Jodi Peterson

Associate Editor

San Diego County was once lauded for its visionary 1997 plan to save endangered species and allow some development at the same time, but the plan has suffered from significant flaws (see our story “San Diego’s habitat triage” and the voiceofsandiego.org’s Once a National Model, Habitat Plan Faces Uncertain Future). Now, more of the county’s wildlife conservation plans have gone badly astray, allowing cities to make money and dodge responsibility.

When the California gnatcatcher hit the Endangered Species list in 1993, it threatened to derail development in the San Diego area. To keep it on track, North San Diego County cities agreed to create long-term conservation plans for the gnatcatcher in return for being allowed to destroy up to 5 percent of the bird’s coastal sage scrub habitat.

According to voiceofsandiego.org, the cities quickly used up their allocations of sage scrub and turned to San Diego County for help. The county, which had a much larger allocation of sage habitat, sold them $30,000 credits allowing developers to pave over an acre within city limits in return for preserving an acre in the county.

Over the past decade, developers have used that provision to build on 183 acres of coastal sage, forking over nearly $880,000 for the right to do so. But the cities (except for Carlsbad) haven’t kept their end of the bargain.

Critics say the practice is a major reason why most North County cities have not finalized their habitat plans. As long as developers in those cities can use the county’s credits, critics say builders and city officials have little motivation to complete the habitat plans. If the county didn’t sell the credits, developers’ projects would have to be approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, not a local city council, a step that could submit the project to delays and significant costs.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said it’s been “talking to the county” about the credit issue, but the practice seems likely to continue.

“No one seriously believes that San Marcos will ever complete their plan,” said (David) Hogan, (conservation manager) from the Center for Biological Diversity. “And why would they? There’s no incentive. They can keep killing endangered species without repercussions.”