Wild Equity Institute News

May 19: Sunflower Hike and Tailgate for Frogs!

The Wild Equity Institute is excited about two events this Saturday, May 19. In the morning we’ll be offering a special trip to view the San Mateo Woolly Sunflower on normally inaccessible SFPUC watershed lands, and then in the afternoon we’ll be joining Save the Frogs for a tailgate celebration for endangered species at Sharp Park Golf Course’s parking lot! Join us for both—let us know if you’d like to carpool. Details below:

Saturday, May 19, 2012, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Join Brent Plater of the Wild Equity Institute and Tim Sullivan of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for a leisurely walk into the usually inaccessible Crystal Springs watershed to search for the endangered San Mateo woolly sunflower. Park in the small parking lot slightly east of the Crystal Springs Road and Tartan Trail Road intersection, in San Mateo, CA. RSVP required: please use this website to RSVP. Part of the Golden Gate National Parks Endangered Species Big Year, a competitive event to help endangered species recover.

Join Us May 19, 4:30pm, Sharp Park Golf Course:
Tailgate & Drum for Frogs, Occupy Sharp Park!

On May 19, golf purists think they will “celebrate” the 80th year of the money-losing, endangered species-killing golf course at Sharp Park.

That’s right: these purists are planning to celebrate a golf course that has killed endangered species at Sharp Park for years, pushing the population of the world’s most beautiful and imperiled serpent towards extinction.

A San Francisco garter snake killed by golf course mowers; California red-legged frog egg mass killed by golf course wetland draining.

And they did this while losing up to $300,000 a year, robbing City parks and services of desperately needed funds.

We aren’t going to stand by and allow them to celebrate an endangered species massacre. That’s why we’re asking you to join Save the Frogs! at Sharp Park Golf Course’s parking lot on May 19 at 4:30pm to tailgate and drum for the Frog’s and help occupy Sharp Park!

You may have drummed for frogs before. You may have even occupied something. But a tailgate for frogs??

That’s right: Save the Frogs! is occupying the parking lot of Sharp Park Golf Course, and we will all eat, drink, be merry, and express our love for endangered species and better public parks—loudly and clearly all day long!

But we can’t do this with out you. Please join Save the Frogs on May 19, 4:30pm at Sharp Park Golf Course for a tailgate and drumming event that occupies Sharp Park! Bring food and drink to spare, and all your frog-loving friends so everyone knows that we stand for the under frog!

RSVP Today. And if you’d like to help organize, contact us and we’ll get you started.

Dr. Douglas Bevington Joins Wild Equity Institute's Board of Directors

We are excited to announce that Dr. Douglas Bevington has joined the Wild Equity Institute’s Board of Directors. He is replacing Stan Kaufman, who served on our Board since 2009 and developed wildequity.org.

Dr. Douglas Bevington

Dr. Bevington is the Forest Program Director for Environment Now, a grantmaking foundation in California. He has a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he taught courses on social movement studies. He is the author of The Rebirth of Environmentalism: Grassroots Activism from the Spotted Owl to the Polar Bear (Island Press, 2009), which explores how grassroots forest and wildlife protection groups have made a big impact on federal environmental policies in the U.S. over the past twenty years. He also serves on the board of directors of the Fund for Wild Nature, which helps provide resources to bold and effective grassroots groups: such as WEI!

Welcome Doug, we look forward to working with you as we build a healthy and sustainable global community for all!

Wild Equity Meets the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal covered the Wild Equity Institute in a new article about the money-losing, endangered species-killing Sharp Park Golf Course.

Titled Big Wedge Over Sharp Park’s Future, the article describes how Sharp Park is run-down and in ill repair, and the opportunities to transform it into a better public park everyone can enjoy.

Check out the article yourself today, then add your comments here at wildequity.org or at the Wall Street Journal’s website.

Sharp Park Gives Golf a Bad Name

Flyer courtesy of Save the Frogs! and Golfers Against Sharp Park ("GASP").
Download a copy of this flyer and give it to golfers you know and love.

