Feds Won’t Block Development for Endangered Toads

The discovery of 10 endangered toads will have no immediate effect on construction or development projects along the Santa Clara River and its tributaries, federal officials said Tuesday.

The new finds, plus disclosure of a little-known 1994 sighting, has triggered a review of the Newhall Land & Farming Co.’s 20-year permit for construction in the area.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the arroyo southwestern toad sightings do not legally require the agency to add the river to a federally designated critical habitat for the toad that was approved in January, or to block plans for development.

Four of the toad sightings occurred last month in river areas that were originally proposed for the habitat. Newhall Land had successfully lobbied Fish and Wildlife to remove those 17,300 acres--including land where these toads was found--arguing that its river management plan satisfied environmental concerns.

On Tuesday, Fish and Wildlife and Newhall Land officials confirmed that another six toads were discovered last May by a Newhall biologist on the company’s property on the Santa Clara River, west of the Golden State Freeway between The Old Road bridge and Castaic Junction.

The U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers, which issued a 20-year permit for Newhall Land to build and alter river and riverbank areas, also said it does not foresee work stoppages.

Newhall Land “is not impacting any potential arroyo toad habitat within Corps jurisdiction,” said Mark Durham, acting chief of the Army Corps regulatory program. “We have not suspended the permit.”

Environmentalists said they were alarmed by the positions taken by both federal agencies.

The Corps permit allows the developer to alter the river, its tributaries and adjacent land in a 1,200-acre project area that includes the main stem of the Santa Clara River and its south fork, the San Francisquito Creek and the mouth of Bouquet Creek.

“The permit should be suspended and reopened for further analysis,” said Peter Galvin, a conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued Newhall Land over the endangered species. “And all projects under the [Newhall Land river plan] should halt, or cease while that reanalysis occurs.”

The Corps permit is crucial to Newhall Land’s ongoing development projects in the Santa Clarita Valley, a company spokeswoman said.

Two such projects are the 2,500-home West Creek and the 1,800-home North Valencia II developments. Construction has not started on either project and both are the subjects of lawsuits by local environmentalists.

The Corps permit allows Newhall to modify banks of the river and its tributaries, remove habitat for bridges or stabilize the riverbank with boulders, and install utility lines and storm drains for future projects.

Environmentalists have battled Newhall Land for years in a bid to protect the 100-mile-long Santa Clara River, the longest free-flowing river left in Southern California.

“The Santa Clara River is under siege,” Galvin said. “There are more than 100,000 [housing] units permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers.”

With the discovery of the small, buff-colored creature with a unique trilling call--environmentalists said the added protections required by federal law to preserve its habitat can also protect the river.

The toads were sighted last month by a biologist hired by an environmental group which promptly filed a lawsuit seeking to halt construction and revoke the Corps permit.

The 1994 sighting was by Louis Courtois, a biologist who formerly worked for the state Fish and Game agency. He reported finding the toad just east of McBean Parkway while consulting for an oil company after an oil spill.

Caltrans, which is about to break ground on a new Santa Clara River bridge for the Golden State Freeway, also did not reference the 1994 sighting in its environmental report, which stated “the species is not expected on site.”

Ron Kosinski, Caltrans deputy district director for environmental planning, said his agency may conduct its own survey but it will also rely on the Fish and Wildlife service to assess the impact of the toad discovery.

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Toad Profile

Four federally endangered arroyo toads were found in the Santa Clara River last month on Newhall Land & Farming Co. property. A 1994 citing in a state database also lists the toad on Newhall Land property. And this week, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials examined a March report that identified six arroyo toads found last May on company land west of the Golden State Freeway.

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Size: Adult males, 2.2 to 2.6 inches; adult females 2.6 to

3.3 inches.

Markings: Light greenish gray to tan back with warty skin and dark spots. Its underside is white or buff without spots. A light-colored stripe crosses the head and eyelids, and a light area usually occurs on each sacral hump and in the middle of the back.

Breeding: Occurs in large streams from late January to early July.

Life span: About five years.

Habitat: Prefers shallow pools and sandy streams for breeding. The toads later migrate upland, away from water sources, to oak woodlands, chaparral and riparian areas.

Range: Coastal plain and mountains of Central and Southern California and northwestern Baja California.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service