BOBCAT DEN, PLANTS STOP BLASTING; DISCOVERIES ALONG 14 FREEWAY NEAR ACTON HALT ROAD WIDENING.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

A bobcat den and some plants have halted - at least temporarily - part of a $31 million widening project for the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Less than four hours before the first in a monthlong series of explosions to widen a freeway cut near Vasquez Rocks County Park, Caltrans officials said Tuesday morning that they had discovered a bobcat den, postponing the blasting until January at the earliest.

``It's going to take some more investigation before we proceed,'' said Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli. ``The soonest we could proceed is the end of the year, or possibly longer - we don't know at this point. We have to make sure we don't do anything to any of the animals that are there.''

The den was discovered within 100 feet of the blast site, about a quarter-mile south of Escondido Canyon Road on the north side of the freeway.

The discovery was made by a state biologist surveying the area in a last-minute check before Tuesday's noontime blasting, officials said.

The biologist also discovered plants that might be endangered species, Tiritilli said. However, the biologist could not make a positive identification because the plants are dormant for the winter.

``We have to err on the side of caution,'' Tiritilli said.

Caltrans officials noted that no one has actually seen a bobcat - just a den - and that the suspect plants might turn out to be an unendangered variety.

Unlike their larger cousin, the mountain lion, bobcats are not an endangered species and can be hunted. However, it is against state law for anyone - hunters or road builders - to harm the young, state wildlife officials said.

Department of Fish and Game officials also say they resist moving bobcats or any wild animal from their homes. The new location already could be another bobcat's hunting ground, the range of a predator or home to a population of animals not resistant to a disease the newcomer is carrying, experts say.

``We just don't like to move animals,'' said Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Moore. ``We don't even like to take a snake off somebody's porch and move it a quarter-mile down the road. A quarter-mile is a long way for a snake.''

The same holds true for plants: Endangered species usually die if they're moved, experts say. So if a project cannot be redesigned to avoid an endangered plant population, alternatives include protecting the same species elsewhere - such as by buying land where it grows for a preserve.

``It's a case-by-case basis,'' said Mary Meyer, a Fish and Game plant ecologist. ``It's an extremely rare situation when they must stop the project. It's a 99.9 percent probability that it's not going to.''

Tiritilli said she did not know what species of plants are suspected of being in the area, or how they might have been missed by officials in drafting the environmental impact report for the road-widening project.

Canceling Tuesday's blasting cost the state $1,000 to $2,000 for the work crew and the truck carrying the explosives, officials said.

Because highway builder FCI Constructors of Granada Hills can put its crews to work on the widening that has been under way for months to the south, the delay caused by the wildlife discoveries may cost the state about $150 to $200 a day, Tiritilli said.

Caltrans started in early 1996 on $130 million worth of construction that will add a car-pool lane to the freeway in each direction between Santa Clarita and Palmdale.

The blasting work was part of a contract to add lanes between Sand Canyon Road in Santa Clarita and Escondido Canyon Road, expected to cost $31 million and be finished in spring 1999.

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Photo, map

PHOTO (AV edition only) Caltrans biologists Paul Caron and Betty Courtney inspect the area near a bobcat den Tuesday.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News

Map: Site of bobcat den