Rec & Park presents three Sharp Park recovery options; staff highlights habitat work and cost tradeoffs

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department presented three concept plans to a standing‑room special hearing of the Board of Supervisors, telling members it had modeled options meant to recover the San Francisco garter snake and the California red‑legged frog at Sharp Park while weighing recreation, costs and long‑term sea‑level risks.

Rec & Park ecologist David Monroe said consultants framed the work as a recovery action under the Endangered Species Act rather than an ecosystem restoration, and designed three alternatives to meet species recovery criteria: maintain an 18‑hole golf course with targeted habitat fixes; a 9‑hole compromise that restores additional uplands; and a no‑golf option that returns most fairways to coastal shrub and grassland. "The project goal is very simple: we need to restore or create conditions that will promote the recovery of the San Francisco garter snake population that occupies the Sharp Park, Mori Point area," Monroe said.

Monroe and staff described shared elements across alternatives: dredging sediment to restore open water at Laguna Salata, recontouring shorelines, creating upland mounds and buffers around the wetlands complex, installing fencing to limit dog access, and relocating or raising certain holes to reduce flooding impacts. He said estimated implementation costs for on‑site disposal range from roughly $6 million for the 18‑hole concept to almost $9 million for the no‑golf alternative; off‑site disposal assumptions pushed those figures substantially higher (roughly $11 million to $23 million), with the primary cost driver being excavation and removal of invasive Kikuyu grass.

Deputy City Attorney Virginia Luzando outlined the legal context: as landowner the city has two compliance duties — operation and avoidance of take, and ensuring any restoration or construction complies with federal and state permitting regimes. "There are enforcement provisions in the Endangered Species Act," she told supervisors, noting criminal penalties and civil fines and that any final plan will be subject to review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state fish and game authorities.

Karen Swaim, a conservation biologist who has worked on the species for more than two decades, said the critical short‑term priority is restoring Laguna Salata and connecting habitat to Mori Point and other uplands used by the garter snake during its active season. "If you don't have red‑legged frogs that have good breeding habitat, you may have adults out there but you don't have the full range of age classes of red‑legged frogs that satisfy the eating requirements of garter snakes," she said.

Rec & Park staff noted the report presents 10%‑level conceptual plans and does not include some attendant capital items — for example, seawall repair and long‑term maintenance costs were outside the study scope. Staff said those excluded items will be evaluated in subsequent planning and that they will pursue regional funding sources including the Coastal Conservancy, Army Corps grants and potential federal appropriations.

The board did not take an action at the hearing. Supervisors asked staff to refine a complete inventory of capital and operating costs, to continue regional outreach (including with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area), and to return with a coordinated short‑ and long‑term plan that accounts for sea‑level rise and liabilities.

Next steps: Rec & Park will continue the detailed design and cost analysis, pursue external funding and convene regional partners; the board indicated it expects additional hearings and a follow‑up in early 2010.