Vireo Throws a Roadblock in Path of 76

A migratory songbird believed to be in danger of extinction may jeopardize a long-awaited highway project through the San Luis Rey River valley here, city officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed placing the least Bell’s vireo, a small, olive-gray bird known to nest along the San Luis Rey River, on the federal endangered species list, a move that Oceanside officials say could either kill the California Highway 76 bypass project or make it prohibitively expensive.

“I respect the feelings of people who worry about endangered species,” Councilman John MacDonald said. “However, I think there’s a limit and we need to balance the animals’ needs against the needs of thousands of people who are endangered species themselves when forced to travel on very congested streets and highways.”

MacDonald and other Oceanside leaders said they fear that federal officials will determine that both the $17-million highway project and a $39-million flood control project planned for the valley would do irreparable harm to the bird and its habitat.

“If that is their conclusion, then in the worst possible case it could effectively veto the projects,” said city Special Projects Director Dana Whitson. “Another, perhaps more realistic, possibility is that they would require us to replace each acre of habitat lost (in building the highway) on a 5-to-1, rather than a 1-to-1 ratio, which we’ve estimated could cost as much as $9 million.”

The bird, which nests in low, dense thickets and is known for its spectacular song, has undergone a dramatic population decline in recent years, said Jim Bottorff, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist in Laguna Niguel. Once, a sizable population spread from north of Sacramento to Mexico; today, biologists estimate only 285 mated pairs of the vireo remain in California. The largest number, 158 pairs, nest at 22 sites in San Diego County. Recent counts found 10 mated pairs along the San Luis Rey River.

Researchers attribute the bird’s decline in part to the proliferation of the brown-headed cowbird, which invades the nest of the vireo and displaces its eggs. But another factor behind the bird’s dwindling numbers, Bottorff said, is loss of habitat.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials last month proposed listing the least Bell’s vireo as endangered and designating 10 “critical habitat” areas around the state. In San Diego County, these areas include part of the San Luis Rey, Santa Margarita, San Diego, Sweetwater and Tijuana river valleys and part of Coyote, Dulzura and Jamul creeks, Bottorff said.

Establishing a critical habitat is an action subject to various hearings and approvals, Bottorff said. But once in place, the designation requires any federal agency planning a project that may adversely affect the species in question or damage its habitat to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service, which issues an opinion on the matter. Both the highway and flood control projects involve federal funds.

“If we determine a project will jeopardize the continued existence of the species or modify its habitat, we may require measures to eliminate the adverse elements of the project,” Bottorff said.

In the past, the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed modifications such as the realignment of a highway route, the timing of a project to protect the life cycle or breeding habits of a species, and/or the renovation of habitat near the site to offset any damage done.

Whitson said Oceanside officials, supported by Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), have requested a public hearing on the federal listing. She said a tentative hearing date has been set for late next month.

“What we will ask is that they take into consideration the economic effects of this listing on our community as well as other, very important social considerations at issue here,” Whitson said.

Oceanside officials, who have fought since the 1950s to build the six-lane highway bypass, finally won California Coastal Commission approval in January.

The route would relieve congestion on the existing California 76, also known as Mission Avenue. Traffic along the highway is expected to worsen as residential and industrial development continues in east Oceanside.

For years city officials battled with the Coastal Commission over the highway route, which runs through the environmentally sensitive San Luis Rey riverbed, home to several rare plants and animals.

“Finally, we get things resolved with the commission and now this,” MacDonald said. “I think it’s very unfair and ridiculous after all we’ve gone through.”