LAGUNA NIGUEL : Urgent Protection Sought for Songbird

Federal wildlife biologists are considering a request to provide emergency protection for the California gnatcatcher, a bird that nests mostly in coastal areas of Orange and San Diego counties.

The songbird was proposed for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act in September, but no protections of its habitat are in place because the final decision, which takes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about a year, has not been made.

Fearing that thousands of acres of gnatcatcher habitat will be developed during that time, the Endangered Habitats League, a Southern California coalition of 30 environmental groups, petitioned the wildlife agency this week to grant immediate protection.

“We are looking it over,” said Jeff Opdycke, supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southern California field office in Laguna Niguel. “The species is proposed for listing, but we always consider recommending emergency listing to our higher echelon.”

The field office will make a recommendation to the agency’s Washington headquarters within a few weeks, he said.

In its letter to the wildlife agency, the environmental coalition said it has identified 9,000 acres of gnatcatcher habitat, a mix of vegetation called coastal sage scrub, that are proposed or approved for development in Orange and San Diego counties.

The group also said that a state effort by the Wilson Administration to voluntarily preserve habitat for the bird has not yet succeeded, so the bird remains in jeopardy.

Last fall, the agency decided that emergency protection was not warranted, but Opdycke said his biologists have been monitoring further losses to the bird’s habitat and will determine whether they are severe enough to warrant emergency action. Usually, such action is taken only when a species is under extreme, immediate risk, such as an outbreak of disease.

“There have been some big pieces of gnatcatcher habitat that have gone (since September) or are going,” Opdycke said. “We have to determine whether this threatens future recovery options and whether it represents a marked change.”

Since September, developers have graded about 100 acres of habitat in Temecula in Riverside County and 350 acres in San Marcos in San Diego County, Opdycke said. Another major development project, Rancho San Miguel, is proposed for Chula Vista.

Opdycke said he knows of no major gnatcatcher habitat that has been graded in Orange County since the species was proposed for listing. The Endangered Habitats League, however, reported that 30 acres were destroyed in November during grading for the Foothill Transportation Corridor and Foothill Ranch.

The wildlife agency has scheduled two public hearings to collect data and comments on the bird. One will be held in Garden Grove on Feb. 25 and the other in San Diego on Feb. 27.