‘Critical Habitat’ Notice May Put Projects at Risk
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday designated a total of 6,870 acres in five Southern California counties as critical habitat for the Riverside fairy shrimp, an action that could hinder a proposed south Orange County toll road and a development project in Trabuco Canyon.
The acreage designated to protect the small freshwater shrimp is about half what the federal agency proposed in September.
The designation includes acreage in other Southern California counties, but no other major projects appear to be affected, according to the wildlife service.
Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, which filed a lawsuit that led to Thursday’s critical habitat designation, called it inadequate.
“It’s a disaster . . . a land giveaway to developers and a one-way ticket back to court for the Fish and Wildlife Service,” she said.
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