The Historic U.S. Coast Guard Chimney Rock Boathouse.

Chimney Rock is located at the eastern spur of the Point Reyes Headlands. The Chimney Rock area is a popular destination for visitors wishing to view elephant seals, birds, and wildflowers. The 1.75-mile (2.8-km) round-trip Chimney Rock Trail leads along the ridge crest of a narrow peninsula, offering spectacular views of Drakes Bay and the coastline stretching to the southeast. The historic Chimney Rock Lifeboat Station offers a glimpse into the harrowing jobs of rescuing crew and passengers from ships that ran aground along this rugged coastline.

Come Prepared

• Print out the Chimney Rock Area map. (125 KB PDF)
• Fuel: The closest gas station is 20 miles (32 km) away in Point Reyes Station. Be sure you have sufficient fuel in your vehicle for a minimum 40-mile (64 km) round-trip drive, not including side trips to other points of interest within the National Seashore.
• Weather: Visitors may experience stiff winds, cool temperatures, fog, and/or rain at Chimney Rock; so dress appropriately. Wear layered clothing.
  National Weather Service Forecast for the Chimney Rock area
• Water: Bring a water bottle. There are no potable sources of water at Chimney Rock. The nearest potable source of water is a water bottle filling station/water fountain located near the east end of the green garages that are located approximately 100 yards (100 meters) before one arrives at the Lighthouse Visitor Center or a water fountain located in the courtyard of the Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center at Drakes Beach. Bottled water is not sold at Point Reyes National Seashore’s visitor centers or bookstores.
• Food: There are no food services west of Inverness, which is a thirty-five-minute drive from the Chimney Rock parking lot. Bring food from home or purchase food at one of the stores or restaurants in West Marin before heading out to Chimney Rock if it is close to mealtime.
• Restrooms: Restrooms are available at the Chimney Rock parking lot from 6 am to midnight. Be sure to use the restrooms before heading out on area trails.
• Phones: Cell phone reception is very minimal to nonexistent in the Chimney Rock area.

• Drones: Launching, landing, or operating a remotely operated aircraft (aka “remotely piloted aircraft,” “unmanned aircraft,” or “drone”) from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of Point Reyes National Seashore is prohibited.

  If you observe drone use in Point Reyes National Seashore, please call park dispatch at 415-464-5170 or contact staff at the nearest Visitor Center as soon as possible. If you observe drone use in other National Park Service areas or if you find photographs or videos online or elsewhere that were illegally taken within National Park Service areas from drones, you can report the violation to the National Park Service tip line at 888-653-0009 or by email.

• Pets: Dogs may be walked in the parking lot and along Chimney Rock Road west of the parking lot (i.e., back toward Sir Francis Drake Boulevard); otherwise, dogs are prohibited. Please be aware that most visitors to Chimney Rock are away from their vehicle for an hour or longer. Please do not leave your dog unattended in your vehicle; leave your dog at home instead. This prohibition does not apply to working service dogs, which are allowed on trails and in public buildings. If you have a service dog, please inquire at a park visitor center for information before heading out to the Chimney Rock area. Visit our Pets page for more information about visiting Point Reyes National Seashore with your dog.

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Sir Francis Drake Boulevard passes through a number of ranches on its way to Chimney Rock and the Point Reyes Headlands.

The Drive

Chimney Rock is located at the eastern-most end of the Point Reyes Headlands. Drive west ~19 miles (~30 km) on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. After passing through the “A” Ranch, turn left at the Y signed for Chimney Rock and follow Chimney Rock Road ~0.9 miles (~1.5 km) to the Chimney Rock parking lot. Chimney Rock Road is only about ten feet (3 meters) wide, but serves as a two-way road. Please observe the speed limit and look ahead to keep watch for oncoming traffic. If you do notice a vehicle heading your way, pull into the next turnout until the other vehicle has had a chance to pass.

Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is windy and slow-going, so allow forty-five minutes to drive the ~20 miles (~32 km) from the Bear Valley/Olema/Point Reyes Station area to the Chimney Rock parking lot (one hour and thirty minutes round-trip), not including any time you will spend in the area. Allow one hour and forty-five minutes for the drive (three hours and thirty minutes round-trip) from the Santa Rosa area, northwest San Francisco, or the northern East Bay. Many visitors spend at least an hour or two in the Chimney Rock area.
Directions to Chimney Rock from the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

RVs and Trailers

Recreational vehicles (RVs) and vehicles pulling trailers with a combined length in excess of 24 feet (7.3 meters) are prohibited on Chimney Rock Road. If you are traveling with a trailer or are driving an RV towing a passenger vehicle, consider unhitching at the bus/RV/trailer-only parking lot at Bear Valley and taking only the passenger vehicle for the drive out to the Chimney Rock area. Overnight parking/camping in RVs and trailers is prohibited throughout Point Reyes National Seashore.

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Parking

The parking lot at the Chimney Rock Trailhead can only accommodate twenty vehicles. As a result, parking space availability is very limited, particularly in the afternoon. Please observe all “No Parking” signs. Please refrain from parking along the shoulder of the road or off of the pavement. Doing so kills vegetation and increases erosion.

Parking Lot

Chimney Rock Parking Lot

• 
  
  20 total spaces
  

• 
  0 oversized spaces
  

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  37.995124821, -122.979734524
  

A small paved parking lot with space for 20 vehicles. Park here to hike the Chimney Rock Trail, walk to the Elephant Seal Overlook, or visit the Historic Point Reyes Lifeboat Station. A vault toilet is located at the southeast corner of the parking lot. The Chimney Rock Parking Lot is approximately 45 minutes by car from the Bear Valley Visitor Center via Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.

Parking Fee

No parking or entrance fees are charged at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Cost: $0.00

Closures & Seasonal Exceptions

Amenities

Accessible Lot
Yes
Number of ADA-designated spaces
1
Number of ADA van-accessible spaces
1
Number of ADA step-free spaces
0
Total number of spaces
20
Number of oversize vehicle spaces
0

Accessibility

The parking lot at Chimney Rock has one van accessible parking spot and is composed of asphalt. The path to the Elephant Seal Overlook involves a rather short but moderately steep descent along an asphalt driveway (which is degraded in places), and then a flat traverse along a rammed-earth 0.2 mile-long (0.3 kilometer) trail. Individuals in wheelchairs may need assistance with the descent and accent of the driveway.

Individuals with a Disabled Person parking placard or plate may drive their personal vehicle to the Lifeboat Station’s Boathouse parking area. Please drive slowly and carefully since this section of the one-lane access road doubles as the pedestrian path from the main Chimney Rock parking lot to the Boathouse. Volunteers sometimes staff the Boathouse on weekends and holidays from January through March. The Boathouse’s first floor and boat bay are wheelchair accessible. There is also an accessible restroom within the Boathouse. At other times, visitors may explore the Lifeboat Station grounds, where wayside exhibits provide information about the U.S. Lifesaving Service and U.S. Coast Guard history at Point Reyes.

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Stay on designated trails

The only official trails in the Chimney Rock area are shown in the map to the right.

Hiking along the bluff tops can be unsafe and is not recommended. Stay away from cliff edges. Loose soil and/or rock can give way suddenly and you may fall. Do not climb cliffs.

Visitors walking off of official trails and paths trample vegetation, which may lead to the death of the trampled plants. Over time, as more and more visitors use a route, it starts to look more and more like an official trail, and more and more visitors use it, resulting in a feedback loop that makes the “trail” look “official.” However, these “social paths” tend to exacerbate erosion and harm threatened and endangered species. These paths also can lead to locations where visitors may be more at risk to injury, endangering themselves and any potential rescuers.

Do not “hop” the fences to get a “better” photo or for any other reason. Fences and other barriers are there for your safety. The bluffs and cliffs in the Chimney Rock are prone to collapse with little warning. Stay well away from the bluff tops. Individuals who are found on the wrong side of fences will be cited for entering a closed area.

