NEW STUDY OF TOAD HOLD CREEK AREA UNDER REVIEW.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - U.S. Forest Service officials this summer will begin to reanalyze what areas of Little Rock Creek can be reopened to the public and what parts must remain closed to protect a rare toad.

The Forest Service will bring in a staffer to coordinate the examination of how to manage the 3,000 acres upstream of the Littlerock reservoir that have been closed to off-roaders, fishermen and campers since 1999 to protect the Southwestern arroyo toad.

``We will be doing an analysis over the next year to see what needs to be protected and what, if anything, can be reopened to the public,'' district ranger Cid Morgan said. ``We want to gather all of the stakeholders - archaeological concerns, endangered species issues, recreation concerns - and come up with a proposed action that we could bring forward to do an environmental analysis.''

Listed in 1994 for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the small, buff-colored toad has lost about 75 percent of its historical habitat due to urban development, recreation, dam construction and other human activities, officials said.

In the late 1990s, the Forest Service barred the public each spring - the toad's breeding season - from 300 to 400 acres around Little Rock Creek, but those efforts were ineffective because of people ignoring signs and a fence.

``We were still having takes (deaths and harassment), which is out of compliance with the Endangered Species Act,'' said Forest Service biologist Bill Brown.

In 1999, the Center for Biological Diversity and another group, Christians Caring for Creation, sued the Forest Service to compel the agency to designate habitat for the toad and six other rare species.

As part of a settlement agreement, the area had to be closed until a forest management plan revision was completed.

During the process, the planning regulations were changed so that the forest plan was no longer going to present specific guidelines for individual sites. Instead the plan, now out in a draft form for public comment, has more generalized guidelines like a county general plan, Morgan said.

The hope is that a site-specific document for the creek area would be completed about the same time the forest plan is finalized - a process that is expected to take about a year.

``It's going to be a challenge to come up with something that's going to work,'' Brown said.

During an early May visit to the creek area, Brown said he saw three adult Southwestern arroyo toads and 12 tadpoles.

``It's been holding its own,'' Brown said. ``There's good reproduction going on.''

Among the players likely to be brought into the process is the Center for Biological Diversity.

``If they want to get people together for a localized plan, we're happy to talk to them,'' said Monica Bond, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. ``We're looking to increase the protection for the species.''

In a related matter, the Center for Biological Diversity has criticized the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's new proposal to designate 138,713 acres from Monterey to San Diego counties as critical habitat for the toad. The proposal is down from the 182,360 acres the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had first proposed in 2001.

The 2001 critical habitat proposal, challenged by the building industry, was set aside by a federal judge.

The new proposal calls for designating 941 acres along Little Rock Creek and nearby Santiago Creek inside Angeles National Forest as critical habitat, down from the original proposal of 1,480 acres.

Covered by the new proposal are nearly six miles of Little Rock Creek from the South Fork confluence to the upper end of the Littlerock reservoir and a 1.1-mile section of Santiago Creek to its confluence with Little Rock Creek at the reservoir.

The size of the proposed critical habitat is not large enough, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The organization is examining the proposal to determine whether to pursue legal action against it.

New information on the toad's habitat resulted in a reduction of the habitat along certain stream segments, such as with Little Rock Creek, while other segments, such as the Santa Clara River in Santa Clarita, were added, wildlife service officials said.

``The service is proposing critical habitat only for those lands essential to the species' conservation, based on the best scientific information currently available,'' said Diane Noda, field supervisor for the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office. ``We will continue working cooperatively with landowners to conserve this rare amphibian and its habitat.''

Some of the acreage removed from the original designation includes training areas on Fort Hunter Liggett Army base in Monterey County and lands in western Riverside County that will be covered under a separate conservation plan.

About 54,375 acres proposed as critical habitat are managed by federal, state and local agencies and 81,256 acres are privately owned. An additional 3,082 acres are on trust lands of six Native American tribes, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

The tiny Southwestern arroyo toad, shown here on the fingers of a handler, could have less area designated as its habitat after the U.S. Forest Service study.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer