Environmental Effects on Species Habitats in Southern California Mountains

Introduction

Southern California is not for everybody. "Some people view the climate and laid-back lifestyle with longing. Others perceive the area, and its inhabitants, as a little too far over the edge" (Hutchings 2001:4D-Z). While the region may not appeal to all types of humans, it does attract a wide range of species that make their home in the mountainous areas of Southern California. In fact, Southern California is dotted with several mountain ranges, including the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, San Bruno, Santa Rosa, Cuyamaca, the Palomar Mountains, and even the Chocolate Mountains (Havert, Gray, Adams & Gray 1996). One of the most biodiverse and well-studied of these ranges is the San Gabriel (Wake 1996).

This paper provides an overview of the ecosystems in these mountain ranges in general, with an emphasis on the San Gabriel range in particular, identifies which species are endangered within these ecosystems and why, and assesses what is being done to correct the problem and protect endangered species in these regions.

Legislative and Regulatory Background

According to Adams, Kutner, and Stein, biological inventory efforts of all types — both low- and high-tech — have provided researchers with an enormous amount of information on the identity, distribution, and characteristics of species and ecosystems in the United States. Research into how ecosystems function has paid tremendous dividends in the form of food, fiber, pharmaceuticals, and other useful products. Nevertheless, despite several hundred years of biological exploration, scientists remain largely uncertain about the vast majority of species and ecosystems that comprise life on Earth (Adams, Kutner & Stein 2000).

In response to growing threats to various endangered species, Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973 in order to "provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, [and] to provide a program for the conservation of such... species" (Baur & Donovan 1997:767). Section 9 of the Act generally prohibits the "take" of any endangered or threatened species by "any person" to effect this goal; "take" includes all activities that harass, harm, wound, or kill a protected species (Baur & Donovan 1997). In the case of endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been tasked to intercede with the industrial forces that threaten the well-being of imperiled species or destroy their habitat, and to put a stop to the destructive mechanisms that rob the planet of its diverse biological wealth (Lieben 1997).

In addition, in 1975, the USFWS broadly defined "harm" to include acts that "significantly disrupt essential behavioral patterns" and result in "significant habitat modification or degradation" (Baur & Donovan 1997:768). The courts have upheld this aspect of the take prohibition in a series of decisions. In 1979, a U.S. district court in Hawaii held that a state program maintaining feral sheep and goats in the critical habitat of the endangered Palila bird — and causing destruction of that habitat — clearly fell within the agency's definition of harm. The Ninth Circuit upheld this decision, finding that the district court's conclusion was consistent with the Act's legislative history showing that Congress was informed the greatest threat to endangered species is the destruction of their natural habitat. Years later, the Ninth Circuit again upheld a finding that a state game management program for a separate species of feral sheep constituted harm to the endangered Palila under the revised USFWS definition of harm. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently upheld the USFWS's definition of harm as well (Baur & Donovan 1997).

Conservation of Southern California Mountain Habitats

As a result of this and similar legislation, refuges and sanctuaries are frequently established with a view to preserving endangered species of wildlife or plants, particularly those whose numbers and distribution have been seriously curtailed — for example, the refuges for the California condor and the Torrey pine in California (Dasmann 2004). Similarly, the southern California mountains were protected by Congress in 2000 as the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (Sullivan-Brennan 2004).

This southern California mountain range constitutes something of a geographic interruption to the region, surging from the Sonoran Desert at sea level to sub-alpine forest areas 10,800 feet above. The range ascends through more than six life zones. "It's remarkable that there's so much wild land there surrounded by development on all sides," reported Jay Watson, California/Nevada regional director for The Wilderness Society. "There are mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, and endangered peninsular bighorn sheep, creatures sturdy enough to clamber up cliff faces, yet vulnerable to golf courses and housing tracts creeping up the foothills" (Sullivan-Brennan 2004:56). There are also numerous reptiles in this system, including three kinds of rattlesnakes, the endangered desert tortoise, and the southern rubber boa. According to Sullivan-Brennan, in the Indian Canyons granite, "spiny lizards scale palm trees like fat, gray sausages trailing turquoise tails. Western fence lizards, with their delicately embroidered green and yellow scales, take cover under rocks" (Sullivan-Brennan 2004:56).

Santa Rosa was designated a national monument in 2001 due to legislation introduced by Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono, who represents the area. Santa Rosa in California is just one of 15 national monuments in the newest system of public lands: the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). The NLCS was created in 2000 with the objective of conserving places that contain unique natural and cultural values. Totaling around 40 million acres, these lands are situated primarily in the West and are overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). "With the national parks so crowded, the places in this new system are like undiscovered treasures that offer great alternatives for tourists," according to The Wilderness Society's Wendy Vanasselt. With diverse ecosystems layered upon each other, one third of the monument is also part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and enjoys an added layer of protection (Sullivan-Brennan 2004).

