Californians Harried by Ecological Worrywarts

Insight on the News, July 3, 2000 by Sean Paige

Snail darter and fairy shrimp, meet the Southwestern arroyo toad: likely the next in a line of allegedly endangered flora and fauna that have been used as tools of the antidevelopment crowd to lock public and private lands away from those who would use them for selfishly human purposes, such as housing, roadways, commerce and other scourges wrought by the cancer called Man.

Because it's not only required that a "listed" species be protected, but that large chunks of its preferred or likely habitat also be preserved (whether any actual Southwestern arroyo toads actually can be found there), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of "critical habitat" -- forced by lawsuits by a group of eco-Luddites based in Tucson, Ariz., called the Center for Biological Diversity -- is likely to lock up 500,000 acres of prime Southern California real estate, stalling (if not stopping in their tracks) several major development projects already on the boards and a 16-mile toll road being proposed in crowded Orange County. In the near future, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties also likely will be held hostage to the small, buff-colored toad, which was listed as endangered in 1994.

Which isn't to say that all development suddenly will grind to a halt in Southern California -- only that those seeking building permits on or near the designated habitat will have to jump through federal, state and local hoops. As in the cases of the California gnatcatcher and fairy shrimp, two other listed species that have become potent weapons for environmentalists in their battles with Mother Nature-rapers, those seeking future permits likely will be required to set aside, donate or re-create new habitat in exchange for any they use, whether or not any toads have been found on the land in question. It's good enough, from the government's perspective, that a national toad "potentially" might choose to take up residence there at some future date.

But purists at the Center for Biological Diversity say such trade-offs no longer are acceptable and plan to (what else?) sue to prevent future "mitigation plans."

Critical-habitat designations have become "a monstrous problem in Southern California," said Laer Pearce, whose Coalition for Habitat Conservation represents development interests. "The Endangered Species Act only requires designation [of] habitat that is critical to survival of the species," he told the Los Angeles Times. The Fish and Wildlife Service, however, "is doing massive landscapes that include habitat those species never touched upon. All of a sudden, there isn't going to be anything left that isn't designated critical for one thing or another."

Outdoor enthusiasts also will be affected by the toad: prime camping areas in the Cleveland and Angeles national forests already have been shut down in deference to the thing, and more prohibitions on "public" lands are likely to follow.

RELATED ARTICLE: Bring Us Your Huddled Medflies Seeking to Breathe Free

Not only is the United States constantly facing an invasion of human illegal aliens, but of exotic animals, plants and pests from foreign shores as well which, once ensconced in their adopted home, dramatically can alter the physical landscape, undermine and attack U.S. agricultural assets and cost the taxpayers millions of dollars to combat.

In theory, the first line of defense against such threats is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, or USDA's, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, which is charged with watching over major U.S. ports of entry and intercepting such invaders before they get loose on the rest of America. But in practice, APHIS may be a laughable Maginot Line, according to a new report, through or around which the exotic invaders are passing with ease.

An investigation of Plant Protection and Quarantine, or PPQ, inspections and procedures at ports of entry in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by the USDA's Office of Inspector General, or IG, "identified vulnerabilities and weaknesses which increased the risk of prohibited agricultural products entering the United States" according to a summary of the report. Investigators found that PPQ inspectors "did not inspect cargo ships timely upon arrival" in port, failed to inspect the arriving baggage of 75 percent of incoming airline passengers and 99 percent of arriving cruise-ship passengers, rarely assessed fines or penalties when arriving airline or cruise-ship passengers were found to be carrying prohibited items and left the selection of imported perishable food-item samples that they did inspect to the food brokers bringing them in. The IG also reports that cargo inspections performed during overtime work (which accounted for more than 50 percent of all cargo inspections that occurred) were completely unsupervised.

Also adding to the impression of laxity, if not outfight slovenliness, that the report conveys, the IG says that PPQ employees at Miami International Airport consistently reported late for duty and were using government-owned vehicles for unauthorized purposes and that at least one employee made "questionable charges" to a government account. None of these conditions were identified or corrected, however, because of "weak supervisory oversight and control over employee time and attendance and vehicle operations," according to the report.