COUNTYWIDE : Federal Funds OKd to Save Rare Habitat

California officials will receive $600,000 in federal funds for a novel program to save coastal sage scrub, the vanishing habitat that is home to the California gnatcatcher, state and federal agencies announced Wednesday.

John Turner, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, informed Gov. Pete Wilson on Wednesday that the federal money will be available for the state’s new Natural Communities Conservation Planning Program.

The intent of the state program, which was conceived by the Irvine Co., is to get developers to voluntarily protect critical habitat to ward off listing species as endangered.

Much of the money--which matches $600,000 that state officials have already set aside for the project--will be used to fund a scientific panel trying to identify locations of coastal sage scrub in Southern California that are the most valuable to wildlife.

In addition to granting the funds, Turner signed an agreement with the state saying that the federal agency will cooperate with the pilot program and share information.

Considered one of the most depleted animal habitats in the nation, the mix of vegetation is found mostly in Orange, San Diego and western Riverside counties. It is inhabited by about 35 animal and plant species that are under consideration for federal endangered species protection, including the gnatcatcher, which Turner’s agency has proposed to add to the federal list.

Environmental groups are supportive of the program but cautious, saying that listing of species offers better, all-around protection to rare species.

California Resources Secretary Douglas P. Wheeler has said that the project is a broader approach to saving threatened animals and plants.