Take a Mulligan at Sharp Park

It's time for San Francisco to take a mulligan at Sharp Park: Let's take another shot and build a better public park, a park that will protect the environment and create a recreational space that everyone can enjoy.

Sharp Park golf course is beset by numerous problems. It is losing money, it needs millions of dollars in capital improvements and the golfers who play there give it failing grades in nearly every category the National Golf Foundation measures.

It is also killing two of the Bay Area's most wondrous and imperiled animals: the endangered San Francisco garter snake - arguably the most beautiful and imperiled serpent in North America - and the threatened California red-legged frog - the largest frog native to the West, made famous by Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Most of these problems can be directly traced to golf architect Alister MacKenzie's original design. The design required dredging and filling the coastal landscape for 14 months, and it destroyed a natural barrier that provided Sharp Park with protection from the Pacific Ocean. Thus, a huge coastal storm permanently damaged the links. Eventually a levee was constructed along the coastal edge of Sharp Park, and several links were moved into an upland canyon. But rather than solving the flooding problem, the levee and redesign exacerbated it. The new design blocked the natural water seeps and outflows through Sharp Park to the ocean, and the course now floods during normal winter rains.

The common sense thing to do at Sharp Park now is to close the golf course and turn management of the property over to the adjacent Golden Gate National Recreation Area. San Franciscans' No. 1 recreational demand is for more hiking and biking trails: golf comes 16th out of 19 activities in the same study. We can meet this demand by building trails connecting Sharp Park to Mori Point and Sweeny Ridge, while giving diverse user groups access to the property.

But golf advocacy groups have categorically rejected anything but 18 holes of golf at Sharp Park, and instead have proposed reducing costs by getting rid of the unionized workforce, privatizing course management, and creating an elite golf course that charges $80 to $120 per round to play, as compared to the $19 to $31 now charged. And they want to do this by re-creating MacKenzie's original design, the design that created the problems in the first place.

But if this proposal is adopted, even golfers will be worse off. Golf is overbuilt in the Bay Area, causing greens fees to drop and courses to close. If we continue to throw good money after bad on Sharp Park's poor design, other, better courses will be forced to shut down, and the game as a whole will suffer because of it.

By closing Sharp Park, San Francisco will realize a net savings of thousands of dollars annually in the money-losing golf program, and can reinvest this money to improve other municipal courses, increasing access to affordable golf throughout the city.

With San Francisco, Pacifica and the National Park Service working in partnership, Sharp Park can become a community-centered model for outdoor recreation, natural flood control and endangered species recovery, and our municipal golf courses can be improved. That's why nothing could be more prudent than turning Sharp Park into a national park: It protects the environment, it improves access to our open spaces and it's good for the game.

Brent Plater is the director of Restore Sharp Park (restoresharppark.org).

Restore Sharp Park!

Brent Plater Is a 2009 SF Weekly Best of San Francisco Winner

Restore Sharp Park!

On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a bill that will start restoration planning at Sharp Park, located in Pacifica but owned and operated by San Francisco. It is an idea who's time has come.

Every environmentalist has demanded that scientific studies be conducted before any decision about Sharp Park’s future is made, including decisions about Sharp Park’s illicitly built and crumbling sea wall. The Mirkarimi bill expressly requires, based on the best scientific evidence available, that a restoration study be conducted along with alternatives that retain or redesign the golf course. The bill will force these studies to be integrated into the EIR process, but it will modify that process to ensure that restoration alternatives are considered along with existing alternatives that keep things largely as they are. Unfortunately, some have steadfastly opposed restoration studies, because for political and personal reasons he doesn’t want the status quo to change.

But the status quo cannot be maintained. The golf course loses too much money, it causes too much harm to the environment, and it exposes the surrounding community to flooding risks that will be exacerbated by climate change. In the face of these liabilities, subsidizing golf in San Mateo County for as little as $12 a round while San Francisco makes drastic cuts to basic city services simply cannot continue.

