Gnatcatcher Given Temporary Haven on Threatened List

The California gnatcatcher was placed temporarily back on the federal threatened species list Thursday by the same judge who ordered the bird removed from the list two months ago.

In a controversial ruling May 2, U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin had ordered the gnatcatcher removed from the list, saying that the government had failed to make available to the public all the data it relied upon when it declared the gnatcatcher threatened.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt had responded almost immediately by making the information public and petitioning the judge to, in effect, put a “stay” on his decision while federal authorities provide evidence to prove that the listing is needed.

In the decision reversing himself Thursday, Sporkin wrote that what “should have been done initially . . . is being done now,” referring to Babbitt’s action.

According to the judge’s ruling, the federal government will have 100 days in which to accept and evaluate public comment on newly available scientific data before making a final decision on the gnatcatcher’s status.

Babbitt called the decision “a clear victory for cooperative conservation planning.”

“I’m pleased that the court recognized our good-faith efforts to make all biological data available for public review,” Babbitt wrote.

Richard Jacobs, a lawyer representing the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, which, along with the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies, had filed the original challenge to the listing, said he was disappointed by Thursday’s decision.