San Francisco Forest Alliance is a 501(c)4 not-for-profit organization with a mission of inclusive environmentalism. We fight to protect our environment through outreach and providing information. We oppose the unnecessary destruction of trees, oppose the use of toxic herbicides in parks and public lands, and support public access to our parks and conservation of our tree canopy. We stand for transparency in the use of public funds.
What’s a 501(c)4?
It’s a form of non-profit organization that’s devoted to social welfare (in our case, preserving public parks for the public). Unlike the 501(c)3 organizations, these are allowed to lobby and endorse candidates. (The downside is that donations aren’t tax deductible.)
Why did we choose to be a 501(c)4?
We discussed this at length, when we were trying to decide what form the organization should take. We chose this form because of the nature of the problem: The threat to our parks, especially our Natural Areas, comes from the way they are being managed by the city of San Francisco. The solutions are political, because the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department and the city are both ultimately answerable to the people of San Francisco via our elected officials. Unless we can engage in political activity, we cannot be effective in protecting our parks.
Our list of officers is HERE.
Contact us at SFForestNews@gmail.com
SFFA’s Facebook page is here.
San Francisco Forest Alliance 
Hello. Me and my girlfriend are visiting my family in San Francisco, we wanted to get away from the civilization in some kind of forest are with not alot of people there. Can anybody sugest something around San Francisco?
Webmaster: Within San Francisco, Mount Sutro Forest and Mount Davidson are 100-year-old eucalyptus forests with moderately difficult hiking trails. (No entry fee for either of them.) If you can drive out, Muir Woods is a redwood forest about 40 minutes from San Francisco. There’s an entry charge for visitors.
You should go to Glen Canyon or one of the many vestiges of natural areas maintained by NAP. http://sfrecpark.org/parks-open-spaces/natural-areas-program/
[Webmaster: It’s depressing. In Glen Canyon, around 100 trees have been removed, the thickets that were a refuge for wildlife are being decimated, the trees where the bats roosted are gone, one of the bee trees is gone. See http://sfglencanyon.net/2013/12/05/glen-canyon-park-nine-months-after-tree-destruction/]
I recently took a walk around Lake Merced. What I witnessed was an example of clear cutting of trees. What is going on? Is it the native plants zealots in the Rec and Park Dept. wreaking havoc on our trees? San Francisco is losing trees by the hundreds every year. Where is the environmentalism in that? Must we have nothing more than weeds and bushes in this city?