:26:00.443 --> 00:26:02.346
the Callippe Silverspot's habitat

00:26:02.346 --> 00:26:05.649
is limited to a few small areas.

00:26:05.649 --> 00:26:07.585
One of the butterfly's
healthiest populations

00:26:07.585 --> 00:26:10.023
is on Callippe Hill,

00:26:10.023 --> 00:26:11.154
a small plot of land

00:26:11.154 --> 00:26:13.206
on the mountain's northeast ridge.

00:26:15.535 --> 00:26:18.127
In 1997, Callippe Hill was slated

00:26:18.127 --> 00:26:20.730
to be bulldozed by Brookfield Homes,

00:26:20.730 --> 00:26:22.032
the owner of the land,

00:26:22.032 --> 00:26:23.032
who had already completed

00:26:23.032 --> 00:26:25.518
the first phase of their development.

00:26:30.507 --> 00:26:32.880
Brookfield Homes, a multi-billion dollar

00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:35.378
international real estate developer,

00:26:35.378 --> 00:26:37.781
began to meet with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service

00:26:37.781 --> 00:26:39.682
to discuss ways that their development

00:26:39.682 --> 00:26:40.817
could continue,

00:26:40.817 --> 00:26:44.036
despite the Callippe
Silverspot's endangered status.

00:26:48.812 --> 00:26:50.027
- [Philip] The Fish and
Wildlife Service stated

00:26:50.027 --> 00:26:51.995
that the Callippe Silverspot

00:26:51.995 --> 00:26:54.056
would not be jeopardized

00:26:54.056 --> 00:26:58.574
by being added to the
habitat conservation plan.

00:26:58.574 --> 00:26:59.536
No further study,

00:26:59.536 --> 00:27:01.237
just add it to the existing permit

00:27:01.237 --> 00:27:03.506
and let the development proceed

00:27:03.506 --> 00:27:05.057
on the northeast ridge.

00:27:06.383 --> 00:27:07.711
- [voiceover] Brookfield Homes agreed

00:27:07.711 --> 00:27:08.878
to preserve a small portion

00:27:08.878 --> 00:27:10.813
of the most sensitive butterfly habitat

00:27:10.813 --> 00:27:11.881
on the ridge,

00:27:11.881 --> 00:27:13.550
but continued with plans to develop

00:27:13.550 --> 00:27:15.135
the surrounding habitat.

00:27:16.452 --> 00:27:18.989
- This project was originally approved

00:27:18.989 --> 00:27:23.627
for over 1,200 units back in the 1980s.

00:27:24.807 --> 00:27:26.429
Brookfield Homes wanted to have

00:27:26.429 --> 00:27:28.865
some additional single-family home units

00:27:28.865 --> 00:27:32.318
and so they got 28 additional
single-family units.

00:27:34.238 --> 00:27:35.772
They're larger and they will make

00:27:35.772 --> 00:27:37.641
more of a profit on them.

00:27:37.641 --> 00:27:39.276
The compromise with the developer

00:27:39.276 --> 00:27:42.011
was to create a $4 million endowment

00:27:42.011 --> 00:27:45.665
for the HCP to do weed
control on the mountain.

00:27:46.683 --> 00:27:49.386
We have negotiated also to have a fee

00:27:49.386 --> 00:27:52.538
that will go into a
community facilities fund.

00:27:56.457 --> 00:27:59.978
- [voiceover] Brookfield would
pay Brisbane $1.8 million

00:27:59.978 --> 00:28:01.665
to be used towards a civic project,

00:28:01.665 --> 00:28:03.917
like a library or a gym.

00:28:05.802 --> 00:28:08.677
They also promised to pay $4 million

00:28:08.677 --> 00:28:09.805
to the restoration efforts

00:28:09.805 --> 00:28:12.191
of the habitat conservation plan.

00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:27.625
- [David] This is their
plan to go ahead to build

00:28:27.625 --> 00:28:29.226
all the way up on this ridge,

00:28:29.226 --> 00:28:34.226
destroy the corridor for
the Silverspot butterfly.

00:28:34.564 --> 00:28:36.299
It's not scientific, it's not open

00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:38.634
for any careful study of survival

00:28:38.634 --> 00:28:40.503
for rare species.

00:28:40.503 --> 00:28:42.122
It's just allowed to do so.

00:28:44.607 --> 00:28:47.587
- [Michele] This whole valley
will be filled with landfill.

00:28:47.587 --> 00:28:49.029
It won't look anything like it does now,

00:28:49.029 --> 00:28:50.796
even the contour of the
hill won't look anything

00:28:50.796 --> 00:28:51.415
like it does now.

00:28:51.415 --> 00:28:52.783
All you'll be able to see from here

00:28:52.783 --> 00:28:56.035
is the very top of that
scrubby little hill.

00:28:58.354 --> 00:28:59.755
This area here, which is one of their

00:28:59.755 --> 00:29:02.091
most important hilltopping habitats,

00:29:02.091 --> 00:29:04.193
will be isolated from the population

00:29:04.193 --> 00:29:07.130
that's to the west of us.

00:29:07.130 --> 00:29:10.534
- And they are just building something

00:29:10.534 --> 00:29:12.919
that could have been built somewhere else.

00:29:18.223 --> 00:29:19.343
- [voiceover] Brisbane City Council

00:29:19.343 --> 00:29:21.645
was now faced with the difficult decision

00:29:21.645 --> 00:29:24.187
of whether or not to approve the project,

00:29:24.187 --> 00:29:28.218
as the City Council had been
when Michele was a child.

00:29:28.218 --> 00:29:29.119
- Brisbane's had to make

00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:31.564
some terrible compromises over the years.

00:29:31.564 --> 00:29:34.258
And we're faced with more right now.

00:29:34.258 --> 00:29:36.393
But I'm grateful for having parents

00:29:36.393 --> 00:29:39.480
that stood up and put
their selves on the line.

00:29:41.297 --> 00:29:42.699
So, this is the street I grew up on,

00:29:42.699 --> 00:29:44.250
that I still live on.

00:29:45.168 --> 00:29:47.483
And this is the house I grew up in,

00:29:47.483 --> 00:29:48.771
where my father still lives.

00:29:48.771 --> 00:29:50.489
He's 87 now.

00:29:52.308 --> 00:29:54.276
My dad was a leader of the people

00:29:54.276 --> 00:29:55.928
and of the council.

00:29:57.480 --> 00:29:58.848
And certain people resented that

00:29:58.848 --> 00:30:00.184
because they didn't always agree

00:30:00.184 --> 00:30:01.568
with his views.

00:30:06.189 --> 00:30:07.690
This I went through middle school,

00:30:07.690 --> 00:30:10.709
became a very heated conflict.

00:30:12.495 --> 00:30:14.197
After school, a lot of the girls

00:30:14.197 --> 00:30:16.619
would want to go down
to the football field

00:30:16.619 --> 00:30:19.165
and watch the guys practice.

00:30:19.165 --> 00:30:20.603
And I didn't feel like part of that,

00:30:20.603 --> 00:30:22.471
because I didn't want to be exposed

00:30:22.471 --> 00:30:23.807
to being teased.