May 19: Tailgate & Drum for Frogs, Occupy Sharp Park(ing lot)!

Join Us May 19, 4:30pm, Sharp Park Golf Course:
Tailgate & Drum for Frogs, Occupy Sharp Park(ing lot)!

Golf purists have announced they’ll celebrate the endangered species-killing, money-losing Sharp Park Golf Course with a $150 golf tournament on May 19th.

That’s right: they intend to celebrate a golf course that robs resources from San Francisco’s neighborhood parks and has brought two endangered species to the brink of localized extinction.

If that’s the most absurd celebration you’ve ever heard of, you aren’t alone: and that’s why we want you to join Save the Frogs! on May 19 at 4:30 p.m. at Sharp Park Golf Course’s parking lot for a fun, free tailgate for endangered species. Save the Frogs! will have food and drink, drums to play, and outdoor education activities for you and your family to enjoy at the nearby Mori Point National Park: which will one day expand to include Sharp Park, creating a more accessible and sustainable public park that everyone can enjoy!

A San Francisco garter snake killed by golf course mowers; California red-legged frog egg mass killed by golf course wetland draining.

And we’ll all stand-up for the “underfrog” during this high-priced golf tournament to make sure everyone there knows that killing endangered species to play a game is the wrong way to spend our limited recreation dollars.

RSVP today. And if you can get there early or would like to help organize, contact us and we’ll get you started.

Wild Equity Ties Antioch and SF Communities, Conservation Struggles Together

The Wild Equity Institute and the Wilderness Arts & Literacy Collaborative ("WALC") at Downtown High School recently completed another successful Endangered Species Big Semester by helping students explore the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge, learn how environmental justice victories in San Francisco are linked to a fossil fuel power plant construction boom in Antioch, and take action to help the Refuge’s endangered species recover.

WALC students remove invasive weeds at the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge.
Invasive weed growth is exacerbated by pollution from power plants that ring the Dunes.

Successful environmental justice campaigns in San Francisco led to the closure of two power plants in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill and Bayview-Hunters Point communities since 2006. In part to recoup the power lost when these power plants closed, the California Energy Commission approved five power plants, all ringing the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. The concentration of power plants in this location threatens community health and three endangered species found at the Refuge. The Wild Equity Institute is bringing environmental justice advocates and grassroots conservation organizations together to challenge this massive power plant expansion.

On WALC’s third and final trip of the Endangered Species Big Semester, students connected our successful struggles for conservation and environmental justice in San Francisco with the new fossil fuel power plants in Antioch, observed endangered species threatened by this proposal, and then took action to help these species recover.

Students learned how to identify the endangered Antioch Dunes evening primrose and the Contra Costa wallflower.

Students were able to meet refuge managers and learn first-hand how the threats facing endangered species can be addressed in ways that build stronger ties to communities that have been traditionally underserved with environmental goods and services. Together, they contributed roughly a weeks-worth of work to the Refuge’s limited staff.

Refuge managers give students an overview of the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge.

Funded in part by the California Wildlands Grassroots Fund of the Tides Foundation & TogetherGreen (a collaboration between National Audubon Society and Toyota), the Endangered Species Big Semester gives students the chance to observe several of the Bay Area’s most imperiled species, and then help these species recover by restoring land, making healthy life style choices, and becoming participants in civic society. Bring the Endangered Species Big Semester to you school by contacting the Wild Equity Institute today.

5/5, High Noon: Join Us for "Turbulent Blue" at Crissy Field

Join the Center for Biological Diversity, San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club, Wild Equity Institute, Pacific Institute and others as we “connect the dots” between global warming, sea-level rise, and the impacts on communities, animals and plants in a dramatic, interactive human wave at San Francisco’s restored tidal marsh Crissy Field, in the Presidio under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

RSVP at 350.org. Get transit directions and precise location information here.

Wear blue and bring a pair of blue jeans, a blue T-shirt or blue sheet. The wave of blue we’ll create together will dramatically illustrate sea-level rise, as well as the more frequent and severe storms, storm surges and erosion that we can expect at places like Crissy Field — unless we can start slowing climate change now. We’ll even be filmed!

