Historic Opportunity to Restore Sharp Park

November 22, 2009 Subject: Restore Sharp Park Thank you for taking the first step to transform our publicly owned land at Sharp Park from an exclusive, underused, and budget-breaking golf course into a community-centered model for endangered species recovery, natural flood control, outdoor recreation, and sustainable land use. I strongly support Supervisor Mirkarimi's proposed ordinance to transfer Sharp Park to the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area or to jointly manage the park with the Park Service. The ordinance would also require the city's Recreation and Parks Department to develop a plan, schedule, and budget for restoring Sharp Park habitat for endangered species on the site, a welcome change from the mismanagement of recent years. I urge the city and county of San Francisco to restore Sharp Park as a coastal lagoon and wetland habitat for endangered species. Please follow through by passing this important legislation. Sharp Park Golf Course has a long history of environmental problems because of its poor design and unfortunate placement on a coastal lagoon. The course has had problems with flooding and drainage ever since opening, and the Department has created new and significant environmental impacts. The current operation of the golf course harms wetland habitat and causes illegal take of two federally listed species, the California red-legged frog and the San Francisco garter snake. The golf course is a significant money-loser for San Francisco that makes no sense to maintain at a time when the city has cut the Recreation and Parks Department staff and the long-term golf prospects at the site are slim. Combine that with the problems with endangered species, wetland destruction, flooding, and sea-level rise, and it is clear that restoration of Sharp Park to a natural state is the best option for the area. Ecological restoration is the most fiscally responsible method of managing Sharp Park and dealing with flood management issues at the site. Compared to the costs of implementing capital improvements necessary to maintain the golf course combined with the high potential for massive civil penalties for harming endangered species, restoration alternatives seem to be the most fiscally prudent method for retaining recreational uses of the area. San Francisco's 2004 recreational study shows that the number-one recreational demand in San Francisco is more hiking and biking trails -- and golf came in 16th. San Francisco already has six public golf courses, and about 50 other golf courses are within a 45-minute drive of Sharp Park. Restoring Sharp Park will help meet recreational demand through hiking and biking trails, picnicking spots, camping facilities, a world-class nature center, a gateway to the San Mateo County Golden Gate National Recreation Area lands, and educational opportunities sorely needed in San Mateo County. Restoration will also ensure the continued existence and abundance of endangered species at Sharp Park. Please transfer Sharp Park to the National Park Service or jointly manage the property with the Service to restore Sharp Park as a coastal lagoon and wetland habitat for endangered species. We will add your signature from the information you provide.		First Name* Last Name* Email* Street* Street 2 City* State/Province* Select a state Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces (the) Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Newfoundland New Brunswick Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Territory Other Zip/Postal Code*
Please send comments by December 31, 2009. You message will be sent to San Francisco Supervisors, Recreation and Parks Department officials, and Mayor Gavin Newsom. What's at stake San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi proposed legislation that would have San Francisco transfer Sharp Park to the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area or jointly manage the park with the Service. It would also require the city's Recreation and Parks Department to develop a plan, schedule, and budget for restoring Sharp Park habitat for endangered species. Sharp Park Golf Course is owned by the city and county of San Francisco but located to the south, on the coast in Pacifica. Its ongoing environmental problems are largely due to poor design and unfortunate placement. To create the course, the Recreation and Parks Department dredged and filled areas around Laguna Salada, a natural lagoon, for 14 months. Not surprisingly, Sharp Park has had problems with flooding and poor drainage ever since. The course's ceremonial opening day was delayed twice due to wet golf-playing conditions; major coastal floods have occurred on two occasions, destroying several holes; and normal winter rains flood the course nearly every year. San Francisco is currently reviewing all of its municipally owned golf courses to map out their future use. In 2004, San Francisco surveyed its residents and found that the number-one recreational demand by taxpayers is more hiking and biking trails, while golf came in 17th. The Center for Biological Diversity is proposing restoring Sharp Park to a natural state and to providing more access to hiking trails, picnicking spots, camping facilities, and educational opportunities -- all of which are sorely needed in San Mateo County. The fantastically colored San Francisco garter snake only occurs in San Mateo County and northern Santa Cruz County near freshwater marshes, ponds, canals, and slow-moving streams along the coast. There may be only 1,000 to 2,000 San Francisco garter snakes remaining in the wild today. One of the last places to see this gorgeous species is at Sharp Park Golf Course and the adjacent national park land at Mori Point. Sharp Park is also home to the threatened California red-legged frog, the largest native frog in the West, and a species made famous by Mark Twain's story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Restoration work for the garter snake and the frog at Mori Point within the national park is being undermined by the operation and mismanagement of Sharp Park Golf Course. In 2005 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notified San Francisco's Recreation and Parks Department that golf course operations were illegally "taking" threatened red-legged frogs by draining and pumping the frog's aquatic habitats, which strands and dries out frog eggs and kills tadpoles. New evidence has surfaced that the golf course has likely been killing extremely rare San Francisco garter snakes while mowing the snake's basking habitats. Thanks to the Center's previous actions, San Francisco's Recreation and Parks department now recognizes that the status quo at Sharp Park can't hold because the golf course loses money, kills endangered species, and places the surrounding communities at risk of catastrophic flooding events. The question now is what Sharp Park will become: a privatized, union-busting, elitist golf course that costs $120 just to enter as proposed by some, or a restored landscape that saves the city money, protects the environment, adapts to rising sea levels, and provides recreational opportunities everyone can enjoy. Join the Center for Biological Diversity in calling on San Francisco to restore coastal wetlands and endangered species habitat at Sharp Park. Transferring the park to the National Park Service is an important first step. Learn more at www.restoresharppark.org. San Francisco garter snake photo (c) Gary Nafis.