00:30:23.807 --> 00:30:25.341
And so I would get my grandmother's dog

00:30:25.341 --> 00:30:28.416
and I would go up on
the mountain and hike.

00:30:31.514 --> 00:30:33.349
Driving around the Bay Area,

00:30:33.349 --> 00:30:35.751
I'm always so aware of where

00:30:35.751 --> 00:30:37.437
is San Bruno Mountain.

00:30:51.031 --> 00:30:52.601
I recently moved my offices,

00:30:52.601 --> 00:30:54.570
and I can see San Bruno Mountain

00:30:54.570 --> 00:30:56.640
from my window.

00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:58.731
I don't think I'm some special

00:30:58.731 --> 00:31:00.345
environmental warrior,

00:31:00.345 --> 00:31:01.677
I'm just a person.

00:31:01.677 --> 00:31:05.244
I have a real life, I go to work everyday.

00:31:05.244 --> 00:31:06.850
But I think the people of Brisbane

00:31:06.850 --> 00:31:08.636
want us to continue to be

00:31:08.636 --> 00:31:10.817
the protector of the mountain.

00:31:10.817 --> 00:31:13.006
Because of that, I am stepping up.

00:31:14.898 --> 00:31:16.676
- [woman] Number two should be number one.

00:31:21.154 --> 00:31:22.598
- "Dear Brisbane neighbor,

00:31:22.598 --> 00:31:25.065
our city council speaks
for the people of Brisbane

00:31:25.065 --> 00:31:27.203
for what we want, for our values."

00:31:27.203 --> 00:31:29.773
I've always believed that the best way

00:31:29.773 --> 00:31:32.742
to get something done
is through consensus.

00:31:32.742 --> 00:31:34.650
- [Terry] I'd take out that part.

00:31:34.650 --> 00:31:36.142
- [Michele] Take out
everything up to there?

00:31:36.142 --> 00:31:37.413
- [Terry] Mmm hmm.

00:31:37.413 --> 00:31:39.615
- "The legacy that we leave
for future generations

00:31:39.615 --> 00:31:42.519
should not be another
bloated housing development.

00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:43.786
It should be a living, breathing,

00:31:43.786 --> 00:31:45.708
functioning ecosystem."

00:31:45.708 --> 00:31:47.924
But unless you're willing
to get your hands dirty

00:31:47.924 --> 00:31:49.526
and help make things better,

00:31:49.526 --> 00:31:51.494
it's not gonna happen.

00:31:51.494 --> 00:31:53.235
"This will allow Brookfield to destroy

00:31:53.235 --> 00:31:56.566
vital habitat to build 71 mega mansions

00:31:56.566 --> 00:31:57.800
on our mountain."

00:31:57.800 --> 00:31:59.403
- But we can come back and revisit that.

00:32:00.643 --> 00:32:03.372
- For a long time during
the early situation

00:32:03.372 --> 00:32:04.574
with the northeast ridge,

00:32:04.574 --> 00:32:07.109
I left it to other people to work on.

00:32:07.109 --> 00:32:09.679
But when I realized that I really did have

00:32:09.679 --> 00:32:12.145
a higher level of responsibility

00:32:12.145 --> 00:32:13.850
because of my background,

00:32:13.850 --> 00:32:15.886
because my mother and my father

00:32:15.886 --> 00:32:17.087
were so involved,

00:32:17.087 --> 00:32:20.190
I couldn't not do something.

00:32:20.190 --> 00:32:22.291
We sacrificed so much.

00:32:22.291 --> 00:32:23.793
"Who will speak for the people of Brisbane

00:32:23.793 --> 00:32:25.627
for what we want and for our values

00:32:25.627 --> 00:32:27.480
if not our own city council?"

00:32:34.837 --> 00:32:37.207
Can I give you a flyer
about saving the butterfly?

00:32:37.207 --> 00:32:38.942
We really need everyone to speak up

00:32:38.942 --> 00:32:40.509
and tell the council,

00:32:40.509 --> 00:32:43.146
"No more gigantic houses

00:32:43.146 --> 00:32:45.061
in the middle of the habitat."

00:32:45.061 --> 00:32:46.160
They want to fragment--

00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:47.150
- Are they gonna do it again?

00:32:47.150 --> 00:32:50.329
- [Michele] 71 more. 4,000
plus square foot homes.

00:32:50.329 --> 00:32:52.337
- Really? I didn't even know about this.

00:32:52.337 --> 00:32:53.339
- Yeah.

00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:54.858
Everyone that I have spoken with,

00:32:54.858 --> 00:32:56.458
and I've spoken with hundreds of people,

00:32:56.458 --> 00:32:58.494
are not in favor of any more building

00:32:58.494 --> 00:32:59.929
on the mountain.

00:32:59.929 --> 00:33:03.833
They're against this
building out of this project.

00:33:03.833 --> 00:33:05.501
- They're trying to
build another development

00:33:05.501 --> 00:33:07.136
up on the mountain.

00:33:07.136 --> 00:33:09.840
And it's right in the butterfly habitat.

00:33:09.840 --> 00:33:11.441
The only way we can make a difference

00:33:11.441 --> 00:33:15.261
is by letting the city
council know what we want.

00:33:19.627 --> 00:33:21.718
- We get such an outpouring of support

00:33:21.718 --> 00:33:23.853
when we stand out here and
talk to people about it.

00:33:23.853 --> 00:33:25.639
They're just not aware
of what's happening.

00:33:27.289 --> 00:33:28.791
It's like the last stand, Jerry.

00:33:28.791 --> 00:33:31.910
When they split the
habitat, they won't last.

00:33:32.977 --> 00:33:34.616
- [Terry] City staff has been pushing

00:33:34.616 --> 00:33:37.000
and trying to find a way to approve this.

00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:40.486
But the council needs to
keep their options open.

00:33:46.142 --> 00:33:47.776
If enough people come,

00:33:47.776 --> 00:33:49.612
the emotion of the subject

00:33:49.612 --> 00:33:52.481
will make them change their mind

00:33:52.481 --> 00:33:54.117
and not approve this.

00:33:54.117 --> 00:33:56.432
You can send an email
and every voice counts.

00:33:56.432 --> 00:33:57.886
- Every voice counts, it really does.

00:33:57.886 --> 00:33:58.921
Especially yours.

00:33:58.921 --> 00:33:59.959
- Can I have one?

00:33:59.959 --> 00:34:01.110
- Yes! Please!

00:34:02.070 --> 00:34:03.493
- So, we'll make the attempt

00:34:03.493 --> 00:34:05.562
and hopefully we'll get
enough public members

00:34:05.562 --> 00:34:08.614
to comment to them that
they'll think about it

00:34:08.614 --> 00:34:10.216
and not just rubber stamp it.

00:34:20.649 --> 00:34:22.011
- I'm Clarke Conway,

00:34:22.011 --> 00:34:23.403
and I'm the mayor of Brisbane.

00:34:23.403 --> 00:34:25.315
Grew up here, was conceived here,

00:34:25.315 --> 00:34:26.850
born in San Francisco

00:34:26.850 --> 00:34:28.318
but, you know, I was delivered

00:34:28.318 --> 00:34:30.787
by a Brisbane doctor.

