Habitat for Arroyo Toad Is Declared

Specifications of a 182,000-acre habitat for the arroyo toad were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, ensuring protection for the endangered species in parts of eight Central and Southern California counties.

Approval had been held up briefly by the Bush administration’s review of last-minute federal actions taken during President Bill Clinton’s tenure.

The new habitat, which was scaled back from the original proposal of nearly 500,000 acres, drew praise from builders and developers, but environmentalists said it left too much land unprotected.

Tom Goff, deputy director of the Oakland-based California Alliance for Jobs, which represents contractors and the building industry, applauded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for using “reason and sound science.”

But David Hogan, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the wildlife service apparently expects “the public to believe that those who will bulldoze endangered species habitat are suddenly now qualified to act as wildlife guardians.”

Hogan’s group, along with Christians Caring for Creation, had sued the Fish and Wildlife Service over its failure to designate habitats for the toad and several other endangered species, as required by law.

Hogan and agency officials agreed that most of the areas deleted from the original proposal were not crucial to the species. More precise mapping resulted in the deletion of 202,000 acres, officials said.

But Hogan said the Marine base at Camp Pendleton and 17,000 acres in northern Los Angeles County--including the Santa Clara River and the lower portion of San Francisquito Creek--were crucial areas and should have been protected.

The Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that Newhall Land & Farming, a major developer in the fast-growing Santa Clarita Valley, had adequately addressed the possible presence of toads around the Santa Clara River.

In south Orange County, the arroyo toad is the latest rare species to stand in the way of the 16-mile Foothill South toll road. The road would cross San Mateo Creek, part of the approved critical habitat.

In the last several days, a Bush transition team allowed specifications of the approved habitats of several species to be published in the Federal Register, the final step for new regulations. Among those is the peninsular bighorn sheep, which roams the deserts and mountains of Southern California.

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Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this story.