Planning Commission OKs Wildlife Reserves

Hailing the notion of balancing environmental and economic interests, Orange County planning commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to support plans for a sprawling system of wildlife reserves across the county’s central and coastal areas.

The plan now goes before the Board of Supervisors on April 16.

The proposed reserve, among the first of its kind designed nationwide, has won kudos from conservationists and developers alike for taking a fresh approach to the debate-battered U.S. Endangered Species Act.

It also has bridged political boundaries by garnering support from key officials in the administrations of both President Clinton and Gov. Pete Wilson.

“A hybrid idea of [U.S. Interior Secretary] Bruce Babbitt and Pete Wilson” was how Planning Commission Chairman Michael Potts described the plan, which was devised in hopes of preserving the county’s rare plants and animals while still allowing development.

Several business leaders spoke in favor of the plan Wednesday, including Monica Florian, senior vice president of corporate affairs at the Irvine Co., which is contributing most of the private land for the 38,000-acre reserve. Florian praised the plan as a voluntary effort to move away from species-by-species wildlife protection toward a more comprehensive planning approach.

Some key environmentalists voiced guarded support for the reserve but pointed to what they termed as weaknesses.

“We still have many unresolved issues,” said Dan Silver, coordinator of the Endangered Habitats League, focusing his criticism on what he called the last-minute addition of a controversial plan for the rare Pacific pocket mouse. Other environmentalists called for a better connection between the coastal reserve system and another reserve planned for South County.

The plan is part of the Natural Community Conservation Planning Program, a state effort to protect rare plants and animals without stifling economic growth.

It evolved out of the fierce controversy surrounding the threatened California gnatcatcher that dwells on some of Southern California’s most valuable undeveloped real estate. Concerned that federal laws to protect the songbird could hurt the regional economy, landowners, government agencies and environmental groups joined to forge a compromise.