00:34:30.787 --> 00:34:32.088
Michele and I have been friends

00:34:32.088 --> 00:34:33.887
for many, many years.

00:34:34.991 --> 00:34:37.627
And when you go against
somebody that you know

00:34:37.627 --> 00:34:40.062
that you have such a
strong relationship with,

00:34:40.062 --> 00:34:41.964
you have to go with
what you feel is right,

00:34:41.964 --> 00:34:44.750
not for the friendship
or something like that.

00:34:46.502 --> 00:34:48.088
- [Michele] Our fathers served together

00:34:48.088 --> 00:34:49.438
on the first city council.

00:34:49.438 --> 00:34:53.210
His father and my father
were very much at odds

00:34:53.210 --> 00:34:56.662
about the issue of filling
the Bay with garbage.

00:34:58.430 --> 00:35:00.115
Growing up, Clarke was the one person

00:35:00.115 --> 00:35:05.073
who maintained a level
of childhood civility

00:35:05.073 --> 00:35:08.557
that I didn't receive from
some of my other peers.

00:35:08.557 --> 00:35:11.227
Clarke has been a very
close person in my life,

00:35:11.227 --> 00:35:14.079
both as friends and as adversaries.

00:35:15.498 --> 00:35:17.233
- This is the northeast ridge residential

00:35:17.233 --> 00:35:18.768
development public hearing,

00:35:18.768 --> 00:35:20.203
and is to consider adoption

00:35:20.203 --> 00:35:25.203
of Resolution No. 2010-01 and 2010-02.

00:35:25.542 --> 00:35:27.442
I didn't like that area of the mountain

00:35:27.442 --> 00:35:28.610
to be developed,

00:35:28.610 --> 00:35:30.947
but developers sued the city council

00:35:30.947 --> 00:35:32.615
I believe in 1986,

00:35:32.615 --> 00:35:35.018
and then they came to a settlement.

00:35:35.018 --> 00:35:36.509
That settlement is that they would

00:35:36.509 --> 00:35:37.753
reduce the project.

00:35:37.753 --> 00:35:39.690
- Good evening, I'm Ken McIntire,

00:35:39.690 --> 00:35:41.958
Executive Director of
San Bruno Mountain Watch.

00:35:41.958 --> 00:35:42.626
Before we get started,

00:35:42.626 --> 00:35:45.661
I'd like to know how many
of the attendees here

00:35:45.661 --> 00:35:48.630
are opposed to the project.

00:35:48.630 --> 00:35:49.866
Would you all raise your hand

00:35:49.866 --> 00:35:51.818
if you're opposed to this project?

00:35:53.035 --> 00:35:54.770
And I know you received a lot of emails

00:35:54.770 --> 00:35:58.508
and most of them were
against this project.

00:35:58.508 --> 00:36:02.745
- The reality is that
we have private property

00:36:02.745 --> 00:36:06.149
that has entitlements to build.

00:36:06.149 --> 00:36:07.883
And unless you're willing
to deal with that,

00:36:07.883 --> 00:36:09.965
unless you're willing to accept that,

00:36:09.965 --> 00:36:11.800
then you're off in an

00:36:13.322 --> 00:36:15.725
area of pure speculation.

00:36:15.725 --> 00:36:19.751
We have a development
that has entitled rights.

00:36:19.751 --> 00:36:22.277
And we've negotiated to reduce

00:36:22.277 --> 00:36:24.866
the size of their project
and to create funding

00:36:24.866 --> 00:36:27.270
and preserve the most pristine habitat.

00:36:27.270 --> 00:36:29.905
That's the reality of today.

00:36:29.905 --> 00:36:33.609
- The 1982 and the 1989 plans were flawed.

00:36:33.609 --> 00:36:35.444
It is local government's responsibility

00:36:35.444 --> 00:36:38.006
to protect, in this order,

00:36:38.006 --> 00:36:42.302
lives, the environment, then property.

00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:45.688
Vote no and develop a better plan

00:36:45.688 --> 00:36:48.358
and better environmental review.

00:36:48.358 --> 00:36:49.942
(applause)

00:36:50.993 --> 00:36:52.729
- Very often, private property rights

00:36:52.729 --> 00:36:55.284
overwhelm those over
the rights of society.

00:36:55.284 --> 00:36:57.980
The government has to become involved

00:36:57.980 --> 00:36:59.770
in preserving biodiversity.

00:36:59.770 --> 00:37:00.836
It's much more important

00:37:00.836 --> 00:37:02.672
than the financial system.

00:37:02.672 --> 00:37:05.520
Financial system can be fixed anytime

00:37:05.520 --> 00:37:07.043
by anybody who understands it

00:37:07.043 --> 00:37:09.245
and is willing to
redistribute some wealth.

00:37:09.245 --> 00:37:10.546
Get rid of biodiversity,

00:37:10.546 --> 00:37:13.449
there's no way in hell you can replace it.

00:37:13.449 --> 00:37:14.750
- Mr. Mayor and members, I'm Bill Collins,

00:37:14.750 --> 00:37:16.161
representing the Sierra Club.

00:37:16.161 --> 00:37:19.151
Isn't it ironic that
to save the butterfly,

00:37:19.151 --> 00:37:21.490
you're told by the agency

00:37:21.490 --> 00:37:22.859
that's charged with protecting it,

00:37:22.859 --> 00:37:25.395
"We need to destroy 10
acres of their habitat?"

00:37:25.395 --> 00:37:27.864
Protect them, and if you
carry that logic further,

00:37:27.864 --> 00:37:31.253
the habitat trust fund
will be flush with money

00:37:31.253 --> 00:37:32.802
and the butterfly won't have its habitat.

00:37:32.802 --> 00:37:34.469
I mean, that's basically how we're funding

00:37:34.469 --> 00:37:35.565
the protection of the butterfly,

00:37:35.565 --> 00:37:36.872
by destroying their habitat.

00:37:36.872 --> 00:37:39.776
- It plays on your emotions, for sure.

00:37:39.776 --> 00:37:41.678
I don't like the conflict.

00:37:41.678 --> 00:37:44.316
You're just not gonna please everybody

00:37:44.316 --> 00:37:45.682
all the time.

00:37:45.682 --> 00:37:48.618
And a lot of times, it's
your personal friends

00:37:48.618 --> 00:37:50.486
who want you to go one way,

00:37:50.486 --> 00:37:53.489
and you look at it and you
don't particularly agree

00:37:53.489 --> 00:37:54.990
that it should be that way.

00:37:57.220 --> 00:37:59.896
It is emotionally very tough.

00:37:59.896 --> 00:38:00.930
- Thank you for the opportunity

00:38:00.930 --> 00:38:02.332
to give testimony.

00:38:02.332 --> 00:38:04.610
Many people told me that
this is a done deal.

00:38:04.610 --> 00:38:06.169
And their minds are already made up,

00:38:06.169 --> 00:38:07.469
and you're wasting your time.

00:38:07.469 --> 00:38:09.338
But I don't believe that.

00:38:09.338 --> 00:38:12.377
I believe in each of you

00:38:12.377 --> 00:38:14.577
and the power you have to speak

00:38:14.577 --> 00:38:15.912
for the people of Brisbane,

00:38:15.912 --> 00:38:19.148
and to speak in defense of the butterfly

00:38:19.148 --> 00:38:21.651
and demand what is right for our future.

00:38:21.651 --> 00:38:24.130
I am asking you to request

00:38:24.130 --> 00:38:26.555
a new environmental impact report

00:38:26.555 --> 00:38:29.359
before proceeding with
any more development

00:38:29.359 --> 00:38:30.877
on the northeast ridge.

00:38:31.946 --> 00:38:33.428
We felt that the original

00:38:33.428 --> 00:38:35.897
environmental impact
review didn't cover it.

00:38:35.897 --> 00:38:38.434
It was based on data that was 30 years old

00:38:38.434 --> 00:38:40.068
and not correct.

00:38:40.068 --> 00:38:42.371
But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

00:38:42.371 --> 00:38:44.267
did not feel that way.

00:38:44.267 --> 00:38:45.941
- I'm the Assistant Field Supervisor

00:38:45.941 --> 00:38:47.911
over the endangered species program

00:38:47.911 --> 00:38:48.977
that's responsible for

00:38:48.977 --> 00:38:50.913
habitat conservation planning.

00:38:50.913 --> 00:38:52.314
The Fish and Wildlife Service,

00:38:52.314 --> 00:38:53.782
authorized by Congress,

00:38:53.782 --> 00:38:55.984
are the ones that administer the act.

00:38:55.984 --> 00:38:57.820
Review of habitat conservation plans

00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:00.690
as an incredible opportunity to do

00:39:00.690 --> 00:39:03.191
large-scale conservation planning.

00:39:03.191 --> 00:39:04.226
In fact, we're working on

00:39:04.226 --> 00:39:06.661
numerous HCPs in the area.

00:39:06.661 --> 00:39:08.065
It's very important to understand

00:39:08.065 --> 00:39:10.233
the premise of the Endangered Species Act

00:39:10.233 --> 00:39:11.600
is we don't stop.

00:39:11.600 --> 00:39:13.235
We're not stopping development,

00:39:13.235 --> 00:39:14.771
it's to authorize and to permit

00:39:14.771 --> 00:39:16.773
and to evaluate a project.

00:39:16.773 --> 00:39:20.442
The only way you can ever
actually say no perfectly

00:39:20.442 --> 00:39:23.714
is to have a jeopardy biological opinion

00:39:23.714 --> 00:39:25.591
or a no permit,

00:39:25.591 --> 00:39:28.317
and it's very rarely done.

00:39:28.317 --> 00:39:31.120
- This amendment is not
a jeopardy, in fact,

00:39:31.120 --> 00:39:33.723
because of the removal and management

00:39:33.723 --> 00:39:35.091
and control of invasives,

00:39:35.091 --> 00:39:38.747
it will help the survival and recovery

00:39:38.747 --> 00:39:42.832
of the butterflies on San Bruno Mountain.

00:39:42.832 --> 00:39:44.700
- The service performed a biological study

00:39:44.700 --> 00:39:46.635
on the proposed HCP amendment.

00:39:46.635 --> 00:39:49.707
When you did the biological study,

00:39:49.707 --> 00:39:52.108
how much of that study did you rely on

00:39:52.108 --> 00:39:54.711
previous information?

00:39:54.711 --> 00:39:56.513
And how much was new information

00:39:56.513 --> 00:39:59.632
that was gathered over
the last couple of years?

00:39:59.632 --> 00:40:00.783
- Well, it was an analysis

00:40:00.783 --> 00:40:03.148
of all the available information

00:40:05.238 --> 00:40:07.265
that we analyzed.

00:40:07.265 --> 00:40:10.226
Based on the invasive plants

00:40:10.226 --> 00:40:12.028
and how they're taking over the mountain,

00:40:12.028 --> 00:40:14.429
eradication needs to take place.

00:40:14.429 --> 00:40:15.331
To my knowledge,

00:40:15.331 --> 00:40:17.783
there aren't any other funding sources.

00:40:20.903 --> 00:40:23.206
- To be able to get a $4 million endowment

00:40:23.206 --> 00:40:25.741
to use for the management
of the plant species,

00:40:25.741 --> 00:40:28.344
I think is a major coup.

00:40:28.344 --> 00:40:30.269
- We're gonna have to have
another meeting on this

00:40:30.269 --> 00:40:33.165
because I don't see us
completing this tonight.

00:40:33.165 --> 00:40:34.410
- [male council member]
So, I give you a motion

00:40:34.410 --> 00:40:36.615
to continue the public
hearing for February 1st.

00:40:36.615 --> 00:40:38.027
- [Clarke] Okay, do I have a second?

00:40:38.027 --> 00:40:39.298
- [female council member] Second.

00:40:39.298 --> 00:40:40.622
- All right, all in favor?

00:40:40.622 --> 00:40:41.707
- Aye.
- Aye.

00:40:50.062 --> 00:40:51.333
- One of the challenges I have

00:40:51.333 --> 00:40:52.769
of doing this process

00:40:52.769 --> 00:40:54.804
with the amendment on the HCP,

00:40:54.804 --> 00:40:57.273
was the amendment was based on old data

00:40:57.273 --> 00:40:59.248
that hasn't been updated in a long time.

00:40:59.248 --> 00:41:02.969
And this is a map from the 1984 HCP.

00:41:03.939 --> 00:41:05.919
- [Philip] We were looking at maps

00:41:05.919 --> 00:41:07.016
that were part of the original

00:41:07.016 --> 00:41:08.851
habitat conservation plan,

00:41:08.851 --> 00:41:11.453
and they show the populations

00:41:11.453 --> 00:41:14.506
of Mission Blue and Callippe Silverspot

00:41:14.506 --> 00:41:15.958
where they were greatest

00:41:15.958 --> 00:41:18.843
and where they didn't
appear to be present.

00:41:20.687 --> 00:41:22.195
And there's a big question

00:41:22.195 --> 00:41:24.733
about the quality of those maps.

00:41:24.733 --> 00:41:26.068
- There's a lot of black dots on here

00:41:26.068 --> 00:41:28.036
and the idea that, in a few short years,

00:41:28.036 --> 00:41:30.348
they were able to generate

00:41:30.348 --> 00:41:33.341
these dots to mean
anything is quite amazing.

00:41:33.341 --> 00:41:35.344
It was really quite unclear what did they

00:41:35.344 --> 00:41:36.412
actually get from the field

00:41:36.412 --> 00:41:37.847
that communicates years later

00:41:37.847 --> 00:41:40.115
what was actually going on, on that site.

00:41:40.115 --> 00:41:41.417
It couldn't have come
from anything directly

00:41:41.417 --> 00:41:45.437
because it looked like
spray paint on a map.

00:41:46.622 --> 00:41:48.123
Assuming that map represented

00:41:48.123 --> 00:41:49.292
something in reality,

00:41:49.292 --> 00:41:50.626
when we got to those locations,

00:41:50.626 --> 00:41:53.279
saw only a rare occasional lupine.

