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Natural Resources Section of the Resources Management Plan NATURAL RESOURCES SECTION OF THE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA Prepared by Golden Gate National Recreation Area National Park Service Department of the Interior December 20, 1999 Prepared by: ___________________________________ Date:_____________ Division of Natural Resource Management and Research Approved by: ___________________________________ Date:_____________ General Superintendent, Golden Gate National Recreation Area NATURAL RESOURCES SECTION OF THE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of Park Establishment 1 1.2 Purpose of the Plan 1 1.3 Compliance/National Environmental Policy Act 2 2 NATURAL RESOURCES VALUES 3 2.1 Geography, Geology and Minerals 3 2.2 Water Resources 4 2.3 Plant Resources 4 2.4 Rare and Endangered Species 4 2.5 Wildlife Resources 5 2.6 Marine Resources 15 2.7 Air Resources and Night Sky 16 3 CONDITIONS AND THREATS TO NATURAL RESOURCES 19 3.1 Geologic and Mineral Resources 19 3.2 Water Resources 20 3.3 Plant Resources 22 3.4 Rare and Endangered Species 24 3.5 Wildlife Resources 31 3.6 Marine Resources 34 3.7 Air Resources and Night Sky 36 4 GGNRA NATURAL RESOURCE PROGRAM 37 4.1 Objectives of the Natural Resource Program 37 4.2 Inventory and Monitoring (Vital Signs) — an Integrated Program 38 4.3 Restoration — an Integrated Program 38 4.4 Wildlife Program 41 4.5 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 55 4.6 Vegetation Program 55 4.7 Forestry Program 65 4.8 Range Inventory and Management 67 4.9 Prescribed Fire Management 67 4.10 Aquatic/Hydrology Program 68 4.11 Physical Resources Program 75 4.12 Geographic Information System (GIS) Program 77 4.13 Research Program 79 4.14 Special Ecological Areas 80 5 STAFFING PLAN FOR GGNRA NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 83 5.1 Base Needs as Allocated by R-MAP 83 5.2 Staffing Organization 83 NRS_RMP iii Natural Resources Section of the Resource Management Plan 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 87 6.1 References Cited 87 6.2 Personal Communications 90 APPENDICES Appendix A: Approach to Native Plant Habitat Restoration A-1 Appendix B: Approach to Non-Native Plant Management B-1 Appendix C: Approach to Rare Plant Management C-1 Appendix D: Synthesis of Existing Vegetation Monitoring Program D-1 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Special Status Species of Golden Gate National Recreation Area 6 Table 2. Significant Marine Resources in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area 15 Table 3. Sensitive Plant Threats and Recovery Actions 28 1 INTRODUCTION Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) was created from a vision to protect and promote the enjoyment of the natural and cultural resources on the edge of the urban San Francisco Bay Area communities. The vast natural resources that existed in the bay estuary and its environs prior to 1800 have been reduced to minute remnants, which are protected in a handful of national, state and local parks and open space. The opportunity exists in GGNRA to preserve the last remnants of what was once an abundant flora and fauna. This Natural Resources Management Plan documents the extent and condition of and threats to the natural resources of GGNRA, and lays a foundation for actions to preserve and restore, where necessary, the Californian habitats, and ecosystems on which they depend. It is complementary to and consistent with other National Park Service (NPS) and GGNRA management documents. 1.1 Purpose of Park Establishment The National Park Service Act of 1916 created the NPS: “. to conserve the scenery and natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” GGNRA is administered by the NPS. One mandate for all national park units is to preserve natural resources values. GGNRA’s enabling legislation states that the park was founded: “In order to preserve for public use and enjoyment certain areas of Marin and San Francisco possessing outstanding natural, historic, scenic and recreational values . .” The act stated that management of the park: “. shall utilize the resources in a manner which will provide for recreation and educational opportunities consistent with sound principles of land use planning and management.” The act charges the Secretary to: “. preserve the recreation area, as far as possible, in its natural setting, and protect it from development and uses which would destroy the scenic beauty and natural character of the area.” 1.2 Purpose of the Plan This Natural Resources Management Plan identifies GGNRA’s natural resources and their condition. It describes a program to preserve, monitor, maintain, and restore, where necessary, the natural California habitats, and ecosystems on which they depend. The ever-growing metropolitan population adjacent to these natural areas exerts a great pressure to over-utilize the fragile natural systems that remain. This plan identifies these pressures and provides strategies for protecting the natural systems