Navy Is Trying to Avoid Setting Aside Habitat

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering exempting two California military bases from provisions of the Endangered Species Act, officials acknowledged Friday. Environmentalists said they were disturbed by what appear to be secret talks among federal officials, and that such exemptions could signal the start of a troubling national trend.

But federal officials said national security issues could make them necessary.

Camp Pendleton, the sprawling Marine base just south of the Orange County border in northern San Diego County, and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego are trying to avoid having their land designated as critical habitat for the threatened California gnatcatcher songbird, said Mike Spear, California-Nevada operations manager for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Very significant issues have been raised about potential impacts to their military mission,” he said, declining to elaborate. “We basically feel putting together a good [alternative conservation] plan can substitute for critical habitat.”

Attempts to reach Navy officials familiar with the negotiations were unsuccessful.

Activists are horrified, saying there would be no environmental oversight of military operations on fragile and dwindling ecosystems.

“It’s an incredibly bad idea, and I’m disturbed that these negotiations are being conducted without any public notification or input, specifically without any input from any independent biologists or the environmental community,” said Andrew Wetzler, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Los Angeles office.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 requires designation of critical habitat--land crucial to the survival of a threatened or endangered species. Prompted by a lawsuit, federal officials proposed in February to designate nearly 800,000 acres throughout Southern California as critical habitat for the gnatcatcher. A final decision is expected by Sept. 30.

Any activity on federal land designated as critical habitat must be scrutinized by the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that species, their habitats and potential habitats would not be adversely affected. If the habitats were adversely affected, limits could be placed on uses for the land. Coastal sage scrub considered vital for nesting gnatcatchers is found on both bases.

Spear said an exemption is possible if military officials prepare appropriate plans that catalog habitat and outline conservation measures.

“In the case of Miramar, they’ve done an excellent . . . natural resource plan, which makes it look like they may qualify,” he said. “With Camp Pendleton, the discussion is ongoing about what measures to take to perhaps qualify.”

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who has worked to abolish the critical habitat provision, came to Camp Pendleton five years ago and praised its species conservation efforts, saying they were a model for other military bases. Agency officials, along with Babbitt, insist critical habitat designations are costly efforts that offer little if any extra protection.

Spear said, “We have a lot better things to spend our money on for species protection. It’s very frustrating, the whole process.”

The courts, However, have disagreed. Legal settlements or court orders have resulted in proposals or pending proposals of critical habitat for more than 200 species.

“This is just another example of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s willingness to subvert the critical habitat provisions of the Endangered Species Act in any way that it can,” Wetzler said. “The agency has steadfastly refused to enforce this part of the law.”

Times Staff Writer Tony Perry contributed to this report.