Cardoza Slams Fish and Wildlife Services Decision

Cardoza Expresses Disappointment at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Decision to Eliminate Merced County Exemption

Decision "Capricious"; Highlights the Need for Critical Habitat Reform, Says Cardoza.

Congressman Dennis Cardoza expressed his disappointment at today's ruling by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) eliminating a large portion of Merced County's economic exemption from critical habitat designation for vernal pools under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). After winning the initial effort to exempt Merced County from critical habitat designation, a lawsuit resulted in a court order compelling the Service to re-evaluate the designation.

Citing economic factors unique to the San Joaquin Valley, Congressman Cardoza has fought to establish economic exemptions for counties - such as Merced and Stanislaus - that would be adversely impacted by this designation. In its court-ordered review of critical habitat for 15 vernal pool species in California and Oregon, the Service today eliminated Merced County's exclusion from critical habitat designation. The ruling maintained the exemption for UC Merced as well as provided an exemption for portions of Stanislaus County. The June 30 draft economic analysis by the Service cited $992 million in costs over 20 years related to conservation activities for vernal pool species in California and Oregon.

"While this rule is helpful for portions of Stanislaus County and UC Merced, I am very concerned about the potential economic impact on Merced County and those parts of Stanislaus County that remain designated," Cardoza said. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has acted in a capricious and arbitrary manner that whipsaws landowners. This decision was litigation-based, not science-based. This further highlights the need to reform the process for designating critical habitat, and I will continue to work with Chairman Pombo to accomplish this."

Long dissatisfied with the decision-making process for designating critical habitat, Cardoza this Spring re-introduced the Critical Habitat Enhancement Act, which would improve methods to designate a species' critical habitat. Among other things, the bill would streamline the Service's procedures by requiring the designation of critical habitat within three years of a species' listing or within one year of the approval of a recovery plan and would require the Service to include direct and indirect economic impact in its designations.

"This system desperately needs reform," Cardoza said. "We need to help the Service make better, more informed decisions about critical habitat designations."