News of the Arroyo
Title: | Groups File Suit to Save Land for the Arroyo Toad |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-08-26 |
Summary: | August 26, 2005 - A federal lawsuit is seeking to designate land along the upper Santa Clara River and San Francisquito Creek as critical habitat for the arroyo toad, first listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994. |
Author: | Staff |
Publication: | Santa Clarita Valley Signal |
Content: | Leave it to one little toad to cause so much trouble. A federal lawsuit is seeking to designate land along the upper Santa Clara River and San Francisquito Creek as critical habitat for the arroyo toad, first listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994. The Center for Biological Diversity, an organization which works to protect endangered species, and Christians Caring for Creation, a nationwide prayer network which prays for their revival, filed a lawsuit in federal district court Wednesday to compel Fish and Wildlife to re-designate the land, as well as hundreds of thousands of acres all across California, as critical habitat for the toad. A total of 34,300 acres of land along the Santa Clara River and San Francisquito Creek had originally been proposed by Fish and Wildlife back in 2000 as critical habitat for the arroyo toad, or the bufo microscaphus Californicus. A decision by Fish and Wildlife in April left just 11,695 acres across California as critical habitat. That decision excluded any land in the local areas, even though the lands in question are home to the endangered species, according to David Hogan, the Center for Biological Diversity’s urban wildlands director. “It’s a tragedy for both the toad and the people of the Santa Clarita Valley that more habitat was not protected in this decision, and that’s why we filed the lawsuit,” Hogan said. Hogan said that land along the Santa Clara River is “prime habitat of the species,” and that it is “an example of the way coastal California used to be.” The arroyo toad used to be found everywhere there was flowing water in Southern and Central California, according to Hogan. He said the land being designated as critical habitat would be beneficial to the community. “Do people want a concrete-lined river like in Los Angeles or a nice river with trees and vegetation?” Hogan said. “A critical habitat designation means we’d get the nice trees and vegetation.” Hogan also said that a designation would increase property values and would benefit water quality. “Habitat protection for the toad translates into water quality protection for the people,” Hogan said. Initially, the Center for Biological Diversity sued in 2000 to compel Fish and Wildlife to designate land in California as critical habitat for the toad, thus granting it protection from development as entitled by the Endangered Species Act. The arroyo toad is a species of toad exclusive to California and lives as far north as the Salinas River in Monterey County, and as far south as northern Baja California, according to Hogan. Fish and Wildlife proposed 478,000 acres in California be designated as critical habitat in 2000, 34,300 acres of which were to be in areas along the Santa Clara River and San Francisquito Creek. The proceeding designation by Fish and Wildlife, in 2001, reduced the designated areas to 182,360 acres, reducing the local protected areas to 7,398 acres. The Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation sued in response to that designation and got the Bush administration to completely withdraw all areas in California from being designated as critical habitat for the endangered arroyo toad. The Center for Biological Diversity and Christians Caring for Creation sued again to get a critical habitat designation back in California. Christians Caring for Creation has worked in conjunction with the Center for Biological Diversity on the arroyo toad matter since about 2000, according to the group’s director, Connie Hanson. “God wants his species that he loves to be kept alive throughout the earth,” Hanson said. “We are trying to undergird people’s efforts to protect God’s creations with the power of prayer. We believe in prayer and we believe it’s a powerful thing.” Christians Caring for Creation is not involved in the legal work of the case, but is praying for the Center for Biological Diversity to be successful. “We are absolutely praying for them to succeed in whatever work they’re doing,” Hanson said. |
Url: |