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<br />Conservation Plan For Southern California Could Be Model for Nation
<br />By WII UA 1 K. STEVKNS
<br />I he n.iiimi s mnsj amr)iiiou> .u
<br />Irmpi lo rrioiiLile tlu* prcst'rvaiiuii
<br />of njiure wiip urf).in de velofiment
<br />Iijs riMcficJ «i piviiial iimnieni. ancj
<br />the future of .in ittuKni.ini .i^pett or
<br />I eilei.ti umsei \ .iiiiin rnilu v m.iv
<br />luin un the otiitome
<br />I he Siin Oieuo ( iiv ( oom il is ex
<br />pecieO to vole fiv Api il I mi .i 50 vear
<br />pl.iii III s.ive not Ills! or
<br />eiul.ineereU ( u s Imii .m unirt.
<br />I.uidsiape wiih iis v.iiied panoply of
<br />plants ar.J .iinmals. Mhile at the
<br />same time settiiii* aside relatively
<br />unrest I u ted .iieas Im re.il esl.ite de-
<br />Ta . 7-
<br />veluptneiil
<br />Under the >iun of the Endangered
<br />Speues Act, develo|ivis joined envi-
<br />roninenialisis aiul I tsleial. state and
<br />Intal govefiinieiits to put tins land-
<br />scape-^ide nuu ept oi ineseiving the
<br />Souiherii I'alifiirnia eiosvsiem into
<br />liraiiice In exihaiige lor giving up
<br />all riglus to develop lioiuireds of
<br />tluiiis.imls of at I i s III natmal hahi
<br />tat. fiotn Los Angeles to Mexico, the
<br />pro|K)sai would fiee the developers
<br />from nnv further ohligation to pro
<br />tect species on remammg lands
<br />The exiKMiment is Uoiig watched
<br />closely hv heJeral and state policy
<br />makers Pecause it might provide a
<br />long-sought model for revising the
<br />Endangered S|>ecies Act An attempt
<br />at revising the uu is expeUed in
<br />Congress this spring Republican
<br />leaders m the Senate are circulating
<br />for consideration a draft revision in
<br />corporating the Southern California
<br />landicape-widc concept of plant and
<br />ammal preservation And promoting
<br />the concept has been a pet cause of
<br />Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
<br />San Diego is the linchpin of the
<br />California enterprise, as the city
<br />goes. It IS believed by people on both
<br />sides of the issue, so will go the whole
<br />plan to create a sprawling network of
<br />nature preserves containing scores
<br />of Imperiled species like the San Die
<br />go fairy shrimp, the California gnat-
<br />catcher and the Otay mesa mint.
<br />The prospects for passage of the
<br />proposal appear favorable, not the
<br />least because Mayor Susan Golding,
<br />a moderate Republican, is an enthu
<br />siastic advocate Areas designated
<br />as preserves in other communities
<br />would be voted on by local govern
<br />ments. but they are widely expected
<br />to follow San Diego s Ie.id Some sec
<br />ondary aspects of the San Diego plan
<br />are still being negotiated by the c<' i-
<br />trist group of environmenialisL* ' .*•
<br />velopers and government officials
<br />who have been striving for six years
<br />to pul It together
<br />Bui the plan is under assault from
<br />opponents on the right, who see 11 as
<br />an attack on properly rights, and
<br />those on the left, who see it as a
<br />sellout to developers Many seten-
<br />(isis and environmemalisis question
<br />whether the approach would serve
<br />any ecosystem well enough to be
<br />bull! iniu Federal law
<br />The biggest sticking point, say
<br />these critics, is the plans central
<br />feature that of absolving landown
<br />ers of further responsibility for pro
<br />tecting endangercHJ species once ihe
<br />preserve system w.is in place The
<br />Clinton Administrattun has. by ad-
<br />minlsiraiive fiat, built this “no sur
<br />prises’* policy into scores of other,
<br />mostly less sweeping or more rural
<br />hablial conservation plans around
<br />the country that together have re
<br />sulted In more than four million
<br />acres of protected hubiiai.
<br />The draft legislation now being
<br />circulaiiHl by sen.iior John H Ch.ifee
<br />of Rhode Island and Senator Dirk
<br />Kempihornc of Idaho, w ho head envi
<br />ronmental committees, would put a
<br />Congressional stamp of approval on
<br />the no-surpnses policy
<br />But nature is nut static, say critics
<br />of the plan Rather. 11 is full of sur
<br />prises Sjiccies populations vary un-
<br />prediciablv for all sons of natural
<br />r ^ A
<br />I,' .1
<br />reasons, they say. while habitats
<br />shift, and It could turn out that fur
<br />ther protection would be needed In a
<br />few years
<br />The landscape in question is a de
<br />ceptively austere-looking collection
<br />of hills and canyons richly carpeted
<br />by a wide range of plant groupings
<br />And It Is a part of the country where
<br />80 to 90 percent of the natural ecosys
<br />tem has already succumbed to agri
<br />culture or development and there is
<br />little margin for error
<br />Many of the Southern California
<br />plant and animal species exist no
<br />where else, and a recent study found
<br />A six-year effort to
<br />save many species
<br />rides on a San Diego
<br />City Council vote.
