Recent Losses in Gnatcatcher Habitat Cited : Environment: At least 2,145 to 2,200 acres of potential habitat has been destroyed since August in Southern California, more than half of it in San Diego County, according to federal wildlife officials.

A “significant amount” of the nesting grounds of the California gnatcatcher has been bulldozed in Southern California since August, more than half of it in San Diego County, according to data released Monday by federal wildlife officials.

“It is definitely a significant amount of habitat lost. There is no doubt about that,” said Fred Roberts, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service botanist in Carlsbad who helped compile the data. “It opens up the eyes of most of the biologists I know.”

At least 2,145 to 2,200 acres of potential habitat was destroyed for 34 developments or roads in San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties over the past nine months, according to the agency’s data.

By far the largest losses were in San Diego County, where about 1,200 acres were bulldozed for 14 projects, the data shows. About 600 acres had active gnatcatcher nests, Roberts said.

A spokesman for a coalition of San Diego developers and landowners said Monday that the figures are still less than the predicted habitat loss to development, made last September when an application for naming the gnatcatcher to the federal endangered species list was submitted for review.

“I don’t think any one disagrees with the figures,” said Jim Whelan, chairman of Alliance for Habitat Conservation. “We have been quoting the same numbers all along. What we disagree on is the significance of the 1,200 acres. If this is all the development there has been, then something must be going right.”

Whelan said the bulldozed acreage in San Diego represents less than 1% of the total sage scrub land in the county. San Diego County has about 147,000 acres of coastal sage scrub land--part of which is actually inhabited by the gnatcatcher.

Gnatcatchers--small, blue-gray birds with a song resembling a kitten’s mew--can only survive in coastal sage scrub, vegetation that grows just in Southern California and Baja California. The mix of shrubs is believed to be one of the nation’s most depleted wildlife habitats.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 55,000 acres of scrub occupied by gnatcatchers remain. The agency’s biologists say about half of the bulldozed acres in San Diego were known to contain nests. Almost 100% of the bulldozed land in Orange and Riverside counties contained nesting sites, Roberts said. They do not know how many of the birds were wiped out since August.

Those campaigning for the endangered species listing say the findings have put pressure on the Wilson Administration, which has been struggling since August to win backing for a voluntary program to safeguard the bird in an effort to avoid the endangered-species listing.

Environmentalists say the data confirms their fears that Southern California developers would rush to destroy the habitat before listing might occur. They said the state or federal government should act immediately to declare the bird endangered.

“I’m appalled but not surprised to learn there has been as much confirmed loss as the wildlife service says,” said Mary Nichols, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group that is suing the state to protect the gnatcatcher. “This is the first documented loss of habitat that the state can’t dismiss or ignore.”

Developers said the acreage figures do not constitute a rush, and that development has been relatively slow since the listing.

“I’m underwhelmed by the findings,” said Whelan. “Projects are going ahead, but they are conforming to preserve designs. There has been balance.”

Developers further argued that the data is meaningless because it doesn’t take into account protective steps they are taking in exchange for development, such as setting aside other land for the birds or trying to recreate the habitat elsewhere.

“There is no law against any of these. They are all legal (under)takings, and they are very small percentages. They were projects approved quite some time ago without the new protections that are being included in newer projects,” said Laer Pearce, a spokesman for a coalition of developers in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties.

An East County developer, among San Diego companies responsible for gnatcatcher habitat loss according to the federal wildlife agency, said 80 acres of land bulldozed since August had been classified as sage scrub, but contained no nesting areas.

A brush fire six years ago cleared most of the coastal sage scrub on land used for developing Rancho San Diego, a residential development southeast of El Cajon, said Mike Kennedy, a spokesman for Home Capital, developers of Rancho San Diego.

“The key thing to keep in mind when you consider our 80 acres is there were no gnatcatchers nesting on it,” Kennedy said.

Other San Diego development projects on the list include Caltrans freeway extensions and connecting roads in Bonsall and Tierrasanta.

The federal agency has been documenting the losses as it decides whether to declare an emergency endangered-species listing of the songbird and immediately protect the habitat. The gnatcatcher was proposed for the nation’s endangered-species list in September, but no federal protection is granted during a yearlong review unless the agency imposes an emergency order.

Emergency declarations to protect a species are rare. But the federal agency did impose one in a similar case in Texas, where developers started grading the habitat of a rare warbler after the bird was proposed for listing.

“Obviously it can make a big difference (in the decision) if we have a lot of clearing going on,” Roberts said. “Definitely we are monitoring it. We are very concerned about this.”

The state Fish and Game Commission on Aug. 30 denied listing the songbird as endangered after the Wilson Administration promised to mount a program that would impose temporary controls on development and persuade developers to voluntarily protect the nesting grounds.

Since then, however, the Administration has imposed no controls, and no private landowners have signed up their land. The program’s enrollment period ends in 10 days.

Last week, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved enrollment of a large parcel of land under county jurisdiction. In an agreement between the county, the city of Chula Vista and private landholders, up to 70,000 acres of open space habitat is expected to be enrolled, said Robert Asher, division chief of special projects for the county Department of Planning and Land Use.

Some environmentalists have lambasted the Wilson Administration’s program as a delaying tactic to appease developers.

Staff members of the state Resources Agency, which is overseeing the gnatcatcher program, said Monday they could not comment on the federal data because they had not yet analyzed it.

But such losses were “not unanticipated” because the state agency estimated last fall as much as 3,000 acres would be graded in the 18 months beginning last September, said Andy McLeod, a spokesman for the state Resources Agency.

Agency officials said the program was not intended to be a moratorium, and that the 2,200 acres might not be critical to the bird’s survival.

“Any loss of coastal sage scrub is disturbing, and to the extent that any gnatcatcher habitat is being lost, the possibility of a listing under the Endangered Species Act is made more likely,” McLeod said. “But, as we said all along, it is not so much the absolute amount of coastal sage scrub that is protected, as much as the quality of it.”

However, Douglas Wheeler, Gov. Pete Wilson’s secretary of resources, has repeatedly said that any grading of the habitat has been minimal since September. In March, he estimated the loss at 150 acres, then, earlier this month, his staff adjusted the estimate up to 600 acres.

The administration said that development on more than 500 acres on the federal list occurred in August, before the state program was initiated on Aug. 30. Officials say it is premature to judge their voluntary effort, since they expect developers to sign up soon.

Up to 90% of the coastal sage scrub that historically lined Southern California is gone to development, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Developers, however, estimate that closer to 66% is gone.

Builders and developers say the bird is not at immediate risk because large tracts have already been set aside in parks. They say listing the species could harm Southern California’s economy by delaying or halting developments and roads.