2 Developers Clear 180 Acres of Gnatcatcher Habitat

Two of Orange County’s largest developers have cleared about 180 acres of land that provided nesting grounds for California gnatcatchers in the final weeks before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides whether to protect the bird as endangered.

The Irvine Co. graded an estimated 80 acres in Newport Beach for its Newport Coast and San Joaquin Hills developments, and Chevron Land and Development Co. cleared about 100 acres in La Habra, said Fred Roberts, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service botanist.

Both developers had already received all the required local permission for the projects, and the grading was legal since federal approval was not required.

But officials with the U.S. wildlife agency say the companies showed “bad faith” in clearing the land without first seeking federal guidance so close to the deadline for a decision whether to list the gnatcatcher as an endangered or threatened species. That decision is due one week from today.

If the species is listed, it would delay development in the tiny songbird’s coastal sage-scrub habitat for months, if not years.

Federal wildlife officials discovered the most recent grading on Friday, during an aerial survey designed to check up on developers.

“We’re really concerned this (grading) will step up in the next two weeks,” Roberts said. “We want to let them know we’re watching.”

Representatives of both development companies told The Times Tuesday that the grading was not timed to beat next week’s decision.

Irvine Co. spokesman Larry Thomas said his company has been gradually clearing land in the San Joaquin Hills for almost five years. Seventy-two acres of coastal sage scrub were graded in the past two months--41 acres to clear the way for building homes and the rest as a buffer to provide required fire protection, according to a Feb. 10 Irvine Co. memo Thomas provided.

“None of the grading in the past two weeks, or in the past few months, or even in the past year, has been out of sync with our development plans. . . . Any suggestion that we have acted improperly, or to speed it up, just wasn’t the case,” Thomas said.”

Thomas added that it is unfair to accuse the company of bad faith because it has cleared less than half of the 151 acres of sage scrub allowed under its local and state permits. “We are being careful to only take that which is needed at this time for development to proceed,” he said.

Bob Brooks, manager of acquisitions for Chevron, said Tuesday that his company began bulldozing land in the West Coyote Hills of La Habra in late December to build 156 homes that are part of a larger development.

“It wasn’t something that was done underhandedly or under the cover of darkness,” Brooks said. “We went through a public (environmental impact report). . . . What we did, we did with proper approvals, after public hearings and months if not years of working with the cities.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say they have advised Southern California developers to act as though the bird is already listed and to seek federal guidance before clearing its habitat. That way, they say, they can ensure that bulldozers avoid nests.

However, most landowners, including Chevron and the Irvine Co., have not followed that advice. Many say it would add another layer of bureaucracy, delay and expense after they had already encountered years of delay while satisfying local governments.

The scrub, a mix of sage and other arid shrubs, provides nesting and foraging grounds for gnatcatchers and about 75 other rare species.

Roberts estimated that the Chevron and Irvine Co. lands had contained about 20 pairs of gnatcatchers and 15 pairs of cactus wrens, another bird under consideration for federal protection.

Roberts said he is less concerned about the Irvine Co.’s grading because the Irvine Co. has been cooperating with state and local conservation efforts.

“We’re not saying the Irvine Co. is doing something wrong,” Roberts said. “But I’m a little surprised they did this because they have been a team player. The timing is bad.”

In exchange for development rights, the Irvine Co. has agreed to preserve about 5,000 acres of prime coastal sage scrub in the Newport Coast area. Most of that land was set aside in 1988 after negotiations with the state Coastal Commission and local environmentalists.

Also, the Irvine Co. is playing a key role in a voluntary conservation effort launched by Gov. Pete Wilson.

As part of that program, the company agreed last spring to hold off on construction of nearly all of its land until November so that new preserves could be identified and protected. The Newport Coast and San Joaquin Hills properties, however, were not included in that self-imposed moratorium.

“What’s being graded has very, very little value (to wildlife) as opposed to what this company has agreed to set aside on a much larger scale,” said the Irvine Co.’s Thomas. He said it “wasn’t a conscious decision not to call” federal officials for guidance or approval. “It was just not considered.”

Roberts said his agency is most concerned about Chevron, since he said the company has not conducted scientifically valid surveys about the bird’s whereabouts. He said Chevron and the city of La Habra have been uncooperative despite a March 1992, letter from the wildlife agency warning that the property in La Habra has nesting gnatcatchers.

Brooks, of Chevron, said his company does not know whether gnatcatchers were on the land when it was graded.