BLASTING DELAYED UNTIL SPRING.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer Rock-blasting work on an Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. widening project will be delayed even longer than previously estimated, a Caltrans spokeswoman said Wednesday. State Department of Transportation officials have halted the blasting until spring, when state biologists can examine the area to determine whether its vegetation includes any endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. , said Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli. ``What's delaying this right now is the sensitive plants,'' Tiritilli said. ``Caltrans doesn't feel the determination really can be made until they start blooming.'' Caltrans called off an explosion that had been scheduled for noon Tuesday after a state biologist discovered a bobcat bobcat: see lynx. bobcat Bobtailed, long-legged North American cat (Lynx rufus) found in forests and deserts from southern Canada to southern Mexico. It is a close relative of the lynx and caracal. den within 100 feet of the blasting site, as well as plants that might be endangered species. The blast was to be the first of a series scheduled through January that would have required shutting down the freeway some nights. Taking care of the bobcat - if one actually lives in the den - would be a relatively simple matter, state wildlife officials said. The animal could be trapped, then released in the same area after the blasting, or its den could be closed up so the bobcat would move elsewhere on its own, they said. ``They would be pretty simple to trap,'' said Chanelle Davis, a state Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist ''' The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. A wildlife biologist is someone who studies wild animals and their habitats. . ``It's not a major undertaking.'' Fish and Game officials noted that bobcats are not an endangered species, and this is not the season for them to have cubs, which are protected by state law. But Caltrans officials said checking out the plants is troublesome because most are dormant for the winter. The general area contains rare varieties of lily, buckwheat buckwheat, common name for certain members of the Polygonaceae, a family of herbs and shrubs found chiefly in north temperate areas and having a characteristic pungent juice containing oxalic acid. Species native to the United States are most common in the West. , wild onions, rabbit brush and monardella or ``coyote coyote (kī`ōt, kīō`tē) or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. It is found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country; it is also called brush wolf. mint,'' Tiritilli said. Halting halt·ing adj. 1. Hesitant or wavering: a halting voice. 2. Imperfect; defective: halting verse. 3. Limping; lame. the blast Tuesday cost the state less than $2,000, Tiritilli said. Delaying blasting until spring is not expected to hold up completion of the $31 million widening project between Sand Canyon Road and Escondido Canyon Road because crews have other work to do, she said. The work is scheduled to end in 1999. ``At this time we're not looking at the project being delayed overall,'' Tiritilli said. |
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