Status quo supporters propose a simplistic solution: raise prices. But if Sharp Park raises prices, fewer golfers will play there and the course’s deficit will increase. The Bay Area already supplies 6 million more rounds of golf than golfers demand, driving golf prices downward precisely when status quo proponents suggest we should raise them. Moreover, the National Golf Foundation found that golfers at Sharp Park have very little loyalty to the course and play there primarily because it is cheap. Because of this, San Francisco’s Budget Analyst concluded that Sharp Park cannot reduce its deficit by simply raising prices: golfers will just take their game elsewhere.

And Sharp Park’s deficit is substantial. Sharp Park has lost between $30,000 and $300,000 a year for the past four fiscal years from the golf fund alone. San Francisco’s other golf courses suffer for it, because they must subsidize Sharp Park’s losses, robbing other courses of needed maintenance. But that isn’t all it costs San Francisco to operate Sharp Park: Sharp Park also draws down the capital fund, the open space fund, and the natural areas program fund. In 2007, the Recreation and Parks Department concluded that these expenses will not be offset by revenue from Sharp Park, collectively resulting in millions of dollars in losses by 2013.

This may be chump change compared to San Francisco’s multi-billion dollar budget, but if this hemorrhaging were halted San Francisco would not need to make proposed cuts to City services, services that are already distributed inequitably. These funds could keep our community centers open after school so kids will have a safe place to stay until their parents return from work. They could even be used to improve San Francisco’s other golf courses that are suffering from deferred maintenance, or improve our playgrounds and dog parks to make them safe.

On top of all this, the scientific evidence makes it abundantly clear that Sharp Park golf course is the cause of harm to endangered species, not the cure for it. The San Francisco garter snake, arguably the world’s most beautiful and imperiled serpent, was considered “abundant” at Sharp Park in surveys conducted in the 1940’s—before the sea wall was built—but has declined precipitously in surveys ever since. In 2006 a US Fish and Wildlife Service report concluded that a San Francisco garter snake was killed by a lawn mower at Sharp Park, and in 2008 only one snake was seen at Sharp Park all year. The golf course has yet to implement a single mitigation measure for the snake.

Also in 2008—three years after mitigation measures for take of the California red-legged were reluctantly implemented by the golf course—biological investigators found “several” desiccated California red-legged frog egg masses at Sharp Park. This year investigators concluded that, subsequent to a $240,000 repair of the golf course’s pump house, entrainment of the frog’s egg masses and tadpoles can occur, sending them out to sea.

Environmentalists have been consistent in their message: use the best available science to consider restoration alternatives at Sharp Park before political deals are cut about the future of the land. With this information we can select the best choice for everyone at Sharp Park, including golfers, endangered species, and other recreational users of Sharp Park. The Mirkarimi bill will kick-start this process, and deserves support because of it.

Brent Plater wins 2008 John Muir Association Environmental Education Award

GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year Endangered Species Day Celebration

The GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year is a race against time to see and save each of the park's endangered species. On May 18 from 11:30am until 1:30pm, we'll be celebrating national Endangered Species Day at Rodeo Lagoon, located near Ft. Chronkite in the Marin Headlands. This free, fun, and fantastic event will have presentations from the GGNRA's natural resources staff, some free snacks, and then we'll wander Rodeo Lagoon in search of the Tidewater Goby, a small nest-building fish that calls the GGNRA home. We may even have underwater video cameras to aid your search!

Brent Plater Receives "Unsung Hero" Award from SF Tomorrow

Brent Plater receives a 2008 Unsung Hero Award from San Francisco Tomorrow on May 21, 2008. Reception at 5:30pm, dinner at 7, program ends by 9pm. at Castagnola's Restaruant, Fisherman's Wharf.


You can reserve a seat at the benefit awards ceremony by mailing a check for $50 per person to SFT, 41 Sutter Street, Suite 1579, San Francisco, CA 94104, or phone Jane Morrison at 415-564-1482.

Brent Plater's GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year is a "Bright Idea"

Brent Plater's Talk at the Commonwealth Club

Brent Plater spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California on September 25, 2006. The talk was entitled "No Room on the Ark? The 105th Congress' Attempt to Eviscerate the Endangered Species Act."

Brent Plater Quoted in San Mateo Times

Brent Plater was quoted in the San Mateo Times in an article about the Endangered Species Big Year.

Brent Plater on Your Green Life Eco News, Your TV 20

Brent Plater appeared on Your TV 20's Eco News show, Your Green Life, to discuss the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year.

