Gnatcatcher Habitat Loss Called ‘Significant’ : Wildlife: U.S. agency counts at least 2,145 Southland acres bulldozed since August, including 242 in O.C.

A “significant amount” of the nesting grounds of the California gnatcatcher has been bulldozed in Southern California since August, despite the Wilson Administration’s disputed efforts to protect the songbird, 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 Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties over the past nine months, according to the agency’s data.

Included are 242 acres in Orange County, almost entirely in Lake Forest, Dana Point and the Mission Viejo area, of which all but four acres had active gnatcatcher nests, Roberts said. By far, the largest losses were in San Diego County, where about 1,200 acres were bulldozed for 14 projects, the data shows.

Gnatcatchers--small, blue-gray birds with a song resembling a kitten’s mew--can survive only 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 two-thirds of the bulldozed acres were known to contain their nests. They do not know how many of the birds have been wiped out since August.

The federal agency is 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 findings put increased 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, however, said 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 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 Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties.

Among landowners and agencies in Orange County that graded coastal sage scrub since August are Hon Development Co., the Santa Margarita Co., the county Transportation Corridor Agencies, O’Malley Properties, Saddleback College and Crown Valley Baptist Church, according to the federal agency.

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.

Environmentalists are lambasting 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 that they could not comment on the federal data because they had just obtained the list and had not yet analyzed it.

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

Resources Agency staff members say the state 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. They 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 of land have already been set aside in parks. They say listing the species as endangered could harm Southern California’s economy by delaying or halting developments and roads.

Lost Habitat

Federal officials estimate that 242 acres of gnatcatcher habitat in Orange County have been bulldozed by developers and county road-builders since last August. They say the birds, which have been proposed for the nation’s endangered-species list, occupied 238 of those acres.

Project or Developer Acres Date Name/Location Cleared Cleared O’Malley Properties, Dana Point 5 April 1992 Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest 60 February 1992 Las Flores, Rancho Mission Viejo 5 March 1992 Pacific Point, San Juan Capistrano 1 February 1992 Stonehill Drive, Dana Point/ 3 December 1991 San Juan Capistrano Modjeska Grade, Santa Ana Mountains 4 December 1991 Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest 30 October 1991 Saddleback College, Mission Viejo 3 October 1991 Crown Valley Baptist Church, Dana Point 3 September 1991 Foothill Transportation Corridor, 44 August 1991 Lake Forest Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest 36 August 1991 Oso Parkway, Rancho Mission Viejo 17 August 1991 Planning Area 11, Mission Viejo 1 August 1991 Baker Ranch, Lake Forest 30 August 1991

Source. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service