and resources. This plan is complementary to and consistent with other NPS and GGNRA management documents including the NPS Policies (1989), Statement for Management (1990), the General Management Plan (1980), and the Presidio General Management Plan (1994). This plan revises the previous Natural X:\Admin_&_Management_(A)\RMP12-1999\NRS_RMP.doc 1 Natural Resources Section of the Resource Management Plan Resources Management Plan (1994) and addenda (1982, 1984, 1987). The existing focused plans (Fire Management Plan, 1986; Water Resources Management Plan, 1991) were written as supplemental components of the 1994 Natural Resources Management Plan. The current plan is also consistent with the goals and objectives of the United Nations Man in the Biosphere program. GGNRA is a member of this program as part of the Central California Coast Biosphere Reserve. 1.3 Compliance/National Environmental Policy Act Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other resource protection legislation is not accomplished through the Natural Resources Management Plan. Each Project Statement includes a section on the need for compliance, or indicates whether a project is categorically excluded from the NEPA process. NPS guidelines for Resources Management Plans require that environmental compliance be undertaken when funding is likely. Environmental documents for appropriate projects will be completed prior to any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of funds or efforts to a particular course of action, beyond planning. X:\Admin_&_Management_(A)\RMP12-1999\NRS_RMP.doc 2 2 NATURAL RESOURCES VALUES 2.1 Geography, Geology and Minerals GGNRA comprises approximately 75,000 acres of coastal lands in the San Francisco Bay Area. This long, narrow park is divided by the Golden Gate entrance to San Francisco Bay, which separates the northern Marin County lands from the southern San Francisco and San Mateo county lands. The topographical relief of the park ranges from sea level to 2,300 feet above mean sea level near the top of Mt. Tamalpais. Hillslopes range from almost flat marine terraces and alluvial deposits to steep canyons along some creeks, and near vertical bluffs above some beaches. Most watersheds are less than one square mile in area, and flow through narrow V-shaped stream beds cut through bedrock. Stream channel gradients range from 3 percent, in Elk Creek, to 35 percent, in steep tributaries on Bolinas Ridge. GGNRA is located in a seismically active zone. The San Andreas Fault extends northwest from near Fort Funston, and runs through Bolinas Lagoon and Tomales Bay. The San Andreas is the major fault in the area, but many smaller faults also exist. Movement on the San Andreas continues at an average of about 1 to 2 centimeters per year. This movement is expressed as a violent earthquake occurring about once a century. Many earthquakes of lesser magnitude occur along the length of the fault. Bedrock parent materials within the park are jumbled, as a result of grinding movement along the San Andreas Fault. Sandstone, pillow basalts, shale, Chert, greenstone (basalt), serpentine, and metamorphic rocks are among the bedrock types present. These rocks belong to the Franciscan Assemblage and were originally deposited on the ocean floor 80 to 140 million years ago. The rocks were greatly deformed and partly metamorphosed as the ocean floor was thrust under the western edge of the North American Plate, resulting in a landscape of easily eroded, sheared and crushed sandstone and shale, with occasional blocks of more resistant rock forming prominent outcrops. The Marin Headlands contains more resistant rocks than the more erodible Franciscan Melange found to the north of Pirates Cove. Radiolarian chert composed of fossilized radiolaria underlies about half of the Headlands, and because of its resistance to weathering, makes up nearly all the ridge tops and summits. The contorted layers in this chert express the plate-tectonic actions in this area and are frequently visited by geology classes. Topographically, melange areas have broader ridge crests and gentler slopes and contain more earthflows than the coherent Marin Headlands. Groundwater is close to the surface and frequently emerges as seeps or springs in the melange area. Locally, especially in the southwest part of San Francisco, are younger rocks, soft sedimentary deposits that are less than two million years old. The sea cliffs at Fort Funston were formed from the oldest of these tilted fossil-rich beds of sand and clay (the Merced Formation), and are easily eroded by wave action. In the last few hundred thousand years, sand and clay have accumulated as beaches, dunes and nearshore deposits, and these are now exposed at Sutro Heights, Baker Beach, Angel Island and Rodeo Cove. Many abandoned quarries are found within GGNRA. Dogtown Copper Mine, located just off Bolinas Ridge, is the only known mineral development in the park. It was developed in 1863 and re-worked around the turn of the century.
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