00:41:55.831 --> 00:41:57.966
For this being part of a core habitat,

00:41:57.966 --> 00:41:59.267
the lupines are occasional.

00:41:59.267 --> 00:42:00.268
Little by little, you can picture

00:42:00.268 --> 00:42:01.670
what's happened since 1984

00:42:01.670 --> 00:42:02.972
and the European annual grasses

00:42:02.972 --> 00:42:04.957
have been slowly stopping of the lupine.

00:42:08.925 --> 00:42:10.236
What you can see is an area

00:42:10.236 --> 00:42:11.680
that everyone would assume from the maps

00:42:11.680 --> 00:42:14.499
should be high quality, viable habitat

00:42:14.499 --> 00:42:16.119
is not very high quality

00:42:16.119 --> 00:42:18.405
and who knows if there's
actual butterflies here?

00:42:19.454 --> 00:42:21.190
We may be all assuming
that things are fine

00:42:21.190 --> 00:42:22.841
when they may not be.

00:42:24.293 --> 00:42:26.011
Here comes that kestrel.

00:42:27.497 --> 00:42:28.947
(birds chirping)

00:42:32.868 --> 00:42:34.070
- [voiceover] The studies that

00:42:34.070 --> 00:42:36.171
the original Habitat Conservation Plan

00:42:36.171 --> 00:42:38.274
was based on were done by a biologist

00:42:38.274 --> 00:42:40.042
named Thomas Reid.

00:42:40.042 --> 00:42:41.944
For the first 25 years of the plan,

00:42:41.944 --> 00:42:44.347
his company, Thomas Reid and Associates,

00:42:44.347 --> 00:42:47.265
was also paid to carry out the plan.

00:42:48.517 --> 00:42:51.046
- [Michele] Thomas Reid
and Associates were also

00:42:51.046 --> 00:42:52.787
the ones monitoring the plan.

00:42:52.787 --> 00:42:55.627
There was nothing written in the law

00:42:55.627 --> 00:42:59.778
or the agreement that kept the same entity

00:42:59.778 --> 00:43:02.798
from being the plan writer
and the plan implementer

00:43:02.798 --> 00:43:04.384
and the plan monitor.

00:43:05.567 --> 00:43:06.902
- [voiceover] Thomas Reid and Associates

00:43:06.902 --> 00:43:08.971
monitored the habitat conservation plan

00:43:08.971 --> 00:43:10.872
by counting the butterflies they spotted

00:43:10.872 --> 00:43:13.648
along certain trails called transects.

00:43:13.648 --> 00:43:15.613
Their transects were mostly located

00:43:15.613 --> 00:43:17.212
in the same areas that they

00:43:17.212 --> 00:43:19.431
were also managing weeds in.

00:43:21.483 --> 00:43:23.218
- The fact that the
butterfly is doing well

00:43:23.218 --> 00:43:24.186
in those transects,

00:43:24.186 --> 00:43:25.288
having seen what I've seen

00:43:25.288 --> 00:43:26.789
in walking some of these areas,

00:43:26.789 --> 00:43:27.990
the question is, is that's true

00:43:27.990 --> 00:43:28.958
for the whole mountain,

00:43:28.958 --> 00:43:30.759
or is the butterfly
collapsing to these areas

00:43:30.759 --> 00:43:33.923
where they do management
next to their transects?

00:43:35.932 --> 00:43:38.533
- When populations become
isolated from one another,

00:43:38.533 --> 00:43:40.469
they tend to become more vulnerable

00:43:40.469 --> 00:43:41.736
to extinction.

00:43:41.736 --> 00:43:44.407
Particularly if the isolation is extreme.

00:43:44.407 --> 00:43:45.841
Although we're losing species,

00:43:45.841 --> 00:43:48.412
that is different kinds of animals,

00:43:48.412 --> 00:43:51.439
at a rate that's somewhere between, say,

00:43:51.439 --> 00:43:53.681
10 and 100 times as fast

00:43:53.681 --> 00:43:56.784
as has happened historically,

00:43:56.784 --> 00:44:00.405
we're losing populations
very much more rapidly.

00:44:02.158 --> 00:44:04.260
You need not just a great variety

00:44:04.260 --> 00:44:06.463
of organisms interacting with each other,

00:44:06.463 --> 00:44:08.463
you need sizable populations

00:44:08.463 --> 00:44:09.999
of many or most of them

00:44:09.999 --> 00:44:12.184
if the system is going to work right.

00:44:13.469 --> 00:44:15.239
- The Habitat Conservation Plan

00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:19.175
doesn't take into account
the living environment,

00:44:19.175 --> 00:44:21.176
the interconnectedness of all

00:44:21.176 --> 00:44:23.712
of the organisms and plants and animals

00:44:23.712 --> 00:44:28.151
and wind and weather and
water on the mountain.

00:44:28.151 --> 00:44:30.219
It only looks at the picture,

00:44:30.219 --> 00:44:32.321
the physical environment.

00:44:32.321 --> 00:44:34.556
And if you protect the
physical environment,

00:44:34.556 --> 00:44:35.857
it doesn't mean that you're saving

00:44:35.857 --> 00:44:37.442
the living environment.

00:44:45.413 --> 00:44:47.069
- I'm gonna take some questions

00:44:47.069 --> 00:44:49.371
the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service.

00:44:49.371 --> 00:44:50.873
- You know, when I was reading this thing,

00:44:50.873 --> 00:44:54.444
it appeared that the monitoring,

00:44:54.444 --> 00:44:56.445
it wasn't scientific enough

00:44:56.445 --> 00:44:58.600
for identifying

00:44:59.620 --> 00:45:01.450
how many butterflies there were.

00:45:01.450 --> 00:45:03.586
- The wandering transects that were done

00:45:03.586 --> 00:45:05.788
give information on the distribution

00:45:05.788 --> 00:45:07.255
of the butterflies,

00:45:07.255 --> 00:45:11.253
which is important in determining

00:45:11.253 --> 00:45:13.112
how they're doing on the mountain.

00:45:13.112 --> 00:45:14.496
- The Fish and Wildlife Service

00:45:14.496 --> 00:45:15.965
do not have funding to do any

00:45:15.965 --> 00:45:18.867
of their own research
or their own science.

00:45:18.867 --> 00:45:21.904
They rely on other people's research

00:45:21.904 --> 00:45:24.540
and other people's
research is often funded

00:45:24.540 --> 00:45:25.840
by the developer.

00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:27.108
And in this situation,

00:45:27.108 --> 00:45:29.011
they got their scientific information

00:45:29.011 --> 00:45:31.113
from a variety of sources,

00:45:31.113 --> 00:45:33.615
including Thomas Reid and Associates.

00:45:33.615 --> 00:45:35.451
So, we were requesting a new

00:45:35.451 --> 00:45:38.954
environmental impact report, or EIR.

00:45:38.954 --> 00:45:42.657
- A lot of people feel
that a new EIR is required.

00:45:42.657 --> 00:45:44.526
Would the research that would be

00:45:44.526 --> 00:45:47.790
performed for a new EIR,

00:45:47.790 --> 00:45:51.675
be superior to what U.S. Fish and Wildlife

00:45:51.675 --> 00:45:54.552
conducted in their biological opinion?