During the winter, hundreds of northern elephants seals can be seen from the Elephant Seal Overlook.

Elephant Seal Overlook

From the Chimney Rock parking lot, walk down the driveway 150 feet (~50 meters), bear left at the Y, and continue along the Fish Docks access road another 260 feet (~80 meters) to the trailhead for the Elephant Seal Overlook Trail. The relatively flat dirt trail leads 850 feet (~260 meters) northwest to the Elephant Seal Overlook. While it may be possible to view northern elephant seals from here on any given day of the year, December through March is the period during which visitors may view several hundred elephant seals hauled out at the southwest end of Drakes Beach as the seals return to give birth and to mate.

Please visit our Viewing Elephant Seals page for more information.

Chimney Rock Trail

This spectacular 1.75-mile (2.8 km) hike offers views of Drakes Bay and the Pacific Ocean and is renowned for great spring wildflowers. Rocky cliffs drop off steeply to the water, so there is no beach access. While it is possible to see a few whales any given day of the year, from March through May, dozens to hundreds of gray whales migrate north past Chimney Rock every day. Fog and wind can make this hike challenging. Start this hike from the southeast corner of the Chimney Rock parking lot.

Photo of a park employee standing over and pointing at a newly developed fissure along the Chimney Rock Trail on December 21, 2015.

Fissures Near the Chimney Rock Trail

Cracks were reported on a portion of the bluff near the Chimney Rock Trail on December 21, 2015. These fissures could indicate the possibility of a weakening cliff face in the area. The land may be unstable and a collapse or erosion could occur. Visitors are reminded to stay on designated trails.

Bluffs along the California coast are inherently unstable. They are prone to crumbling and sliding, especially in wet weather. It is very dangerous to climb or walk along the edge of cliffs. Be aware of falling rocks if walking near the base of a rock face.

View:
Close-up photograph of the fissure. (172 KB jpg)
Photograph of the area with the fissure from the southeast. (117 KB jpg)
Aerial photograph of the location of the fissure marked in yellow. (216 KB jpg)

The Historic U.S. Coast Guard Chimney Rock Boathouse.

Historic Lifeboat Station

Despite the efforts of the men and women who worked at the Point Reyes Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1870, ships continued to wreck on the rocks and beaches along the dangerous Point Reyes peninsula. In 1889, the U.S. Life-Saving Service opened a Life Saving Station on the Point Reyes Beach, the first of two built at Point Reyes. The U.S. Lifesaving Service was combined with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. In 1927, the Coast Guard moved their operations moved from Point Reyes Beach to the protected waters at the southwest end of Drakes Beach near Chimney Rock. Eventually modern technologies eclipsed the need for the Lifeboat Station at Point Reyes. In 1969,the Point Reyes Lifeboat Station was closed and, shortly thereafter, was transferred to the National Park Service for preservation.
Visit our Lifeboat Station History at Point Reyes page for more information.

The Lifeboat Station buildings are visible from the Chimney Rock Trail and the station’s access road (which is open only to NPS and other authorized vehicles). Visitors may explore the Lifeboat Station grounds, where wayside exhibits provide information about the U.S. Lifesaving Service and U.S. Coast Guard history at Point Reyes.

Today, the Historic Lifeboat Station at Point Reyes National Seashore is primarily used as an educational facility for non-profit groups learning about the resources of the natural and cultural resources of Point Reyes. The Boathouse is sometimes open to the public from 11 am to 4 pm on weekends and federal holidays from January through March, if volunteer staff is available. The Boathouse contains the historic Coast Guard Motorized Lifeboat CG-36542 and has the last intact marine railway on the West Coast. Kids activities, a 10-minute video on elephant seals, and complimentary hot beverages (cocoa, tea, coffee) are available when the Boathouse is open, along with hands-on interactive activities allowing both children and adults to learn about seal and whale adaptations.

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On Tuesday, January 24, 2017 The San Francisco Foundation held an informative session on community benefit opportunities for local and national construction contractors in partnership with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). The SFPUC is close to embarking on a city-wide $8 billion Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP). The first steps to SSIP is completing a $2.9 billion remodel and retrofit the Southeastern Sewer Treatment Plant located in Bayview Hunters Point, a historically neglected neighborhood of San Francisco.

Through the SFPUC’s Community Benefits Program, any construction contractors bidding on a project will have to demonstrate their commitment to partner with the SFPUC and local community-based organizations. The goal is to make significant, positive community impact in the communities and neighborhoods throughout the SFPUC’s service area. The $2.9 billion remodel of the Southeast Sewer Treatment Plant will result in approximately $9 million in community benefits over 10 years.

Most contractors bidding on these projects with the SFPUC do not have a local context of the neighborhoods like Bayview Hunters Point. The SFPUC and The San Francisco Foundation have formed a partnership to provide more information and resources to the contractors to help them develop their strategies for impactful community benefits opportunities.

During the information session, The San Francisco Foundation presented its Regional Equity Strategy and its alignment with the SFPUC’s Community Benefits Program. The San Francisco Foundation walked the contractors through a brief history of  Bayview Hunters Point and presented demographic information to provide more contexts of the impacted area and the barriers faced by residents to the contractors. We outlined our investment strategies in Bayview Hunters Point and provided examples of some of our core community partner in Bayview Hunters Point. We led the contractors through a robust discussion of the community-based organizations in Bayview Hunters Point to help them shape their investment strategies.

All of the contractors appreciated the partnership between the SFPUC and The San Francisco Foundation and stated that they have not seen this type of partnership in working with previous public agencies. Many of the participants were inspired to craft holistic strategies to their investment and asked to have The San Francisco Foundation as a continued resource.

The San Francisco Foundation and the SFPUC will continue to partner around expanding access to good jobs and career opportunity for San Francisco residents in these impacted areas.

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AC Hotels by Marriott | July 20, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 20, 2017 – AC Hotel San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront – the newest property within the AC Hotels by Marriott brand – will open in September 2017. Conveniently located just 10 miles from downtown San Francisco and 10 minutes from San Francisco International Airport, this brand-new 187-room property is the perfect addition to South San Francisco’s growing biotech hub, providing the area with an upscale experience in a waterfront hotel that’s already being called a work of art. The architectural touch point is a wall of glass facing the San Francisco Bay, while the rest of the European-style structure surrounds a central al fresco courtyard.

AC Hotel San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront is designed for entrepreneurial and innovative travelers who frequent the Bay Area. Featuring AC Hotels by Marriott’s signature open-concept spaces, modern furnishings, and sleek lines, this hotel will appeal to style-savvy business travelers and vacation-goers seeking a sophisticated European-inspired experience.

Calming neutral color palettes create a modern oasis for busy travelers. Guestrooms and suites feature crisp white linens, open closet systems, and furniture elevated from the ground that gives way to sleek hardwood floors.

The beverage and food program provides flexible options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even just a quick snack. The AC Kitchen serves both a “Grab-n-Go” and buffet breakfast with flaky croissants, savory egg tarts and freshly sliced Iberico prosciutto.

Serving lunch and dinner, the AC Lounge offers travelers a chic space to connect or conduct business meetings by day and a hub of social buzz by night. The extensive beverage program highlights local craft beers, specialty wines by the bottle and on tap, and expertly made drinks including the hotel’s signature “Karl the Fog” cocktail. Guests can indulge in tapas-style bites and snacks such as charcuterie and cheeses, as well as a Spanish-inspired menu for lunch and dinner. Weekly “lounge activations,” in collaboration with Bay Area artists, musicians and culinary experts, provide an authentic and local cultural experience.

Hotel amenities include a 24-hour fitness center with an indoor heated pool, a library featuring an array of inspiring titles, complimentary airport shuttle, complimentary parking, complimentary WiFi throughout the hotel, and hydration stations on each floor. The AC Store, open 24 hours, offers a selection of locally sourced beverages and snacks for purchase including Blue Bottle Coffee, IT’S-IT Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Dandelion chocolates.

With the opening of this vibrant new property, South San Francisco’s growing business community gains state-of-the-art space for meetings, events, and presentations. AC Hotel San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront features five meeting rooms, totaling more than 8,000 square feet of flexible space with the latest high-tech equipment; catering is available as well. For those in need of a spot for a quick meeting, this AC Hotel in the Cove at Oyster Point offers a media salon that is rentable by the hour. Wireless service buttons are provided in the public and meeting spaces, enabling guests to immediately request a staff member’s attention.

Conveniently located just one mile from a Caltrain station, guests can easily take public transportation directly to San Francisco and arrive just steps from AT&T Park, located along the Embarcadero. The hotel is nestled on the edge of Oyster Cove, a calm inlet along the San Francisco Bay Trail. On this four-mile stretch of the San Francisco Bay Trail that runs between two marinas, guests will be brought back in time to a place where oysters were farmed and ships were built. This area is perfect for running, biking, and fishing.

AC Hotel San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront is located at 1333 Veterans Boulevard, South San Francisco, CA 94080. To learn more and to make a reservation, call (650) 742-9211 or visit www.achotelsfo.com. Follow the hotel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/achotelsfo and Instagram & Twitter @achotelsfo.

The post September Opening Deliberate for AC Lodge San Francisco Airport/Oyster Level Waterfront – Lodge-On-line appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Greg’s hospitality career spans 25 years, beginning at the ripe age of 17, when he accepted his first job in the hotel industry as a waiter at the Courtyard by Marriott in Brentwood, TN. Since then, Greg has held positions at five brands under the Marriott umbrella, including The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn and, most recently, the Residence Inn by Marriott in San Diego, where he served as General Manager. Greg is particularly excited to take on his role at the new waterfront AC Hotel at Oyster Point.Greg holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from San Jose State University, and is a certified life coach through Marriott.

General ManagementSan FranciscoCaliforniaUnited States

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Almost a quarter-century ago, when I moved to St. Helena, people commented to me on the poor quality of our drinking water. I was advised to only drink bottled or highly filtered water. Coming from the east, all this was a surprise to me.

Mark G. Epstein

New York City proudly boasts, “New York City drinking water is world-renowned for its quality,” and it has in fact won international prizes. The Washington, D.C., water department claims that “Our mission is to exceed expectations by providing high-quality water services … ” And the Philadelphia water agency signifies that “we drink the water we deliver to our customers.”

“Water is the fuel of California,” observed the San Francisco Chronicle recently in a major report. (Their conclusion: Big snows are great but climate change is a real threat.) We can’t run our economy without it.

Bay Area scientist Peter Gleick, a MacArthur “genius” award recipient, reminds us that in California, “80% of water we use goes for growing food.” And, of course, food includes wine.

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Thus, the water we drink is a small portion of our state’s water concerns, but obviously big in our daily lives. There are three factors to consider here: quantity, cost and quality.

Thanks to last season’s rains, our local reservoirs are in decent shape. But a new drought emergency could happen any year. It’s probably reasonable to state that most of us are aware of our water use. We know that showers use less water than baths and that we shouldn’t leave the tap running. Most significantly, there’s an increasing focus here on installing drought-tolerant plants and reducing grass lawns.

The cost of our water bubbled to the surface of popular awareness quite a few years back, when the city, in a brilliant bureaucratic move, changed from semi-monthly to monthly billing. Why was this cagey? Because the amount of the bills stayed pretty much the same. In other words, the cost to residents doubled. More recently, we switched back to semi-monthly billing. And now this autumn, our water rates have gone up 28%, plus wastewater rates are jumping 50%.

