San Bruno Mountain Watch

Ecological Restoration Program San Bruno Mountain Watch leads ecological restoration efforts with community volunteers, students, corporate groups, park agencies, and local cities. Volunteers contributed 1,262 hours to community-based ecological restoration efforts in 2024. San Bruno Mountain Watch continued grassland restoration efforts as part of the San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan, planting native host and nectar plants to improve habitat for the mountain's endangered Mission Blue and Callippe Silverspot butterflies.The group also carried out rare plant conservation and revegetation efforts for the endangered San Bruno Mountain manzanita and seed amplification of the San Francisco campion. Invasive plant removal efforts continued in areas like the San Bruno Mountain Dunes, the Northeast Ridge, Buckeye and Owl Canyons, and the southern slopes of the mountain. The San Bruno Mountain Botanical Garden continued to expand with the planting of new sections and the addition of botanical signage. San Bruno Mountain Watch also continued restoration efforts within salt marsh and transitional habitats at the shoreline of Colma Creek. The creek begins on San Bruno Mountain and drains into San Francisco Bay. Additionally, the organization began planting at the headwaters of Colma Creek on the mountain and continued planting and maintaining the San Bruno Mountain Test Plot, an experiment that explores the ability of native plants to grow in the understory of historic stands of introduced non-native eucalyptus trees on the mountain.

Education Program San Bruno Mountain Watch's education program connects the public with the cultural and natural history of San Bruno Mountain through field trips, presentations, digital resources, and service-learning opportunities. In 2024, San Bruno Mountain Watch developed new curriculum and educational resources. The organization launched the Elevate the Elfin project, developing a booklet and walking tour exploring the cultural and natural history of the endangered San Bruno Elfin butterfly, and collaborated with the San Mateo County Sustainability Department to create curriculum and field trips for the Youth Exploring Climate Science project.The Organization also developed a botany curriculum for schools based on the mountain's native plants, added new collections and materials to the San Bruno Mountain Archives, hosted academic internships for high school and college students, and led many other types of school field trips and public guided hikes on San Bruno Mountain. The group continued the San Bruno Mountain Muses project, which offers opportunities to engage in environmental art activities on the mountain.

Conservation Advocacy ProgramThrough conservation advocacy, San Bruno Mountain Watch continues to seek protection for private land on and around San Bruno Mountain for public open space purposes. The organization works with local landowners, donors and government officials to ensure the protection of areas of natural and cultural significance. In 2024,the organization began preparing a comment letter in response the Draft Environmental Impact Report of the Guadalupe Quarry Redevelopment Project on San Bruno Mountain and raised awareness about the environmental and community health risks associated with the proposal.