Volunteers Really Clean Up at the Presidio

Presidio of San Francisco (October 7, 2008) — “Clean up, clean up. Everybody everywhere, do your part, do your share.” Volunteers at the Presidio took the sentiments of this children’s song to new heights recently during the 24th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. More than 100 volunteers collected over 150 bags of garbage and recyclables over six and a half miles in and around Crissy Field, Baker Beach, and Mountain Lake.

“It was a great event and a great turnout,” said Jenny McIlvaine, volunteer coordinator for the Presidio Trust. “We were able to expand the event, and for the first time move inland and clean up some of the Presidio’s streets as well.”

Forty-one volunteers, including more than a dozen students from the Claire Lilienthal School, who continued a yearly tradition by cleaning up the Crissy Field Marsh, collected 80 bags of trash and recyclables at East Crissy Field. Volunteers cleaned a four-mile area including the marsh, dunes, beach and areas south of Mason Street.

At West Crissy Field, 40 volunteers collected 25 bags over a one mile area, while 27 volunteers collected 35 bags over a one mile stretch of Baker Beach and 10 volunteers collected a dozens bags from around Mountain Lake.

Overall the most abundant items collected were cigarettes, food wrappers and containers, and glass and plastic bottles.

Coastal Cleanup Day is just one of several, ongoing volunteer opportunities for individuals and corporate, school and community groups at the Presidio. Weekly programs offer volunteers the chance to assist on habitat and forest restoration projects, help repair and maintain trails and construct new routes, work in the Presidio’s archaeology lab or serve as a docent at gallery exhibitions, tours of historic homes and other events. For more information, visit http://www.presidio.gov/volunteer/Pages/default.aspx.

The Presidio Trust was established by the United States Congress in 1996 to manage the Presidio of San Francisco, a former army base located at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. The 1,500-acre site contains the infrastructure of a small city as well as expansive open space, a 300-acre historic forest, spectacular views, and rare and endangered plants and wildlife. It comprises nearly 6 million square feet of buildings, including 469 historic structures that contribute to its status as a National Historic Landmark District, making it unlike any other national park. In establishing the Trust, Congress mandated that it make the park financially self-sufficient by 2013. The Trust is the only federal agency with this mandate.