About Sutro Stewards
Sutro Stewards would like to acknowledge that the Ramaytush Ohlone have stewarded Mt. Sutro and Yelamu, what we call the San Francisco Bay, since time immemorial.
As the original peoples of this land, the Ramaytush Ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place.
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Sutro Stewards honors their heritage by emphasizing that their stewardship practices have allowed the land to prosper. We speak with gratitude as we are privileged today to follow in their footsteps in learning how to care for the land, while maintaining that their knowledge and perspectives are vital in sustaining our home. As visitors, we treat the land as sacred and worthy of reverence and respect in all our stewardship practices.
We do this work to support the health of all communities of living beings such as plants, fungi, insects, birds, reptiles, humans and other mammals- in the hopes that our ecosystems will thrive and be accessible to everyone today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.
Support local indigenous sovereignty and land back efforts
The mission of the Sutro Stewards is to build community, connect people with nature, and protect and enhance Mount Sutro, one of the city’s wildest and most beautiful green spaces. We do this by working with volunteers to develop and maintain multi-use trails while conserving habitat for locally native plants and wildlife.
Sutro Stewards work to conserve habitat through ecological restoration and native plant propagation while providing recreational opportunities in the UCSF Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve. Mount Sutro Open Space, located in the geographic center of San Francisco, was overlooked by surrounding communities for a century. In the last decade, the true value of the open space was revealed through the Sutro Stewards’ creation of multi-use trails, allowing the public to explore this exceptional place.
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Since 2006, we have mobilized volunteers to build trails, remove invasive species, and grow and install native plants. We are the largest organized independent volunteer pool in San Francisco, engaging over 1,000 volunteers each year and hosting six or more events a month. We work with city agencies and land managers to continue to expand the network of connectivity between San Francisco opens spaces and engage the community in the planning of improvements and long-term stewardship of each project.
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Make a donation to support our three program areas - trail maintenance and building, native plant nursery, and habitat conservation - as well as public education programs like our annual wildflower walks.
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Sutro Stewards is a project of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, a 501(c)3 California nonprofit public benefit corporation.
Our
Core Principles​
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Experiencing nature, wildness, and adventure is critical to healthy, meaningful, joyful lives.
We believe everyone should be able to benefit from access to wild nature. Mount Sutro should be welcoming and accessible to residents and visitors of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities.
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Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity are crucial to Mt Sutro, to our work, and to our organizational culture.
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Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity are crucial to Mt Sutro, to our work, and to our organizational culture.
Access to steward and enjoy open space is a human right that has been denied to many. However, a healthy and resilient Mount Sutro is only possible when people of all identities are included in the well-being of the Mountain. By ensuring ALL in San Francisco have access to stewardship and enjoyment of Mt. Sutro’s natural benefits, we will build a future cadre of stewards dedicated to the health and well-being of the Mountain. Sutro Stewards works for diversity, equity, and inclusivity in our internal structure as key to fostering this in our communities, and throughout our external work.
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Conservation and restoration of native plants make Mount Sutro ecologically healthier and more resilient to climate change. Expanding habitat also promotes stronger connections to nature by providing better opportunities for people to see and learn about locally native plants and wildlife.
Promoting biodiversity and expanding native habitat on Mount Sutro benefits wildlife and people.
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We strive to be a model of community-based stewardship. Our volunteers are passionate, knowledgeable, talented, and hard-working. We support volunteers to accomplish meaningful, fun, empowering work that helps them feel connected to nature and the community of people who steward Mount Sutro.
Volunteers are the heart of our stewardship work.
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Sutro Stewards is supported by and works closely with UCSF to improve access and ecological health within the open space. We build partnerships with local conservation and trail advocates to help promote our shared priorities. We work with partners to expand and improve the local trail network to make it easier for people throughout San Francisco to connect to nature and opportunities for adventure.
Partnership and connectivity are central to our stewardship of Mount Sutro.