Vernal Pools Protection Gets Wide Media Coverage
Check out the coverage of this issue in the Chico Enterprise-Record, San Diego Union Tribune, North County Times, Monterey County Herald, and Ventura County Star.
As you read the coverage, don't miss the following quotes in the San Diego Union Tribune article:
The analysis discounts the many benefits of vernal pools, said Butte Environmental Council Executive Director Barbara Vlamis. The pools hold storm water and filter pollutants, she said. They also are crucial for migratory water fowl, while their organisms fulfill part of nature's food chain.
She said her organization will file its own economic projections during an upcoming public comment period.
Also, here's a nice summation of what started this all:
The service has a July 31 deadline to decide whether to designate critical habitat in five counties that were dropped from a 2003 decision – Butte, Madera, Merced, Sacramento and Solano. [BEC] sued to force a reconsideration and won a court order in October.
The Fish and Wildlife Service now says it will consider dropping protections in areas where development is most intense and the economic cost the highest.
The decision to drop protections in the five counties drew national attention because Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Julie MacDonald altered the previous analysis the night before it was due, using calculations she later acknowledged to The Associated Press were flawed. [Emphasis added]
Posted June 25, 2005
