SAVING A SONGBIRD: GNATCATCHER WINS U.S. PROTECTION : Wilson’s Plan Secures Democratic Support : Gnatcatcher: The recognition gives the habitat-protection program a major boost and credibility.

First it was environmentalists and developers in California setting aside historic differences to seek the protection of a tiny songbird. Now, Democrats and Republicans have joined forces to support the state’s Natural Communities Conservation Planning program.

Thursday, the Democrats in the White House turned Republican Gov. Pete Wilson’s habitat protection plan into a national model for future environmental decisions. And once again, the little blue-gray gnatcatcher from California’s coastal sage scrub became the catalyst for a strange coalition of traditionally hostile interests.

Officials from all sides of the issue said the recognition from U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Thursday should be a major boost for California’s often shaky plan to protect the nesting grounds of the gnatcatcher and several other coastal species.

“At this point, I am super-optimistic,” said Larry Eng, manager for the NCCP program in the state Department of Fish and Game. “I am hopeful that since this has gotten the blessing of the national Democratic Administration and the state Republican Administration that the net result will be that everybody can join hands and go forward with this.”

“We’ve been able to work with an amazing group of individuals who have been historically at each other’s throats in California,” he said.

The 18-month-old program still has a rocky road ahead.

Next week, a scientific panel will release guidelines for protecting the gnatcatcher that will finally move the discussion from a fight about legal requirements to one over specific acreage.

No one knows how much of Southern California’s 400,000 acres of coastal sage scrub will finally be set aside in nature preserves; some 210,000 acres have been voluntarily enrolled by developers in the program or are public lands already protected from development.

Eventually, local officials--using guidelines written by scientists and overseen by state and federal authorities--are to create nature preserves. They will select from among this acreage and other private land identified as gnatcatcher habitat. It is possible that some real estate would be acquired through condemnation, officials say.

But despite the upcoming difficulties, participants have rarely been more enthusiastic about the prospects for success. With the blessing and authority of the federal government, environmentalists, developers and politicians now believe NCCP is the best solution.

“It’s going to invigorate the NCCP program, and that’s an understatement,” said Dan Silver, coordinator of the Endangered Habitats League, a coalition of 30 environmental groups. “Now, everybody can see we have a gnatcatcher problem and the NCCP is the way to fix it.”

The NCCP was proposed by the Wilson Administration in 1991 in hopes of finding a compromise between environmentalists, who wanted to halt development on some of Orange County’s most valuable real estate, and builders whose developments threatened the gnatcatcher with extinction.

Wilson’s plan called for Southern California landowners to voluntarily set aside coastal sage scrub, the habitat of the gnatcatcher as well as other rare animals and plants. The mix of sagebrush and other shrubs is found in Orange and San Diego counties, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and western parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The governor hoped to interest developers by creating a system that minimized the expensive and lengthy approval process required for construction in environmentally sensitive areas. At the same time, environmentalists were told the bird and its habitat would not be bulldozed into extinction.

But before Thursday’s announcement, Wilson’s plan had suffered a credibility problem. Eighteen months after the plan was announced, no land has been set aside for a gnatcatcher preserve. And in Sacramento last year, the Democrat-controlled Legislature locked horns with Wilson, trimming three-quarters of NCCP funding and reducing its its staff from 23 to six.

One of the key impacts of Babbitt’s announcement is that it will erase many of the doubts about whether the Wilson plan should even be pursued, officials said. For developers, Babbitt’s designation of the gnatcatcher as a “threatened species” also adds the specter of federal intervention if progress is not made to preserve gnatcatcher habitat.

“By putting the weight of the federal government behind the NCCP as strongly as the secretary did today, he has put a lot of pressure on those who haven’t participated to participate,” said Laer Pearce, spokesman for developers in Orange and San Diego counties. “Potentially, this means a great deal.”

One of Orange County’s largest landowners, the Santa Margarita Co., was also encouraged. Company Vice President Richard Broming said at the announcement in Washington: “This is a real positive step. Now this thing has a really good shot at being the model (Babbitt) wants it to be.”

In Carlsbad Thursday afternoon, state officials held a press conference to herald the federal action. Douglas P. Wheeler, Wilson’s secretary of resources, called the plan revolutionary for bringing together disparate interests.

“The big issue that (President) Clinton addressed during the campaign . . .--this head-on clash with economic development--has been addressed here for the first time and in a very constructive way,” he said.

Still, iIn the midst of their enthusiasm, both developers and environmentalists cautioned that the success of the plan is far from assured. Next week, a panel of biologists will release its study of the coastal sage habitat and trigger the discussion about which particular sites should be preserved instead of developed.

As a result, builders will learn more about the financial burden they are being asked to bear. And environmentalists will be armed with new information about the outlook for survival of the gnatcatcher and other species.

“That’s the big test to come,” Pearce said. “Then we will really know what we are living with.”

Environmentalist leader Silver, who attended the announcement Thursday in Washington, said he was hopeful, but he predicted the upcoming debate over details would be even more difficult than the obstacles encountered so far.

Times staff writer Michael Granberry contributed to this story.

Wilson’s Conservation Program

California’s Natural Communities Conservation Planning program is designed to protect the coastal sage scrub habitat of the California gnatcatcher and about 75 other rare species.

Origin: In September, 1991, Gov. Pete Wilson formed a voluntary alliance to set aside large preserves of sage scrub and thus ensure the survival of some of California’s native animals and plants. Input from a scientific panel provides the basis for identifying the preserves; local governments negotiate to acquire the land. State and federal wildlife officials have oversight and final approval.

Land: About 210,000 of the estimated 400,000 acres of coastal sage scrub in Southern California are voluntarily enrolled in the program or already protected as public lands. Local governments can choose from these areas and future designated private lands when planning the preserves.

Players: California developers, environmentalists, state and federal wildlife officials, city and county planners and university wildlife biologists play key roles in the program.

National Interest: Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt wants the voluntary program to be a national model. The program’s success, however, remains in doubt because no agreements have yet been reached and no land has been protected from development. Its most critical phase--identifying the property to protect--has just begun.

Future: Next week scientists will reveal their guidelines on how to create preserves. A meeting of the alliance will be held Wednesday in San Diego to debate them. Then, long, difficult negotiations will begin over which lands to protect and how to acquire them. It is possible that some land would be acquired through condemnation. November is the Wilson Administration’s self-imposed deadline for local governments and developers to agree on the plans.

Source: California Resources Agency; Researched by MARLA CONE / Los Angeles Times

Vanishing Habitat

The California gnatcatcher makes its home in coastal sage scrub, of which about 400,000 acres exist in Southern California. Before the development boom, about 2.5 million acres of sage scrub existed between Ventura and San Diego.

The California gnatcatcher is found on sagebrush mesas and dry coastal slopes from Southern California to northern Baja California in Mexico. It has a distinctive call, a rising and falling, kittenlike mew. Only about 4 1/2 inches in length, the gnatcatcher is brownish on top, with lighter-colored feathers underneath, and has a longish black tail.

Source: County of Orange