An Endangered Snake Lives on a Golf Course, But Maybe Not for Long

by Nikki Gloudeman · 2011-03-09 09:30:00 UTC
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Since its debut in 1932, the Shark Park Golf Course has been a popular spot for local golfers to tee up. Unfortunately, it has also been a popular spot for the devastation of sensitive wetlands and endangered species.

Now—nearly 80 years after it opened—environmental groups have stood up to say, "Enough is enough."

Last Wednesday, six conservation groups, including The Sierra Club, Sequoia Audubon, Wild Equity Institute and Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco for its careless preservation of the course.

In particular, enviros have taken issue with the city's efforts to ease flooding by draining adjacent ponds, which provide habitat for the endangered San Francisco garter snake and threatened red-legged frog. That action, the groups allege, is an outright violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The groups have also taken aim at a plan under consideration to privatize the golf course and reconstruct its flooded portions—again, at the expense of the endangered species habitat.

What's ironic is that just a couple years ago, the city agreed to invest millions into protecting and preserving the park, after two of the groups initially threatened to sue—an act which itself followed a long battle between golf course advocates and conservationists.

Unfortunately, by all indicators, the city has not lived up its promise for preservation, which after all these years leaves just one option: Close the course and truly restore the park.

As the Center for Biological Diversity puts it, "We’re calling on the city to cease harming endangered species, restore Sharp Park to its natural state as a coastal wetland, and provide more diverse recreational opportunities for the public at the site."

Help make their dream a reality by signing this petition now.

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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/US Fish and Wildlife Service

Nikki Gloudeman is a senior fellow at Mother Jones magazine where she writes about the environment and other topics.

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