Brent Plater Authors Leash Law Enforcement Petition

Brent Plater helped author this GGNRA leash law enforcement petition. Over 70% of Bay Area residents want leash laws enforced at the GGNRA. See Northern Arizona University, Public Opinion Research Telephone Survey Regarding Golden Gate National Recreation Area Pet Management Issues 11, 21 (2002) ("[R]espondents were read the statement, "Current NPS regulations allow for walking dogs on-leash at most GGNRA sites AND prohibit any off-leash dog walking," and asked if they support or oppose this current regulation. Nearly three-quarters of all respondents from the four-county region (71%) support the current dog walking regulation and nearly one-quarter (23%) oppose the regulation."). This is because leash laws are safe and effective measures to protect people, our pets, wildlife, and the Park itself.

Hawaiian Picturewings Recognized -- Brent Plater

A few documents about the importance of Hawaiian Picturewings, which I helped protect under the Endangered Species Act.

Hawaiian picture-wings are perhaps the most extraordinary group of Hawaiian insects known to science, and represent one of the most remarkable cases of specific adaptation to local conditions that has been found in any group of animals on Earth. The study of Hawaiian picture-wings has contributed greatly to humanity’s understanding of biology and evolution. Additionally, scientists recently determined that Hawaiian picture-wings and their associated ecological communities have traits that are enormously important in humanity’s search to cure diseases such as West-Nile virus, AIDS and even cancer.

Brent Plater featured in SF Weekly Blog on Big Year

Brent Plater was quoted in SF Weekly's Blog "The Snitch" after the blogger saw Brent's presentation on the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year at Counterpulse on January 30, 2008.

Brent Plater's Perspective, Feeling Xerces Blue, Airs on KQED

Brent Plater's Perspective about the Xerces Blue Butterfly and the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year aired on KQED on Friday, January 4, 2008.

Brent Plater on KQED's Forum

Brent Plater discussed the GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year on KQED 88.5 FM's Forum on January 3, 2008.

Brent Plater's GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year is a Bright Idea

The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine features Brent Plater's GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year as the week's Bright Idea:

Brent Plater's Sea Otter Suit Discussed in Seattle Times

Brent Plater was quoted in this Seattle Times/AP article regarding a lawsuit to protect sea otters in Alaska.

New Endangered Species Big Year Postcard

Liam O'Brien did the artwork. Brent Plater directs the Big Year Project.

Brent Plater Discusses the Endangered Species Big Year at Golden Gate Audubon Society's Monthly Meeting

The talk will be in Berkeley, CA on October 18 at 7:30pm. Click the link below for more info.

Brent Plater's Lil' Sis with the Big Voice

The Conan Song Will Be Your Favorite of All Time. By Kristin Plater.

Brent Plater Discusses Endangered Species Big Year Project at CNPS/SFBS Meeting

Brent Plater discussed the 2008 GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year at the Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society & the San Francisco Botanical Gardens meeting.

Brent Plater's Wildlife Photos

You can view some of Brent Plater's wildlife photos here.

www.michaelschiavinato.com: Alexa and Laura are the Best!

Michael Schiavinato loves the Ocean and its Activists:
http://lonethought.blogspot.com/2007/08/alexa-and-laura-are-best.html

Brent Plater Presents at Northern California Clinical Conference

Brent Plater presented at the 2007 Northern California Clinical Legal Education Conference at Boalt Hall School of Law.

Brent Plater's Sea Otter Advocacy Featured on Nickelodeon's Nick News

Brent Plater's work to protect sea otters in the Aleutian Islands was featured on Nick News, a news network for kids.

Brent Plater Presents the Case for Protecting Southern Resident Killer Whales under the Endangered Species Act.

Brent Plater's Op-Ed arguing for expedient protection of Puget Sound's imperiled Southern Resident Killer Whales appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Brent Plater's Collegiate Cycling Team Featured in Harvard Magazine

Brent Plater's collegiate cycling Team was featured in Harvard Magazine, where the author describes one of Brent's winning rides.

Brent Plater Speaks on Global Warming Litigation Strategies at University of Michigan

Brent Plater discussed innovative legal strategies to fight global warming at the University of Michigan.

