Govt. Pays $200,000 to move Shrub

Govt. Pays $200K to “Translocate” Shrub  From Stimulus Project’s Path  BY BRIAN KOENIG

The government doled out more than $200,000 in 2010 to  "translocate" a bush that was blocking the path of San  Francisco’s $1.05-billion highway project — partially  funded by President Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus  law — adding to the laundry list of "shovel-ready" projects  that resulted in a cesspool of taxpayer waste. "In October 2009, an ecologist identified a plant growing in a concrete-bound median strip along Doyle Drive in the  Presidio as Arctostaphylos franciscana," (pictured at left)  the U.S. Department of Interior wrote in an Aug. 10, 2010  Federal Register journal entry. "The plant’s location was  directly in the footprint of a roadway improvement project  designed to upgrade the seismic and structural integrity  of the south access to the Golden Gate Bridge." "The translocation of the Arctostaphylos franciscana plant  to an active native plant management area of the Presidio  was accomplished, apparently successfully and according  to plan, on January 23, 2010," the agency added.  CNSNews.com explained the purported "significance"  of this particular plant: The bush — a Franciscan manzanita — as a specimen  of a commercially cultivated species of shrub that can be  purchased from nurseries for as little as $15.98 per plant.  The particular plant in question, however, was discovered  in the midst of the City of San Francisco, in the median  strip of a highway, and was deemed to be the last example  of the species in the "wild." Prior to the discovery of this "wild" Franciscan manzanita,  the plant had been considered extinct for as long as 62 years  — extinct, that is, outside of people’s yards and botanical  gardens. Previously, the shrub was located in two cemeteries  in the city’s Richmond District. The Interior Department  also said there had been "unconfirmed sightings" of the  plant in the Haight-Ashbury District, and that the district’s  population of these particular shrubs has been "lost to  urbanization." On October 16, 2009, a botanist by the name of Daniel  Gluesenkamp identified the bush along Doyle Drive,  the highway that leads to the Golden Gate Bridge that  is currently under renovation. Further examination from  an ecologist and the Presidio Trust — which helps to   preserve the Presidio public park site — concluded  that the shrub was a Franciscan Manzanita. Consequently, on December 21, 2009, the Presidio  Trust, the National Park Service, the California  Department of  Transportation (Caltrans), the U.S. Fish  and Wildlife Service, and the California Department of  Fish and Game collectively drafted an agreement —   "Memorandum of Agreement Regarding Planning,  Development, and Implementation of the Conservation  Plan for Franciscan Manzanita" (MOA) — which detailed  how, why, and when the shrub would be relocated. The MOA called for a nearly $80,000 transfer to the  Presidio Trust "to fund the establishment, nurturing,   and monitoring of the Mother Plant in its new location  for a period not to exceed ten (10) years following  relocation and two (2) years for salvaged rooted  layers and cuttings according to the activities outlined  in the Conservation Plan." The agreement also called for $100,000 to finance  the "hard removal" of the plant and $25,605 to fund  the "reporting requirements" for the decade following  the removal. Combined with the $79,470 transfer to  the Presidio Trust, the overall cost for "translocating"  the Franciscan Manzanita bush calculated to a   whopping $205,075. Other costs the project included,  according to the memorandum: "Contract for and provide funding not to exceed  $7,025.00 for initial genetic or chromosomal testing of  the Mother Plant by a qualified expert to be selected  at Caltrans’ sole discretion."　 "Contract for and fund the input, guidance, and advice  of a qualified Manzanita expert on an as-needed basis  to support the tending of the Mother Plant for a period  not to exceed five (5) years, provided that said expert   selection, retention and replacement at any point after  hiring rests in the sole discretion of Caltrans." "Provide funding not to exceed $5,000.00 to each of  3 botanical gardens (Strybing, UC, and Tilden) to  nurture salvaged rooted layers and to monitor and  report findings as outlined in the Conservation Plan." "Provide funding not to exceed $1,500.00 for the  long-term seed storage of 300 seeds collected around  the Mother Plant in November 2009 as outlined in the  Conservation Plan." The plant is now being guarded at an undisclosed  location, partly because a fear that the "wild plant"   might be trampled by nature-lovers and other  onlookers. "[A] single trampling event could result  in damage or the death of the wild plant," the  Interior Department wrote in a Sept. 8, 2011  Federal Register entry. "As noted the Presidio  Trust and NPS have made continuous efforts not   to reveal the location of Arctostaphylos franciscana.  They are concerned that  public knowledge of the  A. franciscana location would attract large numbers of plant enthusiasts who may damage the A. franciscana and compact the soil." According to the 2011 Federal Register entry,  because the plant has been relocated to an  undeveloped area in the Presidio and is not  benefiting from the level of protection and  nutrients that other plants enjoy, it must be  considered "wild." But still, however "wild" Franciscan Manzanitas  may be, one California nursery currently sells  them online for only $15.98 per bush. Source: New American via The Patriot Update, 4/13/12 Comments: Our versions of the $200 thousand dollar shrub move  are the price tags for a 3.5 mile re-do of Mt Vernon for  $12 million and the 1/2 mile re-do of Dunwoody Village  Parkway for $2.4 million. Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader