New concerns over future of environmental work at SF Presidio after Trump executive order

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Restoration and environmental work at the Presidio is not only transforming the former Army post but also benefiting the ecosystem.

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When we first met urban design professors Evan Jones and Margaret Ikeda, they were working with the Presidio Trust to transform a newly created tidal marsh near Crissy Field, installing experimental structures designed at the California College of the Arts to provide a home and breeding ground for native Bay oysters. And Jones says the experience generated at the Presidio can often be applied around the Bay.

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"And I think you can really get a lot of mileage out of the research work that happens there, in terms of how we might start to rethink some of our industrial areas of the city," he said.

The environmental transformation at the Presidio goes well beyond the beaches and dunes at Crissy Field. Presidio ecologists are literally transforming groves of non-native trees--originally planted as camouflage by the army--into a healthy forest supporting native species. It's everything from the coyotes that birth their young to native frogs that had all but vanished from the city.

The work is also allowing the Presidio Trust to partner with local nonprofits. We followed along as teams re-introduced the Variable Checkerspot butterfly in the secluded meadows at the heart of the park.

"Well, it's absolutely essential The Presidio is providing this amazing laboratory for taking highly degraded habitats, like old army dumps, and turning them into very rich native habitats," said Stu Weiss, chief scientist with the butterfly conservation center, Creekside Science.

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Other nonprofits, like Point Blue Conservation, have explored reintroducing birds like the native quail.

Back at Crissy Field, Evan Jones points to the advances in bioengineering fostered at the Presidio that could soon be incorporated into major projects like San Francisco's Embarcadero sea wall project.

"Which is going to benefit, not only the economy of San Francisco by protecting the most valuable real estate in the city, but also creating an opportunity to engage with with just an overall restoration of the bay," Jones said.

It's a dynamic they're hoping to continue in the face of potential changes at San Francisco's iconic Presidio.