San Bruno Mountain Watch

Mission Blue Nursery Program San Bruno Mountain Watch operates the Mission Blue Nursery to grow the native flora of San Bruno Mountain. In 2023, San Bruno Mountain Watch continued hosting programs at the nursery for the public to participate in plant propagation and maintenance activities. Nursery volunteers contributed 1300 hours of service at the nursery during this year. The nursery grew native plants for various restoration projects on San Bruno Mountain and propagated rare and endangered plants for plant conservation and seed amplification projects. Native plants were also provided to other urban greening projects throughout the San Francisco Peninsula. The nursery hosted four public plant sales offered plants through individual plant pick-up appointments, and donated plants to community garden partners who are beneficiaries of the Environmental Justice Fund at Mission Blue Nursery.

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 2023, San Bruno Mountain Watch continued distributing a book titled San Bruno Mountain: A Guide to the Flora and Fauna, authored by Doug Allshouse and David Nelson. The organization created more educational resources as part of the San Bruno Mountain Digital Learning Initiative,added new collections and materials to the San Bruno Mountain Archives, developed new interpretive zines for various projects on the mountain, hosted academic internships for high school and college students, and led multiple school field trips and public guided hikes on San Bruno Mountain. The group also grew the San Bruno Mountain Muses project, which offers opportunities to engage in environmental art activities on the mountain.

Ecological Restoration Program San Bruno Mountain Watch leads ecological restoration efforts with community volunteers, students, corporate groups, park agencies, and local cities. Volunteers contributed 2,946 hours to community-based ecological restoration efforts in 2023. 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. 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 continues to expand with the planting of new sections. 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. Through a multi-partner partnership, the organization also installed a new experimental planting area known as the San Bruno Mountain Test Plot, testing the ability of native plants to grow in the understory of historic stands of introduced non-native eucalyptus trees on the mountain.