Tag Archive for: Brent Plater

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Last Stand for the Lange’s Metalmark Butterfly?

In February 2017, Wild Equity will appear before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the health of Antioch’s people and the continued existence of the Bay Area’s most imperiled butterfly will be on the line.  


Scientists believe we may have altered the nitrogen cycle even more than the carbon cycle, yet PG&E is attempting to operate four power plants ringing the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge.
Perhaps a few hundred Lange's Metalmark Butterfly exist in the wild. Photo (c) Liam O'Brien

Can we find it in our hearts to protect Antioch’s communities
and the last of the Lange’s Metalmark Butterfly?


But the pollution from these power plants will disproportionately burden the largely minority, blue-collar communities in the area, while jeopardizing the continued existence of the Lange’s Metalmark Butterfly, the Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose, the Contra Costa Wallflower, and the entire Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge.  

Wild Equity has led a campaign to bring community health organizations and lepidopterists together to fight this disproportionate burden.  In 2013 our work forced one of the power plants to make a choice: don’t build, or fund  a multi-million dollar trust benefitting local communities and endangered wildlife.

We can replicate this success, but we can’t do it alone.  When you join Wild Equity, you help ensure that Antioch’s people and wildlife are protected from pollution.

Imagine the world we will build together: a more equitable world for people and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth. Thank you for supporting this vision and contributing to our work today!

Brent PlaterThank you so much!

Brent Plater



Brent Plater
Executive Director


Shop Wild Equity’s Online Store!

Wild Equity’s new online store is now live! So day or night you can get your hands on Nancy Morita’s beautifully heartbreaking ‘Wild in the City’ poster; or our famous “I ‘Bird’ SF” T-shirts; or one of our gorgeous, reusable, non-toxic, 100% recycled aluminum, made-in-the-USA water bottles.  

If you’re looking for something else, consider shopping at AmazonSmile and designate Wild Equity Institute as your charity of choice.  When you do,  Amazon.com will give a portion of the website’s profits to Wild Equity: at no extra charge to you!  Look for items with “Eligible for Amazon Smile donation” in the product description, and again, be sure to designate Wild Equity as your favorite charitable organization.  

Stand with Wild Equity in 2017!

Wild Equity InstituteDear Friend,

With the tectonic shift in national politics, our focus on local environmental and social issues may be our only hope. The victory at Standing Rock, in the backdrop of the incoming climate change-denying administration, shows how a local, grassroots movement can trounce billion-dollar corporate interests.

At this moment, I appreciate living in San Francisco more than ever. The Bay Area may be one of the few regions left where we have a chance to defend wildlife.

Poor froggie

But recently we lost a battle. Wild Equity spoke before the San Francisco Planning Commission to oppose the Sharp Park Golf Course redevelopment project that was surreptitiously inserted into the citywide Natural Areas Management Plan. The Sierra Club, state and local Audubon chapters, Surfrider, NPCA, & many other environmental groups stood with us. Although the Commission, ever the rubber-stamp, voted to approve the plan, the dissenting Commissioner cited the Sharp Park golf course redevelopment as the reason she voted no.

But the war is not lost: we now move on to the Board of Supervisors, where we have been more successful than any other contemporary conservation group. We have allies on the Board today, and while it won’t be easy, we have a template to win.

As always, we’ll employ our full suite of skills — public relations, lobbying, education, grassroots organizing, and litigation – to protect endangered species in San Francisco, Pacifica, Antioch, and beyond.

But we can’t do it without you: please make a tax-deductible contribution to the Wild Equity Institute today.

With your support we can demonstrate how local efforts can change the tide, from here to Standing Rock. Thank you for your support of a more equitable world for people and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth!

With deepest gratitude,

Brent PlaterBrent Plater

Brent Plater, Director
Wild Equity Institute

 

 

PS —Check out the new Wild Equity online store and pick-up our new sky blue “I ‘Bird’ SF” shirts and Wild in the City posters!

 

 

 

I 'Bird' SF T-shirt, unisex, natural cotton color I "Bird" SF Shirt, Ladies Half-scoop, Sky Blue Color

Wild Equity Celeb SightingIf you know who this is, you NEED this bottle! (Contact us if you need a hint)

Wild in the City Poster by Nancy Morita Does any other poster demonstrate how inequitable we’ve been to these lands? Nope. That’s why you need one. 24 x 35 in.


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Values, Market Value, and Non-Profit Management

Brent Plater, Executive Director, Wild Equity

Brent Plater, Executive Director, Wild Equity


Thursday, March 24, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM Brent Plater, executive director of the Wild Equity Institute, will give a presentation to the BAIA (Business Association Italy America) Bay Area Italian Executive Business Network. Mr. Plater will pull from his experience managing and working for local, small non-profits to describe how non-profit executives can address the challenge of acquiring resources to invest in their mission and transform market value into an expansion of non-profits values.

RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/BAIA-Executives/events/227008819/

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What do Elizabeth Taylor, Barry Bonds, and the Wild Equity Institute Have in Common?

