What's More Important - Bunches Of Birdies Or Frogs And Snakes?

MayorBob.

Posted to Legal on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 03:09:10 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

It's almost a given that whenever there's human activity the environment will take a hit.  You might think the placid setting of a golf course might be one place where man and nature can coexist without controversy, especially if the golf course has been in operation for close to 80 years.  You would think wrong as evidenced by the case of a golf course in San Francisco which is threatened with being sued for killing off frogs and snakes.

These aren't just any frogs and snakes that the Sharp Park Golf Club (SPGC) is accused of threatening with annihilation.  One is the California red-legged frog, listed as threatened by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the other is the San Francisco garter snake, listed as endangered.  Both species can be found on the grounds of SPGC, a public course operated by the city of San Francisco.  An environmental watchdog group, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), says the placement of SPGC and the regular maintenance activities are killing the two species and must be stopped.  The main contention is that the course has improper drainage and when the city pumped water off the course the past few years, it had the effect of leaving frogs' eggs out to dry.  They also complain that the snakes are frequently run over by lawnmowing equipment.

Brent Plater, from the CBD, serves on a city task force specifically tasked with determining what ought to be done with SPGC and four other courses operated by the city.  What has Plater and the CBD upset are the recommendations contained in a recent city-commissioned report (pdf doc).  It suggests that the courses be privatized and SPGC be established as an elite course with major course modifications.  As the CBD is dissatisfied with the normal maintenance activities of the course, any "major course modifications" sounds like a recipe for frog and snake holocaust to them.  Plater views the report findings as indicative of the "disconnect between the realities on the ground and the vision some people must have for that site."  Jeff Miller, a CBD spokesperson, agrees with Plater and notes the city spends "tens of thousands of dollars a year" fighting the drainage problems on the course, something that will only worsen as sea levels rise.  Miller sees no alternative but to shut SPGC down.  The CBD is so insistent on this happening that, if things can't be worked out at a public meeting next week, they will take the city to court to force it closed.

Not everyone is on the side of the CBD here.  Other members of the city task force note that the city and the course had worked hard to protect species living on and near the course.  It should also be noted that the land was given to the city for the purpose of park and recreation, and not necessarily to save every form of wildlife found on it.  There's also the point that SPGC is a relatively affordable golfing venue in comparison to other courses in the area.  Public reaction to the threat of a lawsuit to close down the course is decidedly not in CBD's corner.  Finally, in a bit of irony, it seems that even as the city injures the garter snake on the golf course, it is doing its level best to breed them at the city-owned zoo.