HUNTINGTON BEACH : Builder Accused of Ruining Hawk’s Nest

A developer in Huntington Beach is being investigated for allegedly destroying the nest of a hawk, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game said Tuesday.

Evidence found so far indicates that the developer, David Dahl, had workmen cut down a tree with a nest that was being used by hawks, Fish and Game spokesman Curt Taucher said. Destruction of such nests is illegal.

Dahl, in an interview last week, denied that his company had allowed destruction of live trees or an active bird nest.

But Taucher on Tuesday said two Fish and Game investigators sent to the development site, near Golden West and Edwards streets, found evidence to the contrary.

They “found a hawk’s nest, but they couldn’t tell if there had been fledglings in the nest,” he said.

He added that even if the investigators cannot prove there were hawk eggs or baby hawks in the nest, it is still illegal to remove a hawk’s nest. “The birds still come back to those nests.”

Taucher said the investigators will probably submit their evidence next week to the district attorney’s office for possible prosecution.

The incident became public last week when Save Our Parks, an environmental organization, charged that Dahl’s workmen were illegally chopping down live trees and in the process harming a hawk nesting site. Dahl’s firm plans to build single-family homes on the site next year.

Dahl said last week that his workmen were only trimming limbs from a few trees and that no active bird nests were harmed in the process.