The classic beauty, the troubled slugger, and the Wild Equity Institute’s campaign to restore Sharp Park were all on the front page of the San Francisco chronicle on Thursday, March 24, 2011.
Click here to see a .pdf of the article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.

Now send a letter to the editor thanking the paper for running this important story. Remind all San Franciscans that all the available evidence indicates that Sharp Park was once a backbarrier fresh to brackish lagoon, not a saline tidal lagoon as the proponents of the status quo allege in this article. That means we can restore the natural system while preserving endangered species at Sharp Park. In the process we’ll build a better public park with recreation opportunities everyone can enjoy.

 

Peer-reviewed Scientific Study Calls for Restoring Sharp Park

February 10, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Brent Plater, Wild Equity Institute, (415) 572-6989
  Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 499-9185

First Peer-reviewed Scientific Study of Sharp Park:
Removing Golf Course, Creating New Public Park Is Least Costly, Best Option

San Francisco — A new scientific report by independent scientists and engineers says that the most cost-effective option for Pacifica’s 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. Experts on coastal lagoon ecosystems have prepared the first ever peer-reviewed restoration study for Sharp Park, an 18-month assessment of Laguna Salada and Sanchez Creek. The report makes several key findings:

  • Restoring Sharp Park is the cheapest public option, particularly compared to the San Francisco Park Department plan or the option of maintaining the status quo.
  • Restoring the natural processes of the lagoon and surrounding wetlands will provide the best flood protection for neighbors against sea-level rise and coastal storm events.
  • Removing the golf course to restore habitat to the east of the lagoon is essential for the long-term sustainability of endangered species found on the site.

“This report lays out how we can create a better public park at Sharp Park that everyone can enjoy, while saving taxpayers millions of dollars,” said Brent Plater, director of the Wild Equity Institute. “Restoring Sharp Park is the sensible decision for our pocketbooks and our hiking boots.”

The new restoration alternative would allow beneficial natural processes to reconfigure the Laguna Salada wetlands and beach to a natural dynamic, providing the most benefit to endangered species, protecting the beach from erosion, ensuring resilience and adaptivity for habitat to respond to sea-level rise, and improving flood protection for adjacent residential areas, all with lower long-term costs and maintenance requirements. The authors of the report and peer-reviewers have unparalleled expertise in Bay Area coastal and aquatic ecology and wildlife, hydrology, coastal engineering and ecosystem restoration.

“This is the first credible scientific evaluation of how to revive the Laguna Salada wetlands and nearby habitat for the long-term survival of the San Francisco garter snake and red-legged frog,” said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s clear the best option for Sharp Park in terms of economy, environment and recreation is removing the golf course and restoring a functioning natural ecosystem. Adding the park to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the most common-sense approach for wildlife and taxpayers.”

The report findings clear up some common misconceptions put forth by supporters of the golf course and the Park Department, among them:

  • Laguna Salada was historically a brackish-fresh water lagoon, not a saline tidal lagoon, and it supported thriving populations of the San Francisco garter snake and California red-legged frog;
  • The golf course did not “create” freshwater habitat for the frog and snake;
  • The sea wall is not necessary for protecting endangered species habitat or to prevent flooding of neighborhoods; it is, in fact, contributing to flood risk and the unsustainable character of the existing land use.

The new restoration plan is estimated to cost about $5 million over a 50-year time frame. In contrast, the Park Department preferred plan would drain taxpayers of between $12 million and $18 million in short-term costs (including seawall construction) along with hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for infrastructure operations and maintenance, and continuing liability for fines for Endangered Species Act violations.

“The restoration proposed by these experts is the most responsive to modern recreational demands and meets the restoration directive by the city’s board of supervisors,” said Miller. “The Park Department’s 2009 golf enhancement plan would squeeze endangered species between the uninhabitable golf course and the seawall, limiting suitable habitat and forcing freshwater species into the areas most impacted by rising sea levels and salinity. It would also bleed taxpayers indefinitely to pay for expensive and futile infrastructure and cause erosion that would destroy the beach.”

A conceptual public park model for Sharp Park, emphasizing sustainable flood management, adaptation to sea level rise, modern recreation opportunities, and endangered species protection.

A conceptual public park model for Sharp Park, emphasizing sustainable flood management, adaptation to sea level rise, modern recreation opportunities, and endangered species protection.

The report was prepared by engineers and aquatic ecologists with expertise in coastal restoration from the consulting firms ESA–PWA and Ecological Studies, along with coastal ecologist Dr. Peter Baye. It was peer-reviewed by experts in historical and coastal ecology at the San Francisco Estuary Institute and San Jose State University.

Read the report and a summary of its key findings and recommendations along with the relevant experience of the report authors and reviewers. For more information on Sharp Park visit the Wild Equity Institute’s Restore Sharp Park web page.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 320,000 members and activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

The Wild Equity Institute is building a healthy and sustainable global community for people
and the plants and animals that accompany us on Earth.
https://www.wildequity.org/

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