In 2014, when the off-leash area at Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley was choked with foxtails (an invasive weed) and unusable, Norman La Force got involved in what should have been a routine park maintenance issue. He emailed the mayor and city council requesting that a complete biological resource assessment be done before the overdue mowing could happen. That cost Berkeley taxpayers about $15,000, found exactly what you might expect in an urban park on an old landfill, and prevented park users from using the park for several more weeks. The burrowing owls La Force says he was concerned about are migratory -- this was July, they are on-site from around October through April -- and best practices for burrowing owl habitat are to keep areas mowed (to provide better sight lines).