Local conservationists, together with The Wilderness Society, campaigned to preserve the monument's wild character during its designation in 2000, and that struggle continued as the BLM finalized a long-term management plan. According to Sullivan-Brennan, conservationists sought to limit grazing on Forest Service land within monument boundaries, discourage jeep tours proposed by a private vendor, and acquire sensitive tracts — both within and adjacent to the national monument — that willing owners might sell (2004).

The White Mountains are another spectacular region of California that would be protected by the 2.5-million-acre California Wild Heritage Act (S. 1555), authored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). According to conservationists, with California developing at such a rapid rate, it is critical that some public lands be kept in their natural condition to protect clean water, recreational opportunities, archaeological sites, and wildlife habitat. The House version of this bill was to be introduced by U.S. Representatives Hilda Solis and Mike Thompson (Special Places We Should Protect 2004).

Other legislation in the State of California also helps protect threatened species and their habitats. According to the state's Habitat Conservation Planning Branch publication "California's Plants and Animals" (2003), the classification "Fully Protected" was California's initial effort in the 1960s to identify and provide additional protection to animals that were rare or faced possible extinction. Lists were created for fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, and birds. "Fully Protected species may not be taken or possessed at any time and no licenses or permits may be issued for their take except for collecting these species for necessary scientific research and relocation of the bird species for the protection of livestock" (California's Plants and Animals 2003). The official California listing of Endangered and Threatened animals is contained in the California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 670.5. The official federal listing is published in the Federal Register, 50 CFR 17.11.

The California Endangered Species Act of 1970 created the categories of "Endangered" and "Rare." The California Endangered Species Act of 1984 then created the categories of "Endangered" and "Threatened." On January 1, 1985, all animal species previously designated as "Rare" were reclassified as "Threatened." Animals that are candidates for state listing, as well as animals proposed for federal listing, are also included on this list. A state candidate species is one that the Fish and Game Commission has formally noticed as being under review by the Department for addition to the state list; a federal proposed species is one for which a proposed regulation has been published in the Federal Register.

The following table lists the Fully Protected species in the State of California as of May 2003.

Table 1. Fully Protected Species in the State of California (as of May 2003)

Amphibians: Santa Cruz long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum); limestone salamander (Hydromantes brunus); black toad (Bufo exsul)

Reptiles: blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila); San Francisco garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia)

Birds: American peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum); brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis); California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus); California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus); California condor (Gymnogyps californianus); California least tern (Sterna antillarum browni); golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos); greater sandhill crane (Grus canadensis tabida); light-footed clapper rail (Rallus longirostris levipes); southern bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus); trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator); white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus); Yuma clapper rail (Rallus longirostris yumanensis)

Mammals: Morro Bay kangaroo rat (Dipodomys heermanni morroensis); bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis, except Nelson bighorn sheep in the area described in subdivision (b) of Section 4902 of the Fish and Game Code); northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris); Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi); ring-tailed cat (Bassariscus astutus); Pacific right whale (Balaena glacialis); salt-marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris); southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis); wolverine (Gulo gulo)

A complete listing of all endangered and threatened animal species in the State of California is available from the State of California Wildlife and Habitat Data Analysis Branch.

Conclusion

The research showed that southern California hosts a wide range of species, many of them endemic to the region and many of them rare and endangered. The San Gabriel Mountains in particular represent a highly biodiverse region whose numerous species face threats from human encroachment on their habitats as well as from natural hazards — including the wildfires that have plagued the region in recent years — that are especially devastating to small, isolated animal populations. Historically, the USFWS has refused to emergency-list highly endangered species despite a strong congressional mandate that the Service should use this provision more frequently and more aggressively to help the endangered species that the agency is so clearly mandated to protect.

Works Cited

Adams, Jonathan S., Lynn S. Kutner, and Bruce A. Stein, eds. Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Baur, Donald C., and Karen L. Donovan. "The No Surprises Policy: Contracts 101 Meets the Endangered Species Act." Environmental Law 27(3): 767–90.

California's Plants and Animals. November 24, 2003. Habitat Conservation Planning Branch, California Department of Fish and Game.

Dasmann, Raymond F. "Habitat Conservation." In Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Havert, Bill, Gary Gray, and Sue Adams. Nature Guide to the Mountains of Southern California by Car & Foot. Baldwin Park, CA: Gem Guide Books, 1996.

Hutchins, Helen V. "Southern California: The Auto Industry's Silhouette Valley." Automotive News 75(5933): 4D-Z, June 4, 2001.

Lieben, Ivan J. "Political Influences on USFWS Listing Decisions under the ESA: Time to Rethink Priorities." Environmental Law 27(4): 1323–71, 1997.

"San Gabriel Mountains." In Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

"Special Places We Should Protect." Wilderness, Winter 2003/2004: 32.

Sullivan-Brennan, Deborah. "A Great Place to Visit." Wilderness, Winter 2003/2004: 56.

Thompson, Dale B. "Valuing the Environment: Courts' Struggles with Natural Resource Damages." Environmental Law 32(1): 57, 2002.

Wake, D. B. "A New Species of Batrachoseps (Amphibia: Plethodontidae) from the San Gabriel Mountains, Southern California." Los Angeles County Museum Contributions in Science 