Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Butterflies are free, but it takes considerable funds to support the plants pollinated by these beauties at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. In fact, it takes $1 million a year to maintain the 23 gardens covering 55 acres that constitute one of the undisputed treasures of Golden Gate Park.
The city of San Francisco helps support the garden, as does the nonprofit San Francisco Botanical Garden Society; however, as in every other area of our civic life, funds available to help maintain the garden have shrunk substantially.
Those who resist any charge claim they love the garden and want unlimited access to it for everyone, including out-of-towners who would not blink at paying a much lower admission charge than the one, for example, that gains entry into the nearby California Academy of Sciences. Virtually all other major botanical gardens in the United States are supported by admission fees.
Without some revenue, special features of the garden will be compromised if not eliminated. This includes care of rare and endangered species. It also includes outreach to more than 10,000 San Francisco schoolchildren who visit the garden each year.
Because of San Francisco's unique topography and location, the garden is able to nurture plant assemblages adapted to a remarkable range of climate conditions. In the Ancient Plant Garden, the pathway through greenery both glorious and strange is laid out according to major epochs of earth history: a walk through this garden is a walk through evolution. The garden is also great for bird-watching. The 11 city gardeners who keep things watered, weeded, and thriving in the garden provide other vital services. The garden is a de facto laboratory for integrated pest management strategies - that is, chemical-free ways to minimize bug and fungus damage - solutions found here are adopted in open spaces by the city. Nobody wants to have to pay for something previously gotten for free. But a $7 charge to tourists and other visitors is minimal for the vital services, as well as aesthetic pleasures, the garden provides. There are plenty of other beautiful green spaces to wander through in Golden Gate Park; these unique collections need special care. We all love the garden. Let's not love it to death.
SOURE : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/27/EDG317S0SD.DTL
The city of San Francisco helps support the garden, as does the nonprofit San Francisco Botanical Garden Society; however, as in every other area of our civic life, funds available to help maintain the garden have shrunk substantially.
Those who resist any charge claim they love the garden and want unlimited access to it for everyone, including out-of-towners who would not blink at paying a much lower admission charge than the one, for example, that gains entry into the nearby California Academy of Sciences. Virtually all other major botanical gardens in the United States are supported by admission fees.
Without some revenue, special features of the garden will be compromised if not eliminated. This includes care of rare and endangered species. It also includes outreach to more than 10,000 San Francisco schoolchildren who visit the garden each year.
Because of San Francisco's unique topography and location, the garden is able to nurture plant assemblages adapted to a remarkable range of climate conditions. In the Ancient Plant Garden, the pathway through greenery both glorious and strange is laid out according to major epochs of earth history: a walk through this garden is a walk through evolution. The garden is also great for bird-watching. The 11 city gardeners who keep things watered, weeded, and thriving in the garden provide other vital services. The garden is a de facto laboratory for integrated pest management strategies - that is, chemical-free ways to minimize bug and fungus damage - solutions found here are adopted in open spaces by the city. Nobody wants to have to pay for something previously gotten for free. But a $7 charge to tourists and other visitors is minimal for the vital services, as well as aesthetic pleasures, the garden provides. There are plenty of other beautiful green spaces to wander through in Golden Gate Park; these unique collections need special care. We all love the garden. Let's not love it to death.
SOURE : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/27/EDG317S0SD.DTL
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