Tollway No Threat to Birds, New Report Says

Despite heavy loss to gnatcatcher and cactus-wren habitat from October’s devastating Laguna Beach fire, construction of the San Joaquin Hills tollway won’t jeopardize the long-term survival of the rare, environmentally threatened birds, federal wildlife officials said Monday.

The 36-page biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, released Monday, could influence a federal judge whose injunction barring tollway construction in the Laguna Greenbelt area issued before the blaze comes up for review in March.

County tollway officials sent a copy of the opinion to U.S. District Judge Linda McLaughlin, who had recently asked lawyers in the case brought by environmentalists and other toll road opponents to address the fire’s impact.

The agency’s opinion is consistent with an earlier finding by the Fish and Wildlife agency that the birds were in “no jeopardy” from the tollway construction. That earlier opinion was widely disputed by environmental groups.

“Although it might be assumed that most birds perished in the blaze, the results of surveys immediately following the fire . . . suggest otherwise,” the latest report states. “The best scientific data available suggest the approximately 200 gnatcatchers and 190 pairs of coastal cactus wrens persist in unburned areas of the San Joaquin Hills.”

The report did not state how many of the two species were lost to the fire, though it acknowledges that there were some 400 gnatcatchers before the fire in the entire area.

The fire’s impacts are “temporary,” the coastal sage scrub habitat crucial for survival of the birds “will recover,” and the birds will eventually “recolonize” the burned area, the report adds.

Tollway officials hailed the report because it keeps in place a biological opinion needed to proceed with construction. And they said they will continue to ask McLaughlin to lift the injunction, in part so that erosion control work can occur along the tollway path.

But tollway officials had also argued, ironically, that the injunction was no longer necessary because the fire-scorched area had little left to protect.

“I don’t think the biological opinion released today is inconsistent with our arguments,” tollway spokesman Mike Stockstill said. “We are still moving forward with our request to the judge.”