<br />that development's Inroads on their
<br />habitat had inaiio S.in Diego ('ouniv
<br />a super hot spot of eiidangermeni In
<br />all, about 200 species of plants and
<br />animals in the county are considered
<br />imperiled
<br />Until now the Endangered Species
<br />Act in Southern California, as in
<br />many other places, has been applied
<br />on a iracl-by-iract. spectes-by-spe-
<br />cies basis that costs developers time,
<br />money and endless regulatory entan
<br />glement. Moreover, this nickel-and-
<br />dime approach has failed lo halt the
<br />decline of the ecosystem
<br />The proposed approach is de
<br />signed to remedy all this, and also to
<br />prevent many plants and animals
<br />from becoming imperiled “It was
<br />just crystal near that we had lu
<br />cumnilt headlong to make it woik.
<br />Mr Babbitt aid m a recent interview,
<br />since Southern California, in conser
<br />vation terms, ' was the hOO-pound
<br />gorilla of urban expansion"
<br />I hc pio|NJsed preserve would ulii
<br />mately consist of a number of con
<br />necting regional units totaling up to
<br />half a million acres une plan, involv
<br />ing a single landowner in Orange
<br />County, IS already in effect
<br />In the 172.000-acre region compris
<br />ing the San Diego metropolitan area,
<br />most of the land to be preserved is
<br />already owned by governments or
<br />would be donated by land owners as
<br />compensation for future habitat de
<br />struction on lands exempt from pro-
<br />icciion under the agreement
<br />About 27.000 acres would have to
<br />he purchased, however The state
<br />and Federal guvernments have
<br />pledged to buy half the acreage, with
<br />local governments responsible for
<br />the oihei half The total cost of the
<br />land has been estimated at $260 mil
<br />lion to S160 million
<br />Environmentalists have raised a
<br />number of objections to the San Die
<br />go plan. Some said they feared that it
<br />would result in the loss of open space
<br />outside the preserves Others said
<br />they worried that panicular species,
<br />especially those like the Otay mesa
<br />mint and the San Diego fairy shrimp,
<br />both of which live in very small
<br />areas, would fall through the cracks
<br />of a landscape-level plan. Some ques
<br />tion whether endangered species
<br />could recover or would be frozen in
<br />I hen im|H-njed status
<br />And some aUamamly opjxjse any
<br />compromise with development. With
<br />so much of the ecosystem already
<br />destroyed, said Leeona Klippsiein.
<br />an environm:.iiialisi with a group
<br />called Spirit of the Sage, it would te
<br />"Insane * to giye up a large pan of
<br />what remains to development She
<br />argues, moreover, that scientific
<br />knowledge sbout the Southern Cali
<br />fornia eco .ysiem is inadequate to
<br />serve as the basis of such an ambi
<br />tious plan.
<br />Environmentalists within the cen
<br />trist coalition say scientists will nev
<br />er know enough, but that the price of
<br />not acting is too high “There's a
<br />limiifd amoum o( Information we
<br />tiave available —- ur will ever have. "
<br />said Michael Beck, the San Diego
<br />director of the Endangered Habitats
<br />League, who represents a main-
<br />stieiirn allidntcol envirunmemalisi.s
<br />IM the tolKs on the plan Walling for
<br />more data, he said, will simply doom
<br />some s|)ecies by development
<br />Even If enough was known about
<br />- i-ty M.- ».< •
<br />dfiitrrrt- ^ ^
<br />Il nrtffur^t Aprrtfrr i 7
<br />y V. |5mm BMoglulUnkM*
<br />Pam of the black and white areas in the San Diego area are detigna
<br />for preicrvauon under a plan for the ecosystem of Southern Califon
<br />the ecosystem, say a number of sci
<br />entists. the c;*pr.c‘.u‘jsnef i c; nature
<br />makes it dangerous to lock In any
<br />given conservation plan for the long
<br />term. Nature “is just as unpredict
<br />able as the Dow Jones average." said
<br />Dr Michael Soule, who recently re
<br />tired from the University of Califor
<br />nia at Santa Cruz and is regarded as
<br />the founder of Ihe science of conser
<br />vation biology OdC./
<br />)r. Dennis D. Murphy of St
<br />[iversUy. a conservation ok
<br />I has been a scientific udvi
<br />-------^Itfomia project, said v
<br />neither the unpredictability of nati
<br />nor .nadcbuite data would be fata
<br />the plan ail long as there was a w
<br />10 make fulure adjustments.
<br />And that |p the nub of the deba*
<br />Proponent^ say the plan does r
<br />prevent futui% changes, but rati
<br />guarantees ihiA the landowner wo
<br />not have to pay fur them "No-s
<br />pnses. in effect;, puu the burden
<br />future measures the govemme
<br />where It belongs. ' Secretary BabI
<br />said \
<br />Once a San Die^ deal has be
<br />struck, future ch^es could
<br />made only upon a finding of “i
<br />iraordinury nrcumstyncct” by 1
<br />Guvernment. which v^ld bear 1
<br />burden of proof as wti as of pi
<br />meni for any measuresgndertaki
<br />Some environment dints \rguc ih
<br />this would make change u3b difficu
<br />On the other side of the ideologic
<br />dtvKie. conservatives raise properi
<br />rights objections One of ‘
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