PACIFICA, Calif. – An environmental group is suing the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department to protect frogs and snakes on the city-owned Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica.

The course was built on the Laguna Salada wetlands 83 years ago, and it floods every winter - so the city wants to pour a concrete pad for the pump that drains rainwater to the sea.

Brent Plater, who heads the nonprofit Wild Equity Institute that filed the suit, said the drainage process harms the California red-legged frog.

"The waters recede, the egg masses for a frog called the California red-legged frog," he said. "It's the California state frog, a threatened species under federal law. Exposed to the air, and you can lose an entire generation of frog."

The city already has begun renovations and has proposed the creation of a new lagoon area to help protect the frogs.

Plater said lawnmowers on the property also kill the San Francisco garter snake, which is believed to be on the brink of extinction. His group wants the city to scrap the golf course altogether.

"What we propose instead," he said, "is that the city partner with the National Park Service and create a new kind of public park out there that everybody can enjoy, including the endangered species on the property."

The lawsuit, which is online at wildequity.org, was filed last week in San Mateo Superior Court.


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BOISE, Idaho - Action on behalf of Northwest salmon could be in the works after announcements from the Biden administration, leaders in Washington state and a request to pause litigation over managing dams in the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

Under their agreement, federal agencies, conservation and fishing groups, the Nez Perce Tribe and state of Oregon would put legal challenges on hiatus until July 2022.

Shortly after that announcement, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray - D-Wash.- announced a joint federal-state process on Snake River salmon recovery.

Justin Hayes is the executive director of the Idaho Conservation League, among the groups that want to pause litigation.

"Murray and Inslee stepping forward, the administration stepping forward," said Hayes, "it shows that there is a path that the region can expeditiously move on to get to solutions."

In a statement, Inslee and Murray say recommendations for Snake River salmon would be completed by July 31, 2022.

Hayes said the objective of the pause in litigation is so that groups and government entities can work together on long-term solutions for the fish and communities of the Northwest.

Hayes said he believes removing four lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington is key. Hayes and other groups say science backs removing dams as a way to restore salmon to abundance in the region.

He added that the solution also would address issues around tribal justice and the plight of Northwest orcas.

"For us, a comprehensive solution needs to involve dam removal and we're looking forward to having those discussions with the administration," said Hayes.

Hayes said it's important to make sure communities that rely on the services the dams provide, like barging, are made whole. He also noted that the situation has become more and more dire with each passing year as salmon come closer to extinction.

"The region has grappled with these issues for a long time," said Hayes. "There have been lots of studies, and what we need now are decisions and action."

ALBUQUERUE, N.M. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has six months to develop new language in its Mexican gray wolf recovery plan, after a judge ruled the problem of illegal killing of wolves was not adequately addressed.

The judge's ruling was in response to a lawsuit by conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders' Southwest Program Manager Bryan Bird said one of the highest sources of wolf mortality is poaching by humans, and protections are needed for that.

"Whether that's increased law enforcement, or increased education of the public," said Bird. "They have to put those in their recovery plan, explicitly."

The group's 2018 lawsuit claimed that the federal agency's plan failed to meet basic requirements of the Endangered Species Act. Mexican gray wolves or "lobos" became one of the most endangered mammals due to federally sanctioned hunting, trapping and poisoning.

According to Bird, the centuries-long coexistence conflict between wolves and humans - especially over territory and livestock - has nearly led to their extinction.

"You're never supposed to shoot a wolf unless you're under extreme threat for personal safety or property," said Bird. "And when you lose a wolf to poaching, it's very likely it could be highly valuable from a genetic perspective."

Bird said genetic diversity has decreased dramatically among the Mexican gray population and a proper recovery plan could help save the wolves from extinction.

He added that 105 gray wolves are known to have been killed unlawfully between 1998 and 2019 following their reintroduction to New Mexico and Arizona.

PHOENIX -- A cooperative effort to restore habitats along the Lower Colorado River Basin is seeing the re-emergence of several threatened and endangered species.

The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is part of a program, begun in 2005, that has reclaimed or restored more than 1,100 square miles of wetlands and woodlands along the river.

The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP) is designed to protect 27 species, including eight listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Chuck Cullom, Colorado River programs manager for the Central Arizona Project, said the 50-year project is a joint effort between Arizona, California and Nevada.

"We do that so that the species have a chance to recover from the impacts of building dams and operating diversions in the Lower Colorado River," Cullom explained. "We're paying the environment back for the service the river provides."

Cullom pointed out the program has created more than 6,500 acres of conservation habitat, planted thousands of cottonwood willows and honey mesquite trees, and has restocked the river with more than one million native fish.

He added restoring the habitat is part of the CAP's agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and he noted the program works much better when the states work together.

"Rather than the service coming in and saying, 'You need to do this and that,' we've spent about seven years negotiating with all the water users in the Lower Basin to figure out how to do this cooperatively," Cullom recounted.

Cullom emphasized the program has already seen the resurgence and return of several of the species it is designed to protect, including the "rediscovery" of the Northern Mexican garter snake, which has not been seen in the river basin for decades.

"We're learning a lot about these rare species because of the program and because we're learning about them, we can enhance their chance of long-term survival," Cullom asserted.

The program operates through funding provided by the U.S. government and from water and hydropower users in California, Arizona and Nevada. There are more than 30 participants in Arizona, including the CAP, which is the largest single contributor in Arizona.