http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2004...news/news03.txt

Milk-vetch habitat slashed; move called highly political

By MARC SCHANZ, Staff Writer

Thursday, August 5, 2004 4:29 PM PDT

The federal government has moved to reduce the number of protected acres of the Peirson's milk-vetch, the desert plant at the center of the four-year-old land closures in the Imperial Sand Dunes.

The move, announced Wednesday in the Federal Register, outraged conservationists, who say the reduction by almost 60 percent of protected habitat was a renegade act of politics.

Originally, the government's proposal, put together by a team of biologists, proposed 52,780 acres of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area be set aside as critical habitat for the small desert plant, the only species in the dunes that enjoys the protections of the Endangered Species Act.
Wednesday, the government announced the protected habitat would only be 21,800 acres, effectively cutting out most of the habitat in areas open to vehicle access.

According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife service spokesman Jane Hendron, a recently completed economic analysis of the Imperial-Yuma County region showed upward of $2.8 million could be lost to the economy if the designated closure areas were kept off-limits to off-highway vehicle use.

"Impacts in an economic analysis .... can be considered if the benefits of excluding the area outweigh the benefits of including them in a habitat," Hendron said.

She added the exclusion of around 30,000 acres from the designation will not affect the survival of the species.

OHV groups such as the Off Road Business Association and the American Sand Association have been protesting the closures associated with the plant since the closures' inception in November 2000, saying studies show the plant is thriving in the vast Algodones Dunes ecosystem that stretches all the way into Mexico.

Conservation groups argue the economic analysis is flawed, since off-roading has spiked in recent years and many of the remaining closed areas for the vetch are in wilderness areas that are not affected by OHV traffic.
"Critical habitat works if it is based on good science and species' recovery needs," said Daniel Patterson, a desert ecologist with the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. "This designation is far too small and will jeopardize the conservation and recovery of the species."

Peirson's milk vetch is a member of the legume family and has distinct purple flowers and a deep root that allows it to thrive in the harsh sand dunes of eastern Imperial County.

Imperial County District 5 Supervisor Wally Leimgruber, whose district includes the ISDRA, has been a tireless advocate for what he calls the "off-road economy," traveling to meet with government officials in Washington, D.C., several times in the past few months.

Recently, he met with top U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials in Washington as well as California congressional officials to push the case for OHV access.

"Any time we can have public lands open for public use, it's a positive development," Leimgruber said. "Off-roading is a vital part of our economy and I want to keep that economy going."

Leimgruber dismisses charges of politics overriding science from the top down.

"Several studies, including biologists who work for the (Department of Interior) have stated several times that the plant is doing well," Leimgruber added.

Patterson thinks the new designation won't stand up in court. He pointed to a document submitted to the USFWS headquarters in Washington, D.C., that had handwritten notations crossing out typed recommendations from the Carlsbad USFWS office for 52,000 protected acres. In its place was scrawled "21,836," and the initials "MN." Calls to the USFWS headquarters in Washington could not confirm the handwriting is that of Marge Nelson, chief of the listing division of the service.

"It's a consistent pattern of rolling back protections from the top down of the (Bush administration) by political appointees and their staff," Patterson said.

>> Staff Writer Marc Schanz can be reached at 337-3452 or at mschanz@ivpressonline.com

is this good news? seems like it