"Gill nets and a tippy rowboat are being used this month to pluck thousands of alien critters out of San Francisco's Mountain Lake as part of an innovative effort to resurrect the area's ecological history."

"The Presidio Trust is trying to remove all of the invasive fish, turtles and other non-native species - some of them dumped from home aquariums - before dredging begins at Mountain Lake early next month.

The idea is to restore the historic body of water as close as possible to the way it was when American Indians roamed its banks. The plan by the trust, the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is to remove toxic sludge, improve water quality and reintroduce native species to the 4-acre pond on the southern boundary of the Presidio."

Peter Fimrite reports for the San Francisco Chronicle November 10, 2012. [2]