HOLES IN THE ARK: QUESTIONING SPECIES PROTECTION PLANS.

In the biblical story of the Great Flood, Noah built an ark to preserve samples of every living creature. Today, the rising tide of global extinction threatens to eliminate half of all species within 100 years (see the cover story this issue). The U.S. Interior Department, which has created more than 200 Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs), likens its detailed reports to modern arks. But critics charge that the plans are full of holes and taking on water fast.

HCPs, which run for 50 to 100 years, were first allowed when Congress revised the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1982. In the last six years, the number of plans grew rapidly, from 14 to 200, with approximately 200 more in preparation. Approved HCPs now cover more than nine million acres of U.S. territory.

The very first HCP saved 90 percent of the habitat for three rare butterflies on San Bruno Mountain, near San Francisco. It was a victory, but many doubts are now surfacing about the scientific soundness of later proposals. Nine prominent biologists delivered a white paper to President Clinton and Congress last spring, charging that HCPs were becoming "habitat giveaways that contribute to, rather than alleviate, threats to listed species and their habitats" Scott Royder, conservation director for the Lone Star (Texas) Sierra Club, argues, "The main problem with these HCPs is that because of political reasons, they throw out the science."

National Wildlife Federation (NWF) attorney John Kostyack notes that some HCPs allow landowners to destroy the remaining habitat of rare species and relocate the animals elsewhere. In Texas, the highway department took habitat for rare migratory birds in exchange for funding scientific studies which documented their decline. Kostyack says "unproven experimental mitigation measures, along with the `no surprises' rules which lock in the plans essentially forever, are what's causing us to ring the alarm bells."

An NWF study of the HCP process conducted by University of Michigan researchers concluded that there were too many backroom deals that excluded the public. NWF calls for strengthening HCPS through more public input and scientific peer review, along with secure funding, more flexibility, and better monitoring.

In spite of their flaws, however, most conservationists believe HCPs are needed to maintain endangered species on private lands. What remains to be seen is whether the holes in these latter-day arks can be successfully patched. CONTACT: National Wildlife Federation, 1400 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036/(202)7976800.