West County Golf Course Site

Six Madrone Audubon representatives recently visited the proposed site for a new municipal West County golf course between Highway 12 and Occidental Road. At the outset some, especially the golfers, were hopeful that the location would prove to be a suitable one. The verdict, however, was unanimous: this is not the place.

The 318-acre property, known as Kelly Farm, belongs to the City of Santa Rosa, which has long been seeking a location for a new West County golf course. The lower portions of the property are in the Laguna's 100-year flood plain and contain a 28-acre demonstration marsh that is sustained with reclaimed wastewater. The upland portion, where the new golf course would be located, is irrigated with wastewater and leased for cropland. It is also "honeycombed with innumerable vernal pools," our site visitors report.

In fact, Kelly Farm has one of the largest remaining tracts of vernal pools in the area, according to Carolyn Dixon, Natural Resource Specialist with the City's Wastewater Reclamation Department. Consequently, any change in use would require extensive mitigation measures. Mitigation proposals such as creating more marshland on the lowland or further restoring Kelly Farm's rehabilitated riparian area may not be acceptable to the state and federal agencies involved, as they are different types of habitat. From a resource management point of view, she adds, the golf course would undermine the Demonstration Wetland study area by jeopardizing its water quality and causing an influx of domestic ducks and geese.

Madrone Audubon joins the Laguna Foundation in strongly opposing the proposed golf course site. For more information, contact a member of the Conservation Committee. Letters may be sent to Chuck Russ, Director of Recreation and Parks, City of Santa Rosa, 415 Steele Lane, Santa Rosa 95403.