The Greening of the Golden Gate

Abstract

natural areas. I n October 1994, the U.S. Army vacated the Presidio of San Francisco, bringing to an end 148 years of continuous military occupation--the longest tenure of any Army garrison in the American West. After two centuries of military service--it was established by Spanish soldiers in 1776~the Presidio may become a model for military-base conversion. In the three years since its transfer to the National Park Service (NPS), it has become a centerpiece for the agency’s expanding volunteer-based restoration program, with more than 95,000 volunteer hours donated thus far. Envisioned as a "a working laboratory to create models of environmental sustainability that can be transferred to communities worldwide" (GGNRA, 1994), the Presidio has also become an election-year target for Republicans in Congress who seek to make the Presidio the first national park in the country to pay for itself---or face being sold to reduce the national debt. By engaging the public and creating a constituency for the Presidio’s natural areas, community-based restoration could act as a countervailing force against the push to privatize a celebrated national asset. The former Army post is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), which features such well-known landmarks as Alcatraz and Muir Woods among its 30,600 hectares, making it one of the largest urban parks in the world. Twenty million people visit GGNRA lands every year; 3.5 million of those visits are to the Presidio, and this is expected to increase to more than 8 raillion within fifteen years. A general management plan developed after several years of community meetings envisioned "a network of national and international organizations devoted to improving human and natural environments" being housed in the Presidio’s 510 historic structures. (Unike most other parks, the Presidio’s 602 hectares contain 870 buildings and other associated urban features including a bowling alley, a fast-food franchise, and a golf course. Approximately 300 non-historic structures are scheduled for demolition.) Following years of deferred maintenance by the Army, the remaining buildings will require costly rehabilitation before they can be occupied by the National Park Service or leased to one of the 400 organizations that have expressed an interest in becoming Presidio tenants. The Tides Foundation and 18 other nonprofit organizations and foundations, for example, are now leasing office space in the Thoreau Center for Sustainability, the Presidio’s first major rehabilitation effort using environmentally-friendly building materials. A federally chartered partnership institution has been proposed to assist the park in rehabilitating and leasing buildings. Known as the Presidio Trust, this institution would seek up to $600 million in loans from the U.S. Treasury to finance rehabilitation over the next fifteen years. Finalized before the November 1994 elections, however, the plan’s enabling legislation has been drastically amended by Congress. Balking at the $25 million annual cost--more than the annual budget of Yellowstone National Park, but