{"id":13894,"date":"2012-04-13T15:47:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T19:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=13894"},"modified":"2012-04-13T15:49:01","modified_gmt":"2012-04-13T19:49:01","slug":"taxpayers-foot-over-200k-bill-to-move-wild-bush-to-secret-location-in-san-fran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/04\/taxpayers-foot-over-200k-bill-to-move-wild-bush-to-secret-location-in-san-fran.html","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayers Foot Over $200k Bill to Move \u2018Wild\u2019 Bush to Secret Location in San Fran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watchwoman: <\/strong>$200,000 to move a $16 dollar bush?\u00a0 This <\/span><\/span>psychosis is brought to you by <\/span><\/span>the same folks who sang, “Come to San Francisco wearing flowers in your hair,” the mantra of the hippies, flower children, LSD trip outs, druggies, and dope-smoking brain-dead back in the 60’s and 70’s, now have arrived in positions of power to make these drug-induced decisions. Aren’t you happy you don’t live in San Fran to foot the $200,000 bill to move a bush?\u00a0 Look at all the fried eggs, that’s their brains on drugs. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a7\u00a0 [Romans 1:22]\u00a0 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, [23]\u00a0 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. [24]\u00a0 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: [25]\u00a0 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. [KJV]\u00a0<\/em> \u25ac\u00a0 Donna Calvin<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Workers transplant the manzanita bush.<\/h1>\n

Oddly enough, you can actually purchase the Franciscan Manzanita in almost any garden nursery for about $16. The difference here with the specimen found along the roadside is that it\u2019s thought to be the last wild <\/em>Franciscan Manzanita in existence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Photo: Michael Chasse\/National Park Service via CNS News)<\/p>\n

\n
\"San<\/a><\/div>\n

San Francisco spent over $200k in 2010 order to move a wild bush from one part of the city to an undisclosed location, reports CNS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over $200,000, really.<\/p>\n

The bush, a wild Arctostaphylos franciscana (more commonly known as the Franciscan Manzanita), \u201cstood in the path of a $1.045-billion<\/a> highway-renovation project that was partially funded by the economic stimulus legislation President Barack Obama signed in 2009,\u201d Thomas Cloud of CNS News writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn October 2009, an ecologist identified a plant growing in a concrete-bound median strip along Doyle Drive in the Presidio as Arctostaphylos franciscana<\/em>,\u201d the U.S. Department of Interior reported in the Aug. 10, 2010 edition of the Federal Register.<\/p>\n

The report continues:<\/p>\n

The plant\u2019s location was directly in the footprint of a roadway improvement project designed to upgrade the seismic and structural integrity of the south access to the Golden Gate Bridge.<\/p>\n

The translocation of the Arctostaphylos franciscana<\/em> plant to an active native plant management area of the Presidio was accomplished, apparently successfully and according to plan, on January 23, 2010.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oddly enough, you can actually purchase the Franciscan Manzanita in almost any garden nursery for about $16. The difference here with the specimen found along the roadside is that it\u2019s thought to be the last wild <\/em>Franciscan Manzanita in existence.<\/p>\n

After the botanist Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp discovered the specimen, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish and Game developed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for saving it from the highway project that had uncovered it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agreement of Dec. 21, 2009 \u2013 Memorandum of Agreement Regarding Planning, Development, and Implementation of the Conservation Plan for Franciscan Manzanita<\/a> \u2013 explains how, why, and when the bush would be moved and which agencies would be responsible for which aspects of the move,\u201d Cloud writes.<\/p>\n

And here is where large amounts of taxpayer dollars come into play:<\/p>\n

\u2026[the MOA] did state that in addition to funding removal and transportation of the Franciscan manzanita, Caltrans agreed to transfer $79,470 to the Presidio Trust \u201cto fund the establishment, nurturing, and monitoring of the Mother Plant in its new location for a period not to exceed ten (10) years following relocation and two (2) years for salvaged rooted layers and cuttings according to the activities outlined in the Conservation Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Presidio Parkway Project spokesperson Molly Graham told CNSNews.com that the \u201chard removal\u201d\u2026 cost $100,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The MOA also stated that Caltrans agreed to \u201cTransfer $25,605.00 to the Trust to fund the costs of reporting\u00a0requirements of the initial 10-year period as outlined in the Conservation Plan,\u201d Cloud reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe $100,000 to pay for the \u2018hard removal,\u2019 the $79,470 to pay for the \u2018establishment, nurturing and monitoring\u2019 of the plant for a decade after its \u2018hard removal,\u2019 and the $25,605 to cover the \u2018reporting requirements\u2019 for the decade after the \u2018hard removal,\u2019 equaled a total cost of $205,075 for \u2018translocating\u2019 this manzanita bush,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\"San<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Franciscan manzanita <\/em>(Shelley Estelle, Presidio Trust)<\/p>\n

But you think that\u2019s bad? Those weren\u2019t the only costs put on the taxpayer\u2019s tab. According to the MOA<\/a>, other costs included:<\/p>\n