Condor Release Due in Grand Canyon

Despite protests from residents of southern Utah and northern Arizona, federal wildlife officials today are scheduled to announce plans to reintroduce the California condor to the Grand Canyon region.

Continuing a decade-long effort launched in Ventura County to pluck the majestic bird from the brink of extinction, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officials said they plan to release up to six young California condors in the Vermilion Cliffs area of Arizona’s Coconino County.

The release, expected to take place in mid-December, will involve captive condors from breeding facilities at the Los Angeles Zoo and the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.

Federal officials said the decision to reintroduce the birds to a territory they haven’t roamed since the Pleistocene era came after a series of meetings with government authorities in southern Utah and northern Arizona, two public hearings in both states and a three-month public comment period.

“Members of local governments, particularly in southern Utah, have raised some very important issues about the return of the California condor to this area,” said a prepared statement by Nancy Kaufman, director of the Fish & Wildlife Service’s southwest region.

“We believe that a project that is respectful of the public land, sensitive to the needs of private landowners, and mindful of the views of the people and their representatives can be conducted, to the ultimate benefit of a species which we seek to reestablish in its former range.”

Objections by residents of southern Utah and northern Arizona slowed the release initially, officials said, but public opinion ultimately swung in favor of the condor.

There are 121 California condors in the world, including 17 in the back country of Los Padres National Forest.