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Builders Pleased With Tiger Salamander Plan; Environmental Group Critical (California)
by Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Sonoma County, 12/16/05
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has endorsed a local conservation plan for Sonoma County's endangered tiger salamanders, a decision that has split environmentalists, some of whom charge that it will speed the wily amphibian's extinction, not recovery.
North Bay developers and government bureaucrats hailed the federal agency's decision, which was announced Wednesday. They said it created the means to preserve crucial areas for the rare salamander, including vernal pools that are used for breeding, while streamlining the permit process for building.
Extensive litigation over the tiger salamander has slowed developers' plans to build homes, offices and public works projects along the Highway 101 corridor from Cotati to Santa Rosa.
As a result of these court delays, North Bay developers undertook an effort to enlist city and county agencies and environmentalists to form a working group to broker a compromise.
The result was the local conservation plan.
"I'd call it a gift to the development community," said Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based environmental group. "The Sonoma tiger salamander population is so small and so fragmented at this point that it cannot afford to lose any more habitat."
Others praised the decision.
Paul Campos, general counsel for the Homebuilders Association of Northern California, said that "this locally crafted conservation strategy represents the best hope for recovering the Sonoma population of the California tiger salamander. This is a plan that was embraced not just by builders and city officials, but by local environmentalists with a knowledge of the species and local conditions."
Federal regulators had proposed in August that 73,336 acres in Sonoma County be set aside as critical habitat for the salamander. But the Center for Biological Diversity criticized that plan because it did not include acreage where tiger salamanders were historically found or could be reintroduced to help facilitate their recovery.
Ultimately, the regulators chose to defer to a local conservation plan that had been spawned by developers and backed by Sonoma County officials and the cities of Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park, as well as a representative for three environmental groups including the Sierra Club.
Under the plan, eight conservation areas totaling between 3,450 and 4,250 acres would be protected from development.
While some vernal pools may be protected, Miller said, the conservation plan would allow surrounding lands to be developed, and that would cut off vital migration routes for the tiger salamander.
"It's more like a zoo, where you can see the last remaining examples of the species, rather than a recovery plan," Miller said. "We're certainly going to take a hard look at whether or not we're going to challenge this in court. I'd say it's very likely."
Copy of plan available by request to asalzberg@herpdigest.org
by Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Sonoma County, 12/16/05
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has endorsed a local conservation plan for Sonoma County's endangered tiger salamanders, a decision that has split environmentalists, some of whom charge that it will speed the wily amphibian's extinction, not recovery.
North Bay developers and government bureaucrats hailed the federal agency's decision, which was announced Wednesday. They said it created the means to preserve crucial areas for the rare salamander, including vernal pools that are used for breeding, while streamlining the permit process for building.
Extensive litigation over the tiger salamander has slowed developers' plans to build homes, offices and public works projects along the Highway 101 corridor from Cotati to Santa Rosa.
As a result of these court delays, North Bay developers undertook an effort to enlist city and county agencies and environmentalists to form a working group to broker a compromise.
The result was the local conservation plan.
"I'd call it a gift to the development community," said Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based environmental group. "The Sonoma tiger salamander population is so small and so fragmented at this point that it cannot afford to lose any more habitat."
Others praised the decision.
Paul Campos, general counsel for the Homebuilders Association of Northern California, said that "this locally crafted conservation strategy represents the best hope for recovering the Sonoma population of the California tiger salamander. This is a plan that was embraced not just by builders and city officials, but by local environmentalists with a knowledge of the species and local conditions."
Federal regulators had proposed in August that 73,336 acres in Sonoma County be set aside as critical habitat for the salamander. But the Center for Biological Diversity criticized that plan because it did not include acreage where tiger salamanders were historically found or could be reintroduced to help facilitate their recovery.
Ultimately, the regulators chose to defer to a local conservation plan that had been spawned by developers and backed by Sonoma County officials and the cities of Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park, as well as a representative for three environmental groups including the Sierra Club.
Under the plan, eight conservation areas totaling between 3,450 and 4,250 acres would be protected from development.
While some vernal pools may be protected, Miller said, the conservation plan would allow surrounding lands to be developed, and that would cut off vital migration routes for the tiger salamander.
"It's more like a zoo, where you can see the last remaining examples of the species, rather than a recovery plan," Miller said. "We're certainly going to take a hard look at whether or not we're going to challenge this in court. I'd say it's very likely."
Copy of plan available by request to asalzberg@herpdigest.org