The event will also feature impact “dots” — “dot” being our word for an informative poster — which will represent impacts and solutions. The “impact dots” will share facts about climate impacts on people and other species here in the Bay, including threats posed by sea-level rise, erosion and ocean acidification. Our “action/solution dots” will identify actions that can help us avoid these impacts — cutting carbon in our atmosphere by stopping the Keystone XL pipeline and Arctic drilling plans, enforcing the Clean Air Act, and restoring Sharp Park.

Almost 4 million Americans live less than four feet above current high-tide levels. Scientists predict approximately 2 to 7 feet of sea-level rise this century.

Marshes such as Crissy Field are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise. In the worst-case scenario, 93 percent of San Francisco Bay’s tidal marsh could be lost in the next 50 to 100 years.

Judge Cites Evidence Sharp Park Golf Course Is Harming Endangered Frogs

April 26, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Brent Plater, Wild Equity Institute, (415) 572-6989
Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 669-7357
Arthur Feinstein, Sierra Club, (415) 680-0643

Judge Cites Evidence Sharp Park Golf Course Is Harming Endangered Frogs, Awaits U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Input
Order Discusses Harm, Population Impacts to Red-legged Frogs

San Francisco— U.S. District Judge Susan Illston today rejected the City of San Francisco’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by six conservation organizations over the ongoing killing of red-legged frogs at Sharp Park Golf Course. Explaining that new evidence and recent Fish and Wildlife Service restrictions have called into question San Francisco Park Department claims that the frog population at Sharp Park is growing, the court ordered the city to obtain authorization from the Fish and Wildlife Service for golf course activities that could harm endangered species. The judge ruled conservation groups have legal standing to bring the case, but stayed the lawsuit until October, when San Francisco could face a court trial over Endangered Species Act violations if it does not obtain a federal permit.

“The court’s ruling lays bare the damage golf course activities such as draining water from wetlands exacts on two of the Bay Area’s most imperiled animals,” said Brent Plater, executive director of the Wild Equity Institute. “We expect the Fish and Wildlife Service to require that the golf course cease killing endangered species and propose a comprehensive mitigation and restoration plan as part of any permit.”

The Park Department argued that draining aquatic feeding and breeding habitats for the California red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake at Sharp Park Golf Course somehow benefits the species. In rejecting these assertions, the court cited contradictory testimony from the city’s own experts and staff that the golf course activities harm and kill protected wildlife.

“The endangered species permit process will weigh the biological impacts of excessive water pumping and habitat destruction to protect one golf course,” said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The permit should force the Park Department to change golf course operations to actually protect imperiled frogs and snakes.”

The Park Department has killed endangered frogs six of the past 10 winters, and its so-called “compliance plan” for endangered species has been a complete failure. In February, the department was caught again killing threatened red-legged frogs at the course, draining Sharp Park’s wetlands in a failed attempt to prevent frogs from breeding in their historic ponds.

The Washington, D.C. public-interest law firm Meyer, Glitzenstein & Crystal represents the coalition of conservation groups in the lawsuit.

Background

The Fish and Wildlife Service last year notified the golf course that it was specifically prohibited from handling or moving frog egg masses at Sharp Park and must obtain a permit for any golf course activities affecting protected species. The Service also denied the Park Department’s request to drain wetlands and dredge lagoons at Sharp Park, cynically referred to by the city as “habitat management and scientific studies.” Water pumping, dredging and other activities harmful to frogs can only occur if the department obtains a federal “incidental take” permit with an accompanying conservation plan.

The city-owned golf course at 400-acre Sharp Park in Pacifica is plagued by crumbling infrastructure, annual flooding problems and ongoing environmental violations. More than three-dozen San Francisco community, recreation, environmental and social-justice groups have called for closing the golf course and creating a more sustainable public park at Sharp Park. A 2011 peer-reviewed scientific study by independent scientists and coastal experts concluded that the most cost-effective option for Sharp Park is to remove the golf course and restore the functions of the original natural ecosystem, which will also provide the most benefit to endangered species.

