Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released an economic impact analysis report on a 2009 revised proposal of critical habitat for the federally-endangered Arroyo Toad (Anaxyrus californicus) which now opens a new 30-day comment period on the updated critical habitat proposal and it’s economic assessment.
The Arroyo Toad is a small, buff-colored toad with dark-spotted and warty skin that measures between two and three inches in length. They use adjacent upland habitat for feeding and shelter and they prefer shallow pools and open, sandy stream terraces.
Over a 25-year period the economic analysis estimates the costs of critical habitat for the Arroyo Toad to be almost $790 million according to the analysis prepared for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. of Berkeley California.
Most of the $790 million is expected to affect new development with $211 million will be for one of the proposed critical habitat units in San Diego County.
Since the Arroyo Toad critical habitat was re-proposed in October 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have identified additional areas that meet the definition of critical habitat in four critical habitat areas in San Diego County. Nearly 3,700 acres have been added to the proposed critical habitat for the San Diego area bringing the overall proposed acreage to 112,765 which will include habitats in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties.
Most of the October 2009 proposed critical habitat is the same as was proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a 2004 rule, and also reflects some new additional information on the distribution of the Arroyo Toads since the 2004 critical habitat was proposed and was then finalized in 2005.
Many of the proposed areas for the critical habitats contain certain elements that the Arroyo Toads need in order to thrive and survive which include: rivers or streams for all the life stages of the toads; adjacent upland areas for foraging and breeding, areas that flood periodically which leaves behind pools where they can breed, as well as terrace habitats that provide for their life functions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service outlined the first critical habitat for the arroyo toad back in February 2001 which included over 180,000 acres. Then the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was sued by the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation and several other groups.
Then the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service down-sized and re-proposed 140,000 acres of critical habitat in April 2004, and designated 11,695 acres of critical habitat in April 2005.
The Center for Biological Diversity then sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its 2005 designation of critical habitat, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a settlement agreement with them.
Comments may be submitted by July 29, 2010, by any of the following methods: 1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov and submitting comments to: Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2009-0069 or by mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R8-ES-2009-0069; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203. Comments cannot be submitted by e-mail or faxes. All comments will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
For more information on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visit them at http://www.fws.gov.