ENDANGERED CONDORS SUBJECT OF FORT TEJON LAND-USE LAWSUIT.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Giant Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company is the largest private landowner in California. It was incorporated in 1936 to organise the ownership of a large tract of land originally comprised of four Mexican land grants, and began ranching in the 1840's. is taking on giant California condors to protect property rights on the company's 270,000-acre mountain spread straddling strad·dle v. strad·dled, strad·dling, strad·dles v.tr. 1. a. To stand or sit with a leg on each side of; bestride: straddle a horse. b. the Los Angeles-Kern county border. A lawsuit filed in federal court in Fresno last week is aimed at keeping Endangered Species Act The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. requirements from hampering developments that might be planned on the property in the Tehachapi Mountains Te·hach·a·pi Mountains A range of southern California extending from east to west between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges north of Los Angeles. . Half of the company's land - site of Christo's yellow umbrellas art spectacular in 1991 - is listed as ``critical habitat'' for condors. ``We have to be very careful about the steps taken to protect our land-use rights,'' explained Dennis Mullins, the company's general counsel. Mullins said Tejon Ranch is worried because the Endangered Species Act has been used in other places to restrict property owners' rights. ``These horror stories abound, and they make people who are paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" attentiveness, heed, regard very cautious,'' he said. California condors, which have wingspans up to 10 feet, were threatened with extinction in the 1980s, so a few were captured and bred to rejuvenate re·ju·ve·nate tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates 1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again. 2. their numbers. There now are 132 live California condors, of which 39 have been released back to the wild. The lawsuit claims condors bred in captivity were illegally returned to the mountain range, starting in 1992, because the government failed to issue a regulation spelling out and limiting restrictions on landowners. The suit asks that the government be ordered to issue such a regulation that would limit its powers over the land. Interior Department lawyer Lynn Cox advised Tejon Ranch by letter in October that no law requires a regulation such as the company demands. The 52-page lawsuit also contends that removing condors from the Tehachapis between 1987 and 1992 meant that, legally, the birds' wild habitat became ``quite obviously, nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non .'' But Robert Mesta, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service condor recovery program, said the birds were released in line with Endangered Species Act rules. Mullins said Tejon Ranch has helped the condor recovery program by leaving cattle carcasses for the scavengers, providing access to the recovery team, helping treat sick or injured birds and monitoring condor behavior. But the company wants to make sure it can develop second-home sites someday if it wants to on its holdings adjacent to Interstate 5 up the Grapevine. ``We have no plans to do it right now. We have no secret development plan,'' Mullins said. ``But it has potential for development, and that is something we have to protect.'' |
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