The Park Department has refused to consider this option, and is instead pursuing a plan that would evict endangered species from the site and bail out the golf course’s financial problems with tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation in December 2011 to prevent this from happening, but Mayor Ed Lee, an avid golfer, vetoed the legislation. Further action by the board is expected this year.

The Wild Equity Institute is building a healthy and sustainable global community for people
and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth.

http://wildequity.org/

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Tax Season Blues? Donate to the Wild Equity Institute Today!

What would your rather do: give your money to the government, or to the causes you care most about? With tax deadlines fast approaching, we suspect many of you might choose the latter!

Fortunately the Wild Equity Institute makes it easy for you to contribute to our work, and get a tax break while you are at it. All while building a better world for people and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth!

Make a generous contribution to the Wild Equity Institute today and get a head-start on next year’s tax deductions. We promise we won’t spend a dime of your hard-earned money on foreign wars, corn syrup subsides, or bridges to nowhere—a promise you know the other guys can’t keep! There are many ways you can contribute:

Become a Member of the Wild Equity Institute.

Become a member now with a credit card or a PayPal account:
Download a membership form and mail it to: Wild Equity Institute PO Box 191695 San Francisco, CA 94119

Become a Monthly Donor.

The best way to sustain our organization is to become a monthly donor. Monthly donations allow us to spend less time fundraising and more time building a healthy and sustainable community for all.

Go to our donate page and fill-out the form to become a monthly donor.

Give a Gift Membership.

What could be more satisfying than sharing our campaigns with someone you love? Now you can by giving a Wild Equity Institute gift membership. Just download and fill-out this form and mail it with your payment to:

Wild Equity Institute
PO Box 191695
San Francisco, CA 94119

Double Your Impact With Matching Gifts.

Many employers, large or small, will match their employees’ charitable contributions — some double or triple your gift! Whatever the program your company may have, there’s never any additional cost to you. Typically, all that is required is filling out an additional form and either sending it to WEI or submitting it directly to your employer. Contact your human resources department to see if your employer provides this benefit. If you need it, our Federal Identification Number is 27-0984775.

1% for the Planet.

The Wild Equity Institute is an approved 1% for the Planet partner. Companies who participate in this program can give 1% of sales or more to the Wild Equity Institute while satisfying the programs giving requirements. To join the program, visit the 1% for the Planet website. If you are already a member, you can donate directly to the Wild Equity Institute today.

Go Solar, Help WEI.

The Wild Equity Institute is proud to offer a new fundraising partnership with Sungevity, a solar-leasing company founded by long-time environmental activists.

For a limited time, when Wild Equity Institute members like you sign-up for a new, zero-down solar lease from Sungevity, the company will donate $500 to the Wild Equity Institute, while giving you an additional $500. That’s what we call a win-win!

To take advantage of this limited-time opportunity, all you need to do is visit the Wild Equity Institute’s special landing page on Sungevity’s website, enter your street address and answer a few simple questions to get your free installation iQuote.

For more information about this program, click here.

Volunteer.

The Wild Equity Institute always makes room for dedicated people who want to make a difference with their time. Our volunteers do everything from data entry to tabling to writing press releases to helping craft legal arguments. If you have some time to help out, contact us at info@wildequity.org and we’ll try and match your interest to our needs while meeting your schedule.

Donate Office Supplies and Furniture.

We could also use help outfitting our new office. 100% post-consumer waste and chlorine-bleach free recycled paper, envelopes, and general office supplies are always welcome. We could also use:

Document shredders
Flat-screen computer monitors
Working computers with wireless networking capabilities
Filing cabinets
Bookshelves

If you have any supplies to donate, contact us and we’ll be happy to arrange a pick-up.

Thanks again for all you do for people and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth! View our privacy policy.

New Infographic Tells Sharp Park Story

Stalwart Wild Equity Institute member Eric Mixon created this new infographic to cut through the hype and tell the true story of the money-losing, endangered species-killing Sharp Park Golf Course. Download a high-resolution copy and share it with everyone you know—and even those you don’t!