Gnatcatcher May Derail UCI’s University House

University House has always been envisioned as a stately chancellor’s residence on a ridge top with a panoramic view of the sprawling UCI campus and all that surrounds it.

From the early 1960s, though, higher priorities were classrooms, laboratories, faculty and student housing and other essentials.

As UCI enters its silver anniversary year, a year-old private campaign has raised $800,000 of a projected $3 million needed for the official residence and campus entertainment facility. But fund-raising has flagged because of the recent downturn in the development industry, and campus officials now are hoping to broaden their appeal.

There is a new wrinkle too.

The chosen site--a 2.5-acre plateau of coastal sagebrush, buckwheat and scrub--is home to nesting California gnatcatchers, a tiny bird now being studied for possible status as a federally endangered species. Also found there are cactus wrens and still more rare and delicate dudleya multicaulis, a succulent spring-blooming plant found in the rocky outcroppings of coastal sage.

University officials say the birds and the plant will be given the protection needed, or they will be relocated to another compatible spot on campus. Doubting students, however, say it is the house, not the birds, that should be moved. And they plan a series of demonstrations today during three consecutive commencement ceremonies in the campus’s central greensward.

“This is not a stance against the chancellor’s house, it’s against where they’ve decided to build it,” said Caephren McKenna, a sophomore psychology and political science major. “We believe they are not going to take into account the impact on the environment even though they say they are.”

McKenna and about 10 activist members of the Social Awareness Collective plan to pass out flyers on the gnatcatcher’s plight to graduating students. She said they also hope to persuade at least 100 of them to hand Chancellor Jack Peltason colorful paper birds as they receive their diplomas in Aldrich Park.

Besides the origami birds--which will bear the words, “Don’t kill me”--McKenna said there will be a paper dinosaur. That remnant of an Earth Day demonstration is intended to symbolize species for whom it is already too late, she said.

For their part, university officials seem baffled by the sudden negative attention the project has gotten from some students. An environmental review of the entire campus is still being conducted, and they say the gnatcatcher, the cactus wren and other rare plants and animals are being thoroughly studied.

“What we’re doing is trying to get information on where the most (environmentally) sensitive areas are, and we are trying to work around it,” said Joseph F. Di Mento, a professor and environmental attorney who is overseeing long-range campus development. “We’re not trying to railroad anything. . . .”

Timothy Bradley, a UCI evolutionary biologist who is acting as an adviser on the environmental study, commended the students for being concerned but said it is “too early in the process” to object.

“It is conceivable to put something on the site that would not interfere with the ecosystem of the gnatcatchers,” Bradley said.

Irvine is the only University of California campus without a chancellor’s residence on or near campus. It would also be the first such home to be built with private dollars.

The architect’s drawings are still being finalized, but plans call for a single-story structure of about 12,000 square feet, about half of it for family apartments and the rest for guest rooms and banquet and catering facilities. A parking area also will be included.

Construction is now projected to begin in about a year, when at least $2.5 million of the target figure has been raised. Chancellor Jack Peltason has said he and his wife, Suzanne, would not live there, and that the house will be for his successor.

By the time the house is finished, though, the California gnatcatcher could well be declared an endangered species, a status that would require the university to take specific protection measures.

Larry Salata, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist heading up the study of the gnatcatcher, said scientists expect to have enough information on the status of the bird within six months to decide whether to propose putting it on the federal endangered species list.

So far, though, things do not look good for the bird, which in 1980 numbered 1,000 to 1,500 nesting pairs in its range from Ventura County to San Diego County and inland to western Riverside County.

In San Diego County alone, 70% of its native habitat has been destroyed by development and the remaining 30% is in jeopardy, said Loren Hays, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Laguna Niguel.

Given the dramatic loss of coastal habitat for this bird and other creatures, Salata said it would be “prudent and reasonable” to avoid any further destruction.

“We would like to see county and local governments develop policies that would preserve coastal sage scrub vegetation,” Salata said. “If this had been done 10 or 15 years ago, it would preclude the exercise we’re going through now.”

RARE BIRDS POSE DILEMMA FOR UC IRVINE CHANCELLOR’S RESIDENCE

Long-delayed plans are under way to build a 12,000-square-foot official home and entertainment facility for UCI’S chancellor on a 2.5 acre ridge-top parcel. But the coastal sage-brush habitat is home to at least two rare birds and a rare plant species, prompting student demands to move the house.

* CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER

This tiny brownish gray bird with black tail feathers was once common to coastal slopes of Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura counties and ranged inland as far as western Riverside County. They nest in sage bushes on mesas or dry coastal slopes.

* CACTUS WREN

This large wren with curved beak, speckled breast and heavy bars on its back, wings and tail is commonly found on arid hillsides and valleys. In coastal areas, it is often found on or near prickly pear cactus. Ornithologits are studying this increasingly rare coastal wren to determine if it should be considered a distinct species.

Los Angeles Times