Endangered Shrimp Could Pose Hurdle to Airport, Tollway

Prompted by a lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday proposed setting aside 12,060 acres in Southern California, including patches of the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, as critical habitat for the endangered Riverside fairy shrimp.

If the proposal is adopted, it could add one more hurdle to already controversial plans to build a commercial airport on the former military base.

One of the last known populations of the shrimp in Orange County is also in the path of the proposed 16-mile Foothill South toll road, making the tiny freshwater crustacean the latest in a laundry list of endangered species that the Transportation Corridor Agencies must deal with.

Fairy shrimp live in vernal pools--unique seasonal wetlands created by winter and spring rains--that have been virtually wiped out by development in Southern California.

About 97% of vernal pools in San Diego County have been destroyed, she said. The exact amount lost in Orange County is unknown, but government officials and activists say the damage has been as extensive as in San Diego.

“Vernal pools are endangered because they can literally be destroyed by one meathead in a four-wheel-drive truck in an afternoon,” said David Hogan of the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson.

Critical habitat is land considered crucial to the survival of creatures on the brink of extinction. A designation allows the Fish and Wildlife Service to modify or prohibit activities that would severely harm the habitat on federally regulated land. The proposal, which includes land in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego and Ventura counties, must be finalized by May 1.

“This [proposal] is a good first step, but it unfortunately falls far short of including all of the areas necessary to prevent extinction of the species,” said Hogan, whose organization’s lawsuit prompted Thursday’s proposal.

The proposal excludes vernal pools in Orange and San Diego counties’ developer-funded conservation areas, Hogan said. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say these areas are already protected.

The tiny Riverside fairy shrimp was discovered in 1985 and listed as endangered in 1993. Its life span is only a few months. It dies when the pond dries up, said Lois Grunwald, a spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ventura office.

If the vernal ponds at El Toro are designated as critical habitat and are at risk of being destroyed by airport construction, the agency could order changes to the project.

Attempts to reach Navy officials familiar with the species were unsuccessful. Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Carlsbad office, declined to comment on the proposed airport’s effect on fairy shrimp.

Under the law, the agency could kill the project, but that has happened in fewer than 1% of critical habitat cases nationally. In general, Hendron said, the agency works with landowners to find “reasonable and prudent alternatives” to activities that would push a species closer to extinction.

Vernal pools proposed for critical habitat in Ventura County are on the site of a proposed housing development, Hendron said.

The proposal also includes 185 acres on two Marine Corps bases in San Diego County, which will probably fuel the controversy over the U.S. Navy’s request for exemption from a proposed critical habitat for a threatened songbird. Activists say the military has a poor track record with endangered species. They point to the destruction of 116 vernal pools at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego as an example.

The fairy shrimp lawsuit is one of dozens of clashes between environmental groups and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Officials say the designations are time-consuming, costly efforts that provide little if any extra protection. The courts have repeatedly disagreed, ordering the service to designate habitat for 282 species in its Pacific region alone.

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Saving a Threatened Critter

12,064 acres in Southern California including 1,120 acres in Orange County have been proposed as “critical habitat” for the endangered Riverside fairy shrimp. Critical habitat is land considered crucial to the survival of creatures on the brink of extinction.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service