By Julia Chang Frank
In late January, the emperor goose descended on the 18th fairway of the Sharp Park Golf Course and treated Pacifica residents with a rare sighting. Perhaps while circling the sky, the goose could see what the City of San Francisco continues to deny: that the Sharp Park Golf Course is meant to be a wetland.
The Sharp Park Golf Course was built around Laguna Salada, a natural wetland that is critical habitat for the endangered San Francisco garter snake and California red-legged frog. Located off Highway 1, the unpopular, soggy public golf course is owned and operated by the City of San Francisco and loses hundreds of thousands of tax dollars each year.
To dry the fairways, the City drains the wetland by pumping out thousands of gallons of water from the lagoon. But when water levels drop, frog eggs dry out and die. The emperor goose enjoyed the fairways after the deluge of January rains, during a brief period before the wetlands were drained again.
In 2011, the Sierra Club and a coalition of environmental groups helped pass legislation to turn the golf course over to the National Park Service. But Mayor Ed Lee, a golf enthusiast, vetoed the decision.
Now, the City is planning to spend millions more to redevelop Sharp Park Golf Course by calling it a “restoration” project for a natural area. If the golf course redevelopment is allowed to go forward, there’s little hope for the snake and frog habitat.
WhatYouCanDo
Send a message to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors asking them to take the Sharp Park Golf Course redevelopment out of the Natural Areas Management Plan. Take action here!
Then, join us at 3 pm on Tuesday, February 28th for the Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall in San Francisco. RSVP here!
Photo: the emperor goose at Sharp Park on January 26, 2017. Courtesy Wild Equity.