Yet, even with these new rates, as the Star recently editorialized, “due to deferred maintenance St. Helena remains susceptible to unforeseen water-related problems that can strain the city’s financial resources.” This summer’s water clarity debacle will cost more than $1 million to repair beyond simply flushing the system. The city tells us, “These fixes were not anticipated nor budgeted for.” At least we have clarity on that.

I have suggested several times that  the city appoint a Water Quality Officer from current staff.  It has never been done. That would have signaled that we take quality seriously. The absence of an emphasis on water quality led to this year’s panoply of photos on social media showing bathtubs filled with brown water.

Now, the city has been slapped upside the face, pointedly requesting that we “continue to report water quality issues as this real time information is critical to our weekly assessment/strategy … ” This recognition is a small but needed step in the direction of boosting water quality.

Whether it’s policy choices or engineering projects, there are no quick fixes to the problem of securing copious amounts of clear water in future years. In Napa, we have 14 different water agencies. Three years ago, according to the Register, a commission “suggested they form some type of county water agency or district to work better together.” That makes sense, as a “regional approach for water delivery” could lead to “more efficient use of water, elimination of redundancy among smaller systems and better economies of scale,” according to a local government specialist.

A half-century ago the movie “Chinatown” vividly showed that controlling water can lead to corruption, power plays, and the accumulation of dead bodies. We’re not in danger of anything so dramatic happening here. But we have drama enough, opening our water bills and running our faucets.

Mark G. Epstein moved to St. Helena from the East Coast early this century after a career in international business.

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Ruta’s Cafe, a vendor at the Crossroads Collective Food Hall since 2021, will be relocating to Walker’s Point.

It will open at 207 W. Freshwater Way next to Purple Door Ice Cream, the coffee shop announced on social media.

The cafe is owned by Ruta Kahate, whose latest cookbook was published by Chronicle Books in January.

Kahate, an Indian by birth, moved to Milwaukee with her family after living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 20 years. Their focus is on light and healthy Indian fare, including curry bowls and flatbread sandwiches.

Her final day as a clerk at Crossroads, 2238 N. Farwell Ave., will be March 31, according to the cafe’s Instagram account. The cafe will post updates about the new location on social media.

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WACO, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Decisive Point Consulting Group (“DPCG” or the “Company”), a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business providing Health Information Technology and Patient Safety Technology Integration to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA), today announced the signing of a contract award supporting the San Francisco VA Health Care System (“San Francisco VA”), San Francisco, CA, under its partnership with CareView Communications Inc. Decisive Point Consulting Group and CareView formed a Partnership to contract directly with VA hospitals to use a variety of CareView products to enhance the services being provided to veterans.

The CareView Patient Safety System facilitates continuous remote patient monitoring of any patient that may be at risk of harm due to fall precautions, behavioral issues, suicidal ideation, etc. The solution leverages an in-room wireless mobile cart with camera, display, and audio capabilities utilizing CareView’s patented Virtual Bed Rails® and Virtual Chair Rails® technologies to improve patient safety. The Virtual Bed Rails® use machine learning to identify when the patient’s movement indicates a fall may be imminent, and subsequently alerts the Safety Technician. Pre-recorded messages in patients’ native language or 2-way audio allow for direct communication with the patient. The system can offer a considerable reduction in sitter labor costs and greatly enhance overall patient safety. This solution can conduct telemedicine consultations and integrate industry standard nurse call platforms once available for integration at the San Francisco facility.

CareView’s innovative Patient Safety System is the only virtual sitter solution in the industry with no audible alarms in patient areas, making it the perfect solution for VA Community Living Centers (CLC’s). Additionally, because patient privacy is important, the CareView System features a privacy option mode that can be utilized when needed, ensuring enhanced safety, security, and peace of mind for loved ones.

Daniel Wilcox, DPCG Systems Engineer, stated, “We are pleased to be working with San Francisco VA and know that our solution will address their current and future needs to reduce patient falls while increasing overall patient safety and staff efficacy. We are looking forward to working closely with our VA partners to integrate the enhanced system capabilities inherent to the system in the San Francisco VA once those disparate capabilities are deployed on site.”