North Pacific Right Whales Gain Protection - Brent Plater

National Geographic reports on Brent Plater's successful petition and litigation to protect right whale critical habitat in the Bering Sea.

House of Representatives Helps Fight Extinction Bill - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle discussing former Representative Dick Pombo;s (R-CA) bill to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act. Some House Democrats such as Rep. George Miller (D-CA) helped stop this bill, and reposted this article on their website.

California Condors and the Endangered Species Act - Brent Plater

Brent Plater discussed the importance of the Endangered Species Act and attempts to eviscerate the statute by developers and the politicians they give money to on central coast public radio.

Redefining Wilderness Symposium - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was a panelist at the Redefining Wilderness Symposium at San Francisco State University.

Brent Plater on ABC World News Tonight

Brent Plater Discussed bald eagle conservation on ABC World News Tonight last year.

Bald eagles still struggle to survive in the desert areas of the United States.

Debating Pombo's Extinction Bill- Brent Plater

Brent Plater appeared on KQED's Forum show with Michael Krasny to debate pesticide industry lawyers and lobbyists who attempted to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act in 2005-6.

The San Francisco Chronicle's Jane Kay and San Francisco State University's Dr. Carlos Davidson also appeared on the program.

The attempt to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act was thwarted in Congress when the U.S. Senate failed to take up the bill in the 109th Congress.

2008 GGNRA ESA Big Year - Brent Plater

GGNRA Endangered Species Project Needs You!

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) contains more federally threatened and endangered species than any other unit of the National Park System in the continental United States, yet most Bay Area residents are unaware of this. We are launching an exciting project that will connect people with these amazing creatures, and we are asking for your help to make it happen.

The project is called the 2008 GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year. The goal will be to introduce people to each and every one of the 34 federally listed threatened or endangered species found in the park, and help them take specific recovery actions for each species. The gateway for the project will be a website where folks can download a “checklist” of the species, learn about ethical wildlife watching, and sign up for guided trips to see snowy plovers, Presidio clarkia, California red-legged frogs, and many other species that call GGNRA home. People will be able to uploadtheir sightings, compare them to other Big Year “competitors,” and even compare their list to those of a few celebrity participants.

We need your help to make this a successful project. Right now our most pressing needs are help with website design and publicity. We have content and most of the field trips prepared. Please contact Brent Plater at bplater@ggnrabigyear.org or 415-572-6989 if you would like to become part of this exciting project.

Through this project, we hope to make people aware of the importance of the Endangered Species Act and the National Park’s urban park experiment, and to encourage people to be good neighbors to the incredible diversity of life in the GGNRA.

California Red-Legged Frog Protected from Pesticides - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was the lead attorney in Center for Biological Diversity v. Whitman, a case which will reduce the use of 66 pesticides in California red-legged frog habitats.

The EPA recently published documents explaining how the injunction works.

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/es/rl_frog/index.htm

Also:
http://www.epa.gov/espp/litigation/redleg-frog/rlf.htm

And:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/rlfrog/index.html

Long live Twain’s Frog!

The Snowy Plover Has a Posse - Brent Plater

You saw it here second:













A decade late. By Brent Plater.

Pombocchio - Bryan O'Neal & Brent Plater

You saw this excellent parody of Pinocchio here third:

By Bryan O’Neal and Brent Plater.

Requiem for a River Dolphin - Brent Plater

You heard it here fourth:

It sounds even better than it reads. By Brent Plater.

New Listed Species, New Hope - Brent Plater

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service published this document in the Federal Register recently adding several species to the official list of endangered and threatened species. Each species added to the list were species Brent Plater played a large role in protecting, either as attorney or petitioner:

Partial List of ESA Species listed by Brent Plater:



Not included here were several other species Brent Plater worked to protect over the years, including the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly, 12 species of Hawaiian Picture-wings, the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, the North Pacific Right Whale, the Southwest Alaska DPS of the Northern Sea Otter, and a few others.

NPR Story on Snowy Plover - Brent Plater

Brent Plater was quoted in this informative story about the attack on the protected status of the Western Snowy Plover Pacific Coast DPS.

The Endangered Species Act and the Snowy Plover.

Fortunately all legal attacks on this diminutive shorebird have been successfully repelled, so far.