Countywide : Comment Period Set for Gnatcatcher

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it will accept public comments through March 2 on a key scientific report on the California gnatcatcher.

The report by federal biologists rejects a major argument raised by local builders that Southern California’s gnatcatcher is the same as the gnatcatchers in Mexico. It is a main piece of evidence in the federal agency’s decision whether to declare the bird an endangered species--a decision due March 17.

The 20-day public comment period means that the final decision whether to list the gnatcatcher as endangered probably won’t be made until mid-March at the earliest. In the meantime, the Fish and Wildlife Service is still considering whether to grant the gnatcatcher immediate protection because of environmentalists’ fears that the path of the San Joaquin tollway will be graded before March 17.

Southern California developers have argued that gnatcatchers in Mexico, which are abundant, are so similar to ones in California that they are the same species. Therefore, they say, the species may not be endangered. But a report written by Richard Banks and Alfred Gardner, taxonomists employed by the wildlife agency and based at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, reject that argument. They concluded that the birds are genetically distinct.

The Building Industry Assn. of Southern California has filed suit against the wildlife agency seeking to stop the listing decision, contending that the review of the gnatcatcher has been biased and unfair.

Builders claim that the report by Banks and Gardner should have reviewed actual measurements and other raw data on the bird collected by ornithologist Jonathan Atwood. It is Atwood’s data that provides the evidence in support of listing the bird as endangered. But Gardner said that looking at a scientist’s raw notes is not a scientifically valid way to review data.

Banks and Gardner concluded that there was no dispute among qualified scientists and that no further review of the bird’s taxonomy is necessary.

Officials in the federal agency said they took the unusual step of reopening the public comment period to ensure that builders and others have a chance to review the report.

Federal wildlife officials said an emergency listing of the bird is under consideration and is allowable under law at any time, even before the public comment period closes.

Larry Salata, a federal biologist who is handling the gnatcatcher review, said the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies has agreed to give the wildlife agency’s staff 10 days’ notice before grading begins.

The grading would destroy about 150 acres of coastal sage scrub that is considered prime habitat for the small gray songbird.