FREE ESSAY ON PRESIDIO TRUST

PRESIDIO TRUST

Nestled in the foothills of San Francisco, lies one of the United States most beautiful
and historic national parks. Dating back to 1776 when Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de
Anza established the Presidio as a military garrison under commission of the government
of Spain. In 1848 it was transferred by a treaty from Mexico, to the United States. The
Presidio has played a major role in the settlement and defense of the West for more than
200 years. It served as a mobilization and embarkation point during several overseas
conflicts, a medical debarkation center and a coastal defense for the San Francisco Bay
Area. Located on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula the Presidio occupies
over 1,433 acres. 
During the 1960's there was increased pressure to develop remaining open spaces in the
San Francisco Bay Area. Local environmentalists urged representatives to preserve the
beauty and history of the Presidio by including it within the boundaries of the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area. In 1972, when the Golden Gate National Recreation Area was
created, it was mandated that the Presidio be transferred to the park when it was no
longer needed by the Army. In 1988 the Presidio was slated for closure by a BRAC (Base
Realignment and Closures) commission and thus began the transfer of property to the
National Park Service. In June of 1995 the Sixth U.S. Army marched out the Presidio,
ending almost 219 years of military presence in the city. 
By September 30, 1995 all Army Facilities were transferred to the National Park Service.

The Presidio trust is the first of its kind in the United States. With the closing of
many military bases this seems to be an effective allocation of the land. But as with any
National Park the Presidio has its fair share of problems. The main on being the
extensive cleanup that was needed to restore the land to its original pristine state. In
July of 1998 the Trust took charge of an area that included over 600 historical buildings
and over 1800 housing units. The national Park Service chose through lack of leadership
to keep more than 80 percent of those housing units and buildings vacant for over four
years. During this time period major damage was inflicted on prime housing and the
historic buildings. The Trust now has to undo this damage and lease the buildings and
housing at fair market rate to be self-sufficient. 
Today, many trees in the century-old forest are nearing the end of their lifespans and
will require extensive management to become sustainable. Ornamental landscape plantings
are overgrown and need revitalization. And, years of human use and the introduction of
plants from other parts of the world threaten native habitats that once thrived here. 
To preserve and restore the presidio's landscape and native habitats, the National Park
Service, in partnership with the Presidio Trust and the Golden Gate National Parks
Association, has prepared a vegetation management plan. The plan proposes a variety of
restoration activities throughout the Presidio and recommends that changes be made
gradually over the next several decades so that visual impacts of rehabilitation are
minimized. 
The Key goals of the vegetation management plan are to protect, restore and monitor
existing plant communities and enlarge the overall acreage or plant communities within
the Presidio. Threats to existing habitat, such as invasion by forest trees and exotic
plants such as Cape ivy, visitor foot traffic and soil erosion, will be addressed.
Methods to increase reproductive success will also be implemented. The native habitat
will be restored in areas where trees outside the historic forest zone are removed, where
nonhistoric buildings are removed, vistas are cleared and other invasive nonnative
vegetation is removed. 
The vegetation management plan is all well and good but without proper funding the
presidio could never reach it potential. The presidio received this funding when
congresswomen Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco took in interest in the relatively new
national park. 
Congresswoman Pelosi , a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, received
full committee approval form the U.S. Interior Department. This includes a total of 44.4
million for the Presidio trust, 24.4 million for operations and 20 million in borrowing
authority to rehabilitate property for leasing. In addition the park received 5.8 million
to cover its responsibilities on the grounds, including 800,000 for rehabilitation of
Crissy Field. The Committee Report also encourages the Presidio Trust and the Smithsonian
Institution to explore avenues for affiliation. This funding, said Pelosi,  will enable
the Presidio to proceed at all deliberate speed toward the twin goals of preserving the
national park and achieving economic self-sufficiency.
Soon after President Clinton took notice and named the first Presidio Trust Board,
installing new management concepts for the Presidio. This Trust will be responsible for
all built-up areas of the former Army post and is initially assigned eighty percent of
the land area. The National Park Service will manage all visitor services and the coastal
areas of the Presidio. The Trust Board is essentially a separate federal government
corporation charged with managing a city within a city. This is a first of its kind
management approach for a unit of the National Park System. 
The Presidio Trust is working though it has its problem and setbacks the park is
thriving. The new management is making wise decisions and its beginning to pay off. 
Recently the Presidio Trust obtained the right to lease the Presidio's buildings, borrow
up to 50 million from the U.S. Treasury, guarantee up to 75 percent of loan amounts, and
hire its own staff. The Trust will receive a large portion of the 25 million appropriated
by the Congress to the National Park Service to administer the property. This allowance
will gradually decrease over the next 15 years until the Trust is totally
self-sufficient.
In my opinion the Presidio Trust is a great new way to start up a national park. The
Presidio just proves that if an area of land has the right people behind it the
Government has the funding to help with the change over. The fact that The Presidio was a
historic army base only adds to attraction of the land. The marketing campaign can use
many different angles to get people to visit the beautiful grounds. The Presidio Trust
Pelosi stated, brings a new approach to the Presidio that incorporates the best of the
National Park Service and the best of private-sector expertise into an alliance to
realize the best of the Presidio.