Do 'it' and 'there' refer to the correct parts of this sentence?

Question

In the following sentence, the 'it' in the bold part should refer to Acid Grassland and the 'there' should refer to the 'roughs' (rough areas on a golf course).
"Frighteningly, some of the dangers lie on the Golf Course where there is generally far better management than elsewhere. The roughs support some of the best remaining areas of Acid Grassland but it won’t be long before it is gone there too."
I think it is clear what the sentence means, but is it grammatically correct? The subject in the first clause is the roughs, so simplistically, the 'it' might refer to that.
How does one analyze the sentence and is there a better way of expressing it, if wrong?

Tuffy · Answer

It is, as you say, clear what is being said.  But I do have doubts about the grammar in one respect.  Just as the noun phrase The Roughs (which I have corrects to what I assume is the name of part of the North Downs in Hampshire) is singular and so ought to be the subject of the singular verb supports, so areas <of acid grassland (surely lower case?)>, being plural, should be followed by the plural pronoun they and the plural verb are.
You could easily avoid the main dilemma by concluding:

...acid grassland, which before long will be lost from there also.

Alternatively, if you feel the emphasis of but is too important, and I can see the merit of this,

... but it will not be long before the acid grassland is lost form there also.

If neither of these will do, you can get away '"before it is lost...".  It is only pedants like me that will notice, and even I would not have noticed without your drawing my attention to it (or them).

Do 'it' and 'there' refer to the correct parts of this sentence?

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