To learn more about the DPCG, LLC, visit www.decisivepointconsulting.com

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the process of developing a “One VA” complex in Alameda, California. The 624 acres of property was acquired from the Department of the Navy in 2014 after the closure of Naval Air Station Alameda in 1996.

When completed, it will serve an estimated 270,000 Veterans in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Facilities on the site will include a 158,000 square foot Community Based Outpatient Clinic, a National Cemetery Columbarium that will have the potential to hold the remains of 300,000 Veterans and spouses, and a Veterans Benefits Service Center to help bring the many VA programs to the many Veterans residing in the area. The project has been authorized by Congress with the US Army Corps of Engineers overseeing construction.

The property boasts a picturesque view of the City of San Francisco skyline and the Bay Bridge connecting Oakland to San Francisco. In acquiring this unique parcel of land, the VA committed to overseeing 512 acres as a conservation management area. In cooperation with the USFWS the conservation management area supports several species of birds to include one of the most important nesting sites for the California Least Tern, an endangered species.

Currently, the site is not open to the public. Once the project is complete, the National Cemetery and the Clinic will have scheduled hours of operation. In cooperation with the City of Alameda and the East Bay Regional Park District, the Bay Trail system is planned to connect to the site and extend around the perimeter of the property.

Additional information on the project is available on the downloadable fact sheets.

News Release: USACE Awards Wetland Mitigation Contract for New Alameda VA Facility

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Overnight temperatures in certain San Francisco neighborhoods could dip to near-freezing temperatures, according to ABC 7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma. As such, San Franciscans will want to take certain precautions with their pets, plants, and property.

“Bring your pets inside,” Tuma said in an interview with The Standard. In the coming days, the city’s official National Weather Service outpost in the Lower Haight might just record a low of 38 or 39 degrees Fahrenheit—which would be the chilliest reading in the past 6 years.

Also, anyone with particularly sensitive plants on the porch, balcony, or window sill should consider bringing those indoors, as well. David Stoner, president of Sloat Garden Center, said he is expecting San Francisco to experience frost over the next night or two. While frost is unlikely to deal a death-blow to established plants, it can damage the folliage.

The best course of action for proactive plant parents, according to Stoner, is to bring your plants inside. You can also move them under an overhang, or cover them with a frost blanket.

Stoner also noted that most plants prefer to be well watered when entering a period of extreme cold. The one exception to that rule: succulents and cacti. These, he said, should be as dry as possible heading into cold weather.

The reason the leaves of your burros tail, candelabra aloe, zebra plant and jade tree are so fleshy is that they are filled with water. And when those leaves approach freezing, the ensuing frost can damage the tender cells of those leaves, leaving the same plant that survived weeks without water in direct sunlight with withered, frost-bitten leaves.

Succulents are hearty, but they can be damaged by frost. | Getty Images

As for concerns about bursting pipes, Tuma said it’s always possible that freezing temperatures approaching could deal a final blow to older plumbing, though this issue is more common with sub-freezing temperatures.

San Francisco hasn’t officially recorded a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit since 1990—even as it’s relatively common for areas directly north, south and east of the city to dip below freezing a few times every winter.

That’s due to something called the “urban heat island” effect, Tuma said. Winter temperatures never get far below freezing anywhere in the Bay Area; as such, the remaining heat that San Francisco’s concrete, asphalt, metal and glass surfaces continue to radiate after sunset helps keep the city warmer than its suburban and rural neighbors.

So see

Tuma had two more notes for locals bracing for the cold snap.

First, the good news: It’s possible that the dip in temperatures could pull some of the pollen out of the air, which might bring relief to allergy sufferers.

Second, he said, don’t be too hard on yourself if you feel cold. The first couple of cold days after a warm spell like we just had can be jarring to the body.

“Wear your gloves, wear your hat,” Tuma said. “I know we get the reputation for being weak, but your body’s not used to it.”

Nick Veronin can be reached at [email protected].

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