00:45:57.876 --> 00:46:01.359
- It would be additional information.

00:46:05.834 --> 00:46:09.962
Based on the information
that's been gathered

00:46:09.962 --> 00:46:12.254
and the way that trends are

00:46:13.854 --> 00:46:16.975
for the butterflies and
the invasives... um.

00:46:19.521 --> 00:46:22.031
- [Cliff] So you're not the right person--
- [Chris] Yeah, I don't--

00:46:22.031 --> 00:46:25.804
I don't really know how
to address your question.

00:46:25.804 --> 00:46:27.270
- (OUR) Habitat Conservation Plans

00:46:27.270 --> 00:46:29.704
are kind of legal constructs.

00:46:29.704 --> 00:46:32.340
They may not always be completely

00:46:32.340 --> 00:46:35.444
rooted in good science.

00:46:35.444 --> 00:46:36.611
- Throughout these proceedings,

00:46:36.611 --> 00:46:38.948
I kept hearing that
the HCP is not working,

00:46:38.948 --> 00:46:41.199
is not doing what it's supposed to do.

00:46:41.199 --> 00:46:43.051
- I would not agree with that.

00:46:43.051 --> 00:46:44.687
The goal was to move back toward

00:46:44.687 --> 00:46:48.623
the historic level of
1,800 acres of grassland.

00:46:48.623 --> 00:46:49.891
Right now, with the amount of money

00:46:49.891 --> 00:46:51.446
that we do have,

00:46:52.296 --> 00:46:55.698
we've been treating on
average 500 to 600 acres.

00:46:55.698 --> 00:46:58.233
- Even though the county
may not have looked

00:46:58.233 --> 00:47:01.769
in depth all the time or
maybe done the monitoring

00:47:01.769 --> 00:47:04.339
every year that they should have done,

00:47:04.339 --> 00:47:06.476
I don't think what was being accomplished

00:47:06.476 --> 00:47:08.644
on the ground failed.

00:47:08.644 --> 00:47:13.315
So the HCP has, in my
view, been successful

00:47:13.315 --> 00:47:15.952
in keeping habitat on the mountain.

00:47:15.952 --> 00:47:17.652
- It should be publicly funded,

00:47:17.652 --> 00:47:20.505
just like we fund other
important programs.

00:47:20.505 --> 00:47:21.864
We should be buying the land

00:47:21.864 --> 00:47:24.694
that we don't want the
developers to develop,

00:47:24.694 --> 00:47:27.096
and putting it into the public trust.

00:47:27.096 --> 00:47:28.480
That's what we should be doing.

00:47:30.165 --> 00:47:34.302
- Steve, Cy, Clarke, Sepi, and Cliff,

00:47:34.302 --> 00:47:36.805
who are you going to listen to?

00:47:36.805 --> 00:47:39.725
Federal bureaucrats or an
attorney from Menlo Park?

00:47:40.642 --> 00:47:42.951
Or are you going to
listen to your neighbors,

00:47:42.951 --> 00:47:44.429
your constituents,

00:47:44.429 --> 00:47:47.178
people you see at the grocery store,

00:47:47.178 --> 00:47:48.674
the people of Brisbane

00:47:48.674 --> 00:47:51.320
who have spoken in one voice?

00:47:51.320 --> 00:47:54.055
This project, it's not an asset.

00:47:54.055 --> 00:47:56.561
So please, listen to your constituents.

00:47:56.561 --> 00:47:59.094
Do not approve this. Thank you.

00:47:59.094 --> 00:48:00.812
(applause)

00:48:04.032 --> 00:48:06.068
- I don't think you want
to have your name down

00:48:06.068 --> 00:48:09.721
as the person who
eradicated the butterfly.

00:48:10.573 --> 00:48:13.135
Don't ask Fish and Game,
and don't ask Brookfield.

00:48:13.135 --> 00:48:16.745
Ask the people here. Please.

00:48:16.745 --> 00:48:19.522
Because you are with us.

00:48:19.522 --> 00:48:23.085
You are with us. You belong with us.

00:48:23.085 --> 00:48:25.271
(applause)

00:48:27.155 --> 00:48:29.492
- When I was running for office,

00:48:30.422 --> 00:48:34.182
I knew that there'd be some
difficult items before me.

00:48:34.182 --> 00:48:36.431
It's like an open sore that the community

00:48:36.431 --> 00:48:39.334
has had to deal with for 30 years.

00:48:39.334 --> 00:48:43.439
But the property owner, they have rights.

00:48:43.439 --> 00:48:45.641
We've given them rights.

00:48:45.641 --> 00:48:46.809
- [Michele] I can remember that moment

00:48:46.809 --> 00:48:49.377
when I knew it wasn't gonna go our way.

00:48:49.377 --> 00:48:51.045
The Brisbane City Council,

00:48:51.045 --> 00:48:52.216
some of them felt that they were

00:48:52.216 --> 00:48:53.669
making the right decision,

00:48:53.669 --> 00:48:57.486
and that the $4 million
would make everything better.

00:48:57.486 --> 00:49:00.556
And I think that that's
what they wanted to believe,

00:49:00.556 --> 00:49:02.758
because I think if they
stopped to really look

00:49:02.758 --> 00:49:04.759
in their heart of hearts,

00:49:04.759 --> 00:49:07.147
I'd like to think that they knew

00:49:07.147 --> 00:49:08.245
that they were wrong.

00:49:09.965 --> 00:49:12.400
- I know a lot of people
are not gonna be happy here,

00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:13.902
that we're approving it.

00:49:13.902 --> 00:49:15.930
It's just, there's not an agreement there,

00:49:15.930 --> 00:49:17.772
and I'm sorry for that.

00:49:17.772 --> 00:49:19.842
Michele, you and I got back 50 plus years,

00:49:19.842 --> 00:49:21.176
you think I don't feel that in my heart?

00:49:21.176 --> 00:49:22.778
I do.

00:49:22.778 --> 00:49:25.413
To sit here and have to tell you no,

00:49:25.413 --> 00:49:27.515
I mean, that's a tough thing to do.

00:49:27.515 --> 00:49:30.101
That's the toughest
part, that I don't agree.

00:49:31.653 --> 00:49:34.389
- They made a decision
that was very unpopular.

00:49:34.389 --> 00:49:35.858
And I think that they felt that voting

00:49:35.858 --> 00:49:39.895
for a new environmental impact report

00:49:39.895 --> 00:49:42.885
wouldn't change the fate

00:49:42.885 --> 00:49:44.704
of what was gonna happen,

00:49:45.944 --> 00:49:47.919
no matter what the report said.

00:49:48.904 --> 00:49:51.339
This $6 billion company

00:49:51.339 --> 00:49:54.911
had vested tentative rights to build,

00:49:54.911 --> 00:49:56.661
and they were gonna build.

00:49:57.845 --> 00:49:59.114
- [Clarke] Moving forward, I guess,

00:49:59.114 --> 00:50:00.242
do we have a motion to approve

00:50:00.242 --> 00:50:03.385
Resolution No. 2010-01?

00:50:03.385 --> 00:50:05.154
- Second.

