TOAD HABITAT DESIGNATED SANTA CLARA RIVER NOT PART OF 11,000-ACRE PLAN.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated more than 11,000 acres of critical habitat for the endangered Southwestern arroyo toad, but the $1.8 billion plan excludes land along the Santa Clara River and San Francisquito Creek.

The service's formal report was released Wednesday, the same day the Santa Clara River was listed by a national environmental group as one of 10 waterways threatened by development.

The service's plan calls for 11,695 acres stretching from Santa Barbara to San Bernardino counties to be designated as critical habitat, a reduction from its originally proposed plan to designate 95,655 acres that included San Diego.

Local environmentalists say the scaled-back acreage is due to pressure from the building industries. In 2001, a coalition that included the Building Industry Association filed a lawsuit against the Fish and Wildlife Service, arguing that the costs of designation were underestimated in earlier proposals.

``Our concern is, does everything have to be destroyed just to build houses?'' asked Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment. ``The American Rivers report reflected how these federal agencies are not really protecting the river.''

The 7,398 acres of excluded land in Santa Clarita includes San Francisquito Creek, which runs from the Angeles National Forest south to the Santa Clara River, and would have cost $21 million to designate as critical habitat. A portion of the 21,000-unit housing development known as Newhall Ranch falls into that area. Existence of the toad on that property is expected to be addressed in an upcoming report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Wildlife officials said Thursday that there were several reasons the area was excluded, including costs to landowners such as diverting water sources and buying property in other areas to make up for open space.

The U.S. Department of Interior makes the determination of costs, based on information provided by Fish and Wildlife, said Mike McCrary, listing and recovery coordinator for the latter agency.

``We eliminated inaccessible areas of marginal quality,'' McCrary said. ``Maybe at some point, the toad was found there, under a really good year. Most years, it's just too dry during the breeding season. There's just not enough water there for the breeding season.''

But local environmentalists say proof has been documented since 1994 that the arroyo toad does use that land.

``The Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been totally irresponsible in all aspects of the natural resources that occur in the Santa Clara River,'' said Teresa Savaikie, Santa Clara River Alliance coordinator.

``Regarding San Francisquito Creek, if they would have spent the time, which is required under the law, with honest biologists with integrity, they would have seen that there is water in July, even in drought times, and some of the leading experts have said that the arroyo toad does occur in San Francisquito Creek.

``I'm disgusted taxpayer dollars are not going toward protecting the environment.''

The $1.8 billion plan over the next 20 years includes purchasing land for toad habitat, delays in getting development projects through environmental regulations, and altering construction projects to minimize harm to toads, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analysis.

Most of the cost would fall on the real estate industry.

Critical habitat is a term under the Endangered Species Act that identifies geographic regions that are essential for the conservation of a threatened species.

But the service also cautioned ``in the 30 years of implementing the Endangered Species Act, the service has found that designation of critical habitat provides little additional protection for most listed species, while preventing the agency from using scarce conservation resources for activities with greater conservation benefits.''

The buff-color, 2- to 3-inch arroyo toad lives in rivers with shallow, gravelly pools near sandy terraces and once flourished from San Luis Obispo County to Baja California in Mexico.

But the amphibian has been threatened because of loss of habitat due to urbanization and agriculture, the manipulation of water levels and invasive species such as nonnative bullfrogs, according to the service.

Because of the toad's endangered status, 3,000 acres along Little Rock Creek in the Angeles National Forest have been closed to off-roaders, fishermen and campers since 1999.

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com