For Immediate Release, September 6, 2011
Contact: Neal Desai, National Parks Conservation Association, (415) 989-9921 x 20
Brent Plater, Wild Equity Institute, (415) 572-6989
Meredith Thomas, Neighborhood Parks Council, (415) 621-3260
Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 669-7357
Arthur Feinstein, Sierra Club, San Francisco Bay Chapter, (415) 680-0643
Mike Lynes, Golden Gate Audubon Society, (510) 843-6551
Groups Applaud Legislation to Restore Sharp Park and Partner With National Park Service
Proposal Would Improve Recreation, Save Money, Protect Endangered Species
San Francisco— San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos introduced legislation today to transition management of city-owned Sharp Park to the National Park Service’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, to improve recreation and public access, protect endangered wildlife and save San Francisco taxpayers’ money.
Plagued by crumbling infrastructure and annual flooding problems, 400-acre Sharp Park in Pacifica is home to two federally protected species, the California red-legged frog and San Francisco
garter snake. Declining conditions and ongoing Endangered Species Act
violations at the golf course require changing how the site is managed,
but such changes are not financially feasible for San Francisco’s
strained budget. The proposed partnership will end the city’s legal and
financial
liabilities and put the Park Service in charge of protecting endangered
species and providing public recreation, allowing the San Francisco
Recreation and Park Department to reinvest its scarce resources back
into San Francisco-based parks, recreation centers and golf courses.
“City
recreation and park resources are already hugely strained, and the
impacts are being felt in our neighborhood parks,” said Meredith Thomas,
executive director of the Neighborhood Parks Council. “Partnership with
the National Park Service at Sharp Park will address critical infrastructure and environmental issues without drawing against funds that support parks in San Francisco County.”
“Restoring
Sharp Park will save San Francisco money, provide more diverse
recreation opportunities everyone can enjoy and showcase a
cost-effective and sustainable model for coastal communities adapting to
sea-level rise and climate change,” said Brent Plater, executive
director of the Wild Equity Institute.
“Partnership
with the National Park Service is our best opportunity to commit to our
kids and grandkids that the endangered wildlife at Sharp Park will recover,” said Neal Desai, Pacific Region associate director of the National Parks Conservation Association.
The
legislation calls for the Recreation and Park Department to work with
the National Park Service to initiate reasonable steps to address the
budgetary, recreational and environmental challenges at the
controversial golf course and transition long-term management to the
Park Service for restoring the site to coastal habitat with a trail
network and other public-serving amenities. A 2004 survey by the Park
Department found that trails are the primary recreation priority for San Francisco residents.
A
transition plan would allow for continuation of golf during the
planning phase under certain conditions that safeguard the endangered
species at Sharp Park.
The legislation improves access to affordable golf by allowing Pacifica
residents to pay San Francisco resident rates at San Francisco’s five
other golf courses. Currently, Pacifica residents are only granted San
Francisco resident rates at Sharp Park golf course. The legislation also retains jobs held at Sharp Park golf course by redeploying them from Pacifica to San Francisco, to help improve neighborhood
recreation and park facilities within San Francisco. Lincoln Golf Course, a potential beneficiary of these new staff resources, was identified in a 2007 National Golf Foundation study as needing increased maintenance staff to improve course conditions to attract more players and revenue.
Sharp Park is within the legislative boundary of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and
adjacent to the Park Service’s Mori Point, where a successful,
multimillion dollar wildlife habitat and trail-restoration project
accommodates neighbors, school groups and families in a community-based
model of park creation. In
February 2011 coastal restoration experts released a peer-reviewed scientific study and restoration proposal for Sharp Park, showing that restoring the natural lagoon, wetlands and beach processes at Sharp Park is the least costly and only sustainable solution for the land. Such restoration will provide
the most public benefit and best protect endangered species, at much less expense than the Park Department’s plan to dredge the wetlands and physically alter the configuration of golf holes.
Unfortunately
the Park Department has continued to operate the golf course in ways
that put endangered species at risk, such as pumping water from wetlands
without permits to do so. Six conservation groups filed a lawsuit against the Park Department in March 2011 to stop golf course activities that kill and harm San Francisco garter snakes and California red-legged frogs.
For more information visit the Wild Equity Institute Web page.
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Jeff Miller
Conservation Advocate
Center for Biological Diversity
351 California Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94104
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Renee Batti
News Editor
The Almanac
3525 Alameda de las Pulgas
Menlo Park, California 94025
(650) 223-6528
Submitted by Lionel Emde
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