UC Merced Judged Safe for Species
In a boost for the proposed UC Merced campus, federal officials released on Tuesday an opinion that construction of the school would be unlikely to jeopardize the 13 endangered plant and animal species on the 910-acre site.
The opinion was prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The main section of the long-stalled 10th UC campus, which would cover 710 acres, faces further environmental reviews, expected to take about three years. As part of the process, federal authorities will again investigate the potential effects on endangered species.
University officials hope to begin the first phase of construction on a neighboring 200-acre former golf course site this fall.
That initial construction plan, however, hinges on the outcome of a court hearing set for Oct. 1 in Merced County Superior Court concerning a legal challenge that was brought by environmental groups.
The planned university site, northeast of Merced, is in an area of sensitive wetlands and prime grazing and agricultural lands. Among the endangered species on the site are two varieties of fairy shrimp, the bald eagle and the San Joaquin kit fox.
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