Santa Clara County adds 58,000 acres of critical habitat
Federal wildlife officials set aside more than 100,000 acres in Santa Clara and San Benito counties for the California red-legged frog last week, a designation that has the potential to affect how the property can be developed.
The set-aside includes nearly 44,000 acres of mostly privately-owned land in San Benito County and 58,000 acres in Santa Clara County, including Henry Coe State Park and Canada de Pala, west of Mt. Hamilton. That land is mostly publicly owned.
Some environmentalists, however, say the designation falls dreadfully short of what’s needed to save the species from extinction.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it was designating 43,938 acres in the county as critical habitat for the frog – which is believed to have inspired Mark Twain’s 1865 story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Statewide, about 450,288 acres were set aside in 20 counties this week.
A critical habitat designation does not affect private property rights nor preclude development. However, if a project planned for critical habitat land requires a federal permit or involves federal funding then plans must be approved by the service. Those who want to develop on land that is home to any threatened species, whether or not it is critical habitat, need FWS approval, according to Jim Nickles with the FWS.
The habitat – which includes breeding and foraging areas – established in San Benito County is separated into three areas:
n 20,037 acres, in south county, including the Pinnacles National Monument.
n 14,285 acres in northwestern San Benito, including Hollister Hills and San Juan Oaks
n 9,616 acres southeast of Hollister, including the Paicines Reservoir and Tres Pinos Creek
In 2001, the FWS designated 4.1 million acres statewide as critical habitat for the frog. After being sued by the Homebuilders Association of Northern California, the FWS reversed itself and agreed to remove the protection. In November, the FWS proposed to establish nearly 738,000 acres in California as critical habitat, but cut that by about 40 percent to the acreage finally designated this week. In cutting the proposed critical habitat, the service said that it used better maps that could more accurately determine which areas need designation. Also, it cited an economic analysis showing that the November proposal would have cost $497 million in lost development opportunities over 20 years.
Threats to the red-legged frog include predatory non-native species and habitat loss due to development, according for the Center for Biological Diversity.
Miller said that the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups were going to consider taking their complaint to court in hopes of expanding the critical habitat for the red-legged frog.
“We’re certainly going to look at going to court to look at this,” he said.
“This is untenable for the frog.”