00:50:05.154 --> 00:50:08.356
- Further discussion? All in favor?

00:50:08.356 --> 00:50:09.197
- Aye.
- Aye.

00:50:09.197 --> 00:50:11.393
- Oppose? Okay.

00:50:11.393 --> 00:50:13.161
- [council member] Motion to adjourn.

00:50:13.161 --> 00:50:15.430
- [Clarke] Motion second. All in favor?

00:50:15.430 --> 00:50:16.447
- Aye.
- Aye.

00:50:17.833 --> 00:50:19.902
- Clarke, as disappointed as I am

00:50:19.902 --> 00:50:21.737
in the decision that you've made tonight,

00:50:21.737 --> 00:50:23.305
and that you were not able to discern

00:50:23.305 --> 00:50:25.006
the falsehoods that were perpetrated

00:50:25.006 --> 00:50:28.539
by U.S. Fish and Wildlife
and other experts,

00:50:28.539 --> 00:50:31.580
you have gone ahead and approved this.

00:50:31.580 --> 00:50:34.883
And so I charge you
with the responsibility,

00:50:34.883 --> 00:50:36.885
and this city with the responsibility,

00:50:36.885 --> 00:50:39.320
of making sure that every single condition

00:50:39.320 --> 00:50:42.123
that you've agreed to is
met to the nth degree.

00:50:42.123 --> 00:50:44.259
Because now that is your responsibility

00:50:44.259 --> 00:50:46.828
and it is now on your head.

00:50:46.828 --> 00:50:48.363
Do you accept that responsibility

00:50:48.363 --> 00:50:50.865
with the decision that
you've made tonight?

00:50:50.865 --> 00:50:52.367
- Michele, we do.

00:50:52.367 --> 00:50:53.935
- Then make sure it's done, Clarke,

00:50:53.935 --> 00:50:57.706
because it hasn't been
done for the last 27 years.

00:50:57.706 --> 00:50:59.408
It hasn't been done.

00:50:59.408 --> 00:51:01.944
You need to make sure that we protect

00:51:01.944 --> 00:51:05.847
those innocent butterflies
from this travesty.

00:51:05.847 --> 00:51:06.866
Thank you.

00:51:08.650 --> 00:51:09.968
- Meeting adjourned.

00:51:35.745 --> 00:51:38.113
- I always admired that grassy valley,

00:51:38.113 --> 00:51:40.099
going up in its rocky bridges.

00:51:42.484 --> 00:51:43.885
It's just like a wreckage

00:51:43.885 --> 00:51:45.587
of a real delicate kind of place

00:51:45.587 --> 00:51:47.539
that I've known for all these years.

00:51:48.390 --> 00:51:49.908
That really hurts.

00:51:57.800 --> 00:52:01.553
- [Michele] It shook my
faith in the process.

00:52:01.553 --> 00:52:04.006
I always felt that if you told the truth

00:52:04.006 --> 00:52:05.840
and presented the facts,

00:52:05.840 --> 00:52:08.111
that what was right would win out.

00:52:08.111 --> 00:52:10.762
And that's not what happened here at all.

00:52:19.387 --> 00:52:21.590
And Callippe Hill that
we tried so hard to save

00:52:21.590 --> 00:52:23.224
is now an isolated habitat

00:52:23.224 --> 00:52:25.159
cut off from the rest of the mountain,

00:52:25.159 --> 00:52:26.761
and we're not able to protect it

00:52:26.761 --> 00:52:29.931
against the invasive
weeds that have not only

00:52:29.931 --> 00:52:31.833
been brought in in the
air and everything else,

00:52:31.833 --> 00:52:34.419
but on the tires of these damn bulldozers.

00:52:37.488 --> 00:52:39.573
- [Terry] The land that wasn't built on

00:52:39.573 --> 00:52:42.511
will now be deeded over to the county

00:52:42.511 --> 00:52:45.547
as part of open space
and preserved habitat.

00:52:45.547 --> 00:52:47.548
But that transfer won't happen

00:52:47.548 --> 00:52:51.169
until after these homes
are completely built.

00:52:54.222 --> 00:52:58.384
And that delay of a year, two years,

00:52:58.384 --> 00:53:01.579
could be critical on the
butterfly's survival.

00:53:04.199 --> 00:53:05.534
- [David] Over periods of time,

00:53:05.534 --> 00:53:06.802
you kind of adjust yourself

00:53:06.802 --> 00:53:10.004
to be able to handle a failure.

00:53:10.004 --> 00:53:12.106
And you have another vision going on,

00:53:12.106 --> 00:53:14.542
which is the continuing effort

00:53:14.542 --> 00:53:18.763
to protect what can be
done and make it rise.

00:53:20.616 --> 00:53:22.417
- After the decision that the council made

00:53:22.417 --> 00:53:25.286
to allow the building of the homes here,

00:53:25.286 --> 00:53:27.489
I felt that a change
really needed to happen

00:53:27.489 --> 00:53:29.459
on the council.

00:53:29.459 --> 00:53:32.127
So, at that point, I decided to go ahead

00:53:32.127 --> 00:53:35.663
and look at the possibilities

00:53:35.663 --> 00:53:36.899
of running for council,

00:53:36.899 --> 00:53:38.466
and seeing if there's a way for me

00:53:38.466 --> 00:53:41.886
to take the advocacy role

00:53:41.886 --> 00:53:43.604
and change it into a policy role,

00:53:43.604 --> 00:53:45.139
and be more effective.

00:53:45.139 --> 00:53:48.009
- Terry unseated a council member

00:53:48.009 --> 00:53:50.596
who's been on the council for 16 years.

00:53:51.446 --> 00:53:53.698
It was quite the political upset.

00:53:56.985 --> 00:53:59.120
- My goal is to make sure

00:53:59.120 --> 00:54:02.823
that the council drives the agenda

00:54:02.823 --> 00:54:05.394
instead of the developer
driving the agenda

00:54:05.394 --> 00:54:06.878
for Brisbane.

00:54:13.869 --> 00:54:15.870
- Raise your right hand. I...

00:54:15.870 --> 00:54:18.406
- I, Terry O'Connell,

00:54:18.406 --> 00:54:19.975
- do solemnly affirm

00:54:19.975 --> 00:54:21.777
- do solemnly affirm

00:54:21.777 --> 00:54:23.878
- [clerk] that I will support and defend

00:54:23.878 --> 00:54:25.914
- [Terry] that I will support and defend

00:54:25.914 --> 00:54:27.983
- [clerk] the Constitution
of the United States...

00:54:27.983 --> 00:54:30.151
- the Constitution of the United States...

00:54:31.201 --> 00:54:32.664
I'm excited.

00:54:32.664 --> 00:54:33.989
I'm really hoping that I'm gonna

00:54:33.989 --> 00:54:35.858
be able to make a change.

00:54:35.858 --> 00:54:37.692
And I'm hoping that we
can make a difference,

00:54:37.692 --> 00:54:39.895
if not for this development,

00:54:39.895 --> 00:54:43.297
and for the next development that comes,

00:54:43.297 --> 00:54:45.934
and for the rest of San Bruno Mountain.

00:54:45.934 --> 00:54:47.670
And that I will, well and faithfully,

00:54:47.670 --> 00:54:48.904
- [clerk] discharge the duties

00:54:48.904 --> 00:54:50.271
- discharge the duties

00:54:50.271 --> 00:54:52.141
- [clerk] upon which I am about to enter.

00:54:52.141 --> 00:54:55.543
- upon which duties I am about to enter.

00:54:55.543 --> 00:54:57.512
Thank you.

00:54:57.512 --> 00:54:58.863
(applause)

00:55:03.618 --> 00:55:05.020
- [Michele] We might have lost the battle,

00:55:05.020 --> 00:55:07.305
but we haven't lost the war yet.

00:55:08.290 --> 00:55:09.792
I'm sad about the things that we lost

00:55:09.792 --> 00:55:11.894
and the changes that'll
happen on the mountain.

00:55:11.894 --> 00:55:13.695
But life is dynamic,

00:55:13.695 --> 00:55:15.530
and so things are gonna change.

00:55:15.530 --> 00:55:16.914
And that's just how it is.

00:55:18.188 --> 00:55:19.233
But if you accept that,

00:55:19.233 --> 00:55:21.636
you can direct the change on the mountain

00:55:21.636 --> 00:55:22.921
and the way that

00:55:25.981 --> 00:55:27.308
hopefully will be most beneficial

00:55:27.308 --> 00:55:28.726
for the mountain.

00:55:29.577 --> 00:55:31.246
(children chattering)

00:55:39.886 --> 00:55:41.456
- [David] The wilderness is still there,

00:55:41.456 --> 00:55:44.826
and it's the healing and the quietness,

00:55:44.826 --> 00:55:48.480
that presence of something alive

00:55:50.541 --> 00:55:52.317
that keeps us all alive.

00:55:53.281 --> 00:55:55.153
Can keep a thing going for me.

00:55:57.453 --> 00:55:59.819
- [child] So cool! Oh look, another one!

00:55:59.819 --> 00:56:01.243
- [voiceover] The
environmental organization

00:56:01.243 --> 00:56:03.577
that David started over 40 years ago

00:56:03.577 --> 00:56:04.745
has endured,

00:56:04.745 --> 00:56:06.681
and has educated thousands of people

00:56:06.681 --> 00:56:10.886
about the native ecosystems
of San Bruno Mountain.

00:56:10.886 --> 00:56:12.087
- [David] I think it's
important for people

00:56:12.087 --> 00:56:14.055
to really understand what's here.

00:56:14.055 --> 00:56:15.907
It's a miracle of survival here.

00:56:18.126 --> 00:56:20.495
Those native ants are the way they've been

00:56:20.495 --> 00:56:22.163
for thousands and thousands of years.

00:56:22.163 --> 00:56:23.597
You can see they're connected

00:56:23.597 --> 00:56:25.556
with the butterfly, the caterpillar.

00:56:27.026 --> 00:56:28.456
You can go back to what San Francisco

00:56:28.456 --> 00:56:30.172
was 400 years ago.

00:56:30.172 --> 00:56:31.910
Pure, the way it was.

00:56:34.040 --> 00:56:35.660
It feels so peaceful.

00:56:39.047 --> 00:56:40.448
- [voiceover] Joe Cannon has focused

00:56:40.448 --> 00:56:43.384
on creating a true restoration program,

00:56:43.384 --> 00:56:45.253
nurturing and replanting native plants

00:56:45.253 --> 00:56:47.838
to support the mountain's ecosystem.

00:56:48.718 --> 00:56:49.835
- [Joe] The native seeds here

00:56:49.835 --> 00:56:51.342
on San Bruno Mountain
are gathered by hand.

00:56:51.342 --> 00:56:55.146
They come from grasslands,
wetlands, and scrub.

00:56:58.627 --> 00:56:59.567
For any given species,

00:56:59.567 --> 00:57:00.734
we have a whole bunch of different bags

00:57:00.734 --> 00:57:01.903
from different locations,

00:57:01.903 --> 00:57:03.504
and from different times.

00:57:03.504 --> 00:57:05.440
In that way, we get as much diversity

00:57:05.440 --> 00:57:07.408
that the mountain has
into our native plants

00:57:07.408 --> 00:57:09.560
that then will go out
to a restoration site.

00:57:11.413 --> 00:57:13.248
So we're re-diversifying those areas,

00:57:13.248 --> 00:57:14.916
removing those invasive species

00:57:14.916 --> 00:57:16.634
and putting these species back in.

00:57:21.657 --> 00:57:22.491
So, what we're gonna do,

00:57:22.491 --> 00:57:23.925
is these plants, you can see we have

00:57:23.925 --> 00:57:25.193
different species of grass.

00:57:25.193 --> 00:57:26.995
These are native bunch grasses.

00:57:26.995 --> 00:57:29.830
Find a little area and dig a hole.

00:57:29.830 --> 00:57:32.300
And then fill the soil in around it.

00:57:32.300 --> 00:57:33.335
We want a group of them,

00:57:33.335 --> 00:57:36.438
probably no more than two
feet close to each other.

00:57:36.438 --> 00:57:38.340
- [Michele] I remember
feeling like a little light

00:57:38.340 --> 00:57:40.142
had gone on in the world

00:57:40.142 --> 00:57:42.559
when they passed the
Endangered Species Act.

00:57:43.811 --> 00:57:46.548
And this legislation is so important

00:57:46.548 --> 00:57:48.249
that we cannot backtrack on it.

00:57:48.249 --> 00:57:49.685
We really can't.

00:57:49.685 --> 00:57:52.454
And so it's not just my
battle or Brisbane's battle

00:57:52.454 --> 00:57:55.106
to save one little blue butterfly.

00:57:58.860 --> 00:58:00.788
This is the responsibility

00:58:00.788 --> 00:58:03.814
of every person who breathes the air

00:58:03.814 --> 00:58:07.335
and drinks the water and eats the food

00:58:07.335 --> 00:58:08.836
and lives life.

00:58:08.836 --> 00:58:10.868
You cannot go through your life

00:58:10.868 --> 00:58:14.158
relying on someone else
to take care of it.

00:58:19.982 --> 00:58:21.616
- [Paul] If you set aside areas,

00:58:21.616 --> 00:58:23.920
even areas which have
been badly destroyed,

00:58:23.920 --> 00:58:26.270
they come back and they produce again.

00:58:28.329 --> 00:58:30.417
People can do the right thing.

00:58:30.417 --> 00:58:31.860
And when the time is ripe,

00:58:31.860 --> 00:58:33.662
sometimes they do.

00:58:33.662 --> 00:58:34.996
Our big hope is that we'll be able

00:58:34.996 --> 00:58:37.198
to ripen the time and
change the way we treat

00:58:37.198 --> 00:58:39.751
both our environment and each other.

00:58:41.369 --> 00:58:44.016
- [Michele] It doesn't just
always happen by itself anymore.

00:58:44.016 --> 00:58:45.566
We need to nurture that

00:58:46.696 --> 00:58:50.823
as a species, and as a
society, and as a culture.

00:58:50.823 --> 00:58:52.392
We need to nurture that.