Report Details Environmental Loss in Carlsbad

A report commissioned by the city of Carlsbad says that great sections of the area’s native environment have been lost to development, and that builders and conservationists should work together to preserve the remaining natural land.

A city consultant released a preliminary study last week that said major forms of vegetation have been plowed under since European settlers moved in hundreds of years ago. In the most extreme cases, 90% of the native vegetation is gone, said Phil Behrends, a project manager at the environmental consulting firm of Michael Brandman Associates.

The company was contracted by the city to develop a long-range strategy to regulate development and curb the loss of native habitats.

Although the study recorded near-extinction rates of loss at various marsh, grassland and chaparral areas, the city’s long-range plan will probably focus on coastal sagebrush sites because it is home to the controversial gnatcatcher thrush, said Dr. Lee Jones, project director at Brandman Associates. The tiny, gray sea bird is a candidate for the federal endangered species list.

Loss of coastal sage scrub was estimated at 72%, environmental planners said in the report. Carlsbad’s native grasslands have been reduced 94%, the report states. Freshwater marshes have decreased 91%; chaparral 88%; coastal salt marshes, 68%, and riparian woodland, 61%. Estimates are based on original acreage of native habitats before 17th Century European settlement in the state.

The study is a precursor to a city planning proposal on land development and regulation. The goal is to maintain existing natural wildlife populations, Jones said.

The debate over the gnatcatcher population, which has dwindled to about 1,600 pairs statewide, has raised the interest of developers who want to build on some of the 250,000 acres of prime land where the bird lives in California.

If the bird is listed as endangered, coastal sage scrub sites, found mostly in San Diego and Orange counties, will be protected from development. Dullish gray-green and aptly named, the low-lying scrub is not typical of the flora on picturesque wildlife reserves commonly associated with conservation efforts.

But, what the unenthralling scrub lacks in looks, it makes up for in its use as a shelter for diverse wildlife populations, Jones said.

“It’s a very public issue right now,” Behrends said, “a classic example of the builders versus the environmentalists.”

According to the report, about 5% of the county’s total acreage is covered by coastal sage scrub, down from an estimated 17% before settlement.

The effort by Carlsbad to develop a long range plan for “habitat management” mirrors programs in the city of Poway and in Orange County, which also concentrate on coastal scrub areas.

The Carlsbad plan began in May, when an advisory committee was formed, including environmental consultants, conservationists, land developers and state and federal regulators.

“The idea is to work together to save what little of the environment is left, and , to avoid a complete halt in the building,” Jones said. “In Carlsbad, developers realized they . . . can’t go unchecked into sage scrub areas forever.”