Rare Flower, Toad May Affect Newhall Ranch Plans

A flower once thought to be extinct and a federally endangered toad will force developers of the massive Newhall Ranch project to further study how they will minimize the impact of the development.

A biologist contracted by Newhall Land & Farming Co. discovered the San Fernando Valley spineflower on Newhall Ranch property about two weeks ago, Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for Newhall Land, said Monday.

It was just the second recent discovery of the rare spring-blooming flower, long thought to be extinct. Last year the flower was found on Ahmanson Ranch property in Ventura County in the first sighting since 1940.

“It was discovered in a limited amount and area, and we are working with the necessary agencies on how to mitigate it,” Lauffer said.

Construction on Newhall Ranch has already been delayed until possibly 2003 after a Kern County judge last week ruled that more research was needed to address water supplies and the project’s effects on traffic, Santa Clara River aquatic life and a wildlife corridor.

Lauffer said the additional environmental work needed because of the spineflower discovery can be done concurrently and she did not anticipate any additional delay.

“We will work with the agencies on the best way to mitigate the spineflower,” she said. “It’s not expected to be a major issue.”

Another rare species, the federally endangered Southwestern arroyo toad, may also lead to further habitat research for Newhall Ranch.

Nearly 500,000 acres of land in California will be proposed as critical habitat for the endangered Southwestern arroyo toad by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this Thursday.

The designation--part of a legal settlement with the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity--could affect projects such as Newhall Ranch and the proposed 16-mile Foothill South toll road in southern Orange County.

Land stretching through Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties will be included, said Jenny Valdivia, a regional spokeswoman in the service’s Portland office.

It will also affect the San Bernardino, Cleveland, Angeles and Los Padres national forests, said David Hogan, rivers program coordinator for the center’s San Diego office, which sued to win the critical habitat designation.

The tiny buff-colored toad, which was listed as endangered in 1994, is on the brink of extinction, Valdivia said. Under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, land crucial to a species’ survival must be designated as critical habitat once the species is listed as endangered or threatened.

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But federal officials have balked at designating habitat for the toad and scores of other endangered species, citing fears that collectors would use the information to decimate the dwindling populations.

Instead, environmentalists have filed more than 200 successful lawsuits to win designations.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service still refuses to implement certain controversial segments of the Endangered Species Act outside of litigation,” said Hogan. “We have had significant success in compelling the agency to comply with the will of Congress through our litigation.”

The latest designation will not directly affect private landowners’ rights or create preserves; it affects activity on that land that receives federal funding or requires federal regulatory approval. That includes housing and road developers who need federal permits to fill in wetlands, creek beds and other habitat during construction.

In the past, developers have won approvals after agreeing to set aside or create other habitat in exchange for destroying designated areas.

Newhall Land and Farming Co., which is planning 22,000 homes on 12,000 acres in Los Angeles County, could be affected, Hogan said. The proposed development would straddle the Santa Clara River, which supports “fantastic arroyo toad habitat,” he said.

Lauffer declined immediate comment on the proposal.

“I won’t answer hypothetical questions, so we’ll have to look at their designation,” she said.

Lauffer said Newhall Land hasn’t found any arroyo toads on its property, although she said the creature has been found in nearby areas, including Sespe and Piru creeks.

“However, if it’s ever discovered, we would deal with it as mandated by the regulatory agencies,” Lauffer said.

Laurene Weste, a Santa Clarita councilwoman, noted that the housing project is along the Santa Clara River.

“The river is an incredibly important resource and a significant ecological area,” she said. “The arroyo toad needs a buffer area, and habitat areas could be adjacent to the river.”

So far, three federally listed endangered species have been identified at Newhall Ranch. Two are birds, the least Bell’s vireo and the Southwestern willow flycatcher; and the third is a fish, the unarmored three-spined stickleback, Lauffer said.

Laer Pearce, executive director of the Coalition for Habitat Conservation, which includes the Irvine Co. and the Rancho Mission Viejo Co., said the designation, like others, will probably be far too broad, creating more bureaucracy and wasting resources.

In the past, the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed extremely broad critical habitat boundaries, saying it lacks the resources to detail every chunk of habitat. For the California gnatcatcher, officials mapped out nearly 800,000 acres, much of which included already developed property.

“It’s a monstrous problem in Southern California,” Pearce said. “The Endangered Species Act only requires designating habitat that is critical to the survival of the species. [Fish and Wildlife] is doing massive landscapes that include habitat these species never touched upon . . . All of a sudden, there isn’t going to be anything left that isn’t designated critical for one thing or another.”

Pearce said the Natural Communities Conservation Plan, in which developers set aside large chunks of land in exchange for being able to destroy habitat elsewhere, is the most effective way of protecting a species.

Hogan, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said his group and others plan to file a lawsuit later this year that would block developers from being allowed to mitigate habitat destruction, which he says violates the Endangered Species Act. If successful, the suit would set a precedent that would affect development throughout California.

The habitat proposal could also affect the controversial Foothill South toll road.

“Several streams . . . in Southern California and in Orange County, including San Juan Creek, should be included in the proposal,” Hogan said. “It could have a significant effect on the toll road.”

Attempts to reach toll road officials were unsuccessful. However, Transportation Corridor Agencies spokeswoman Lisa Telles has previously said such designations will not affect the future of the Foothill South because the agency has been working with federal officials all along. The TCA and developers in Orange County have been allowed to compensate for destroying habitat by creating or restoring similar habitat elsewhere or setting aside large chunks of preserved land.

National forests will also be affected.

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In Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, concerns about the toads’ survival led the U.S. Forest Service to enact a year-round closure of 3,000 acres around Little Rock Creek after monitoring showed a smaller seasonal closure of the camping and fishing area was ineffective in promoting Southwestern arroyo toad populations.

San Bernardino National Forest manager Steve Loe says the designation affects six to eight miles of that forest, all areas where the forest service had previously curtailed activities to protect the toad. No additional restrictions are expected at the toad’s habitat along the Mojave River and two of its tributaries, Deep Creek and Little Horse Thief Creek.

Such protection does not go far enough, Hogan said. Designating critical habitat is imperative because it includes not only existing habitat but potential habitat. This is crucial because the toad has been driven from 75% of its historic range.

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Times staff writer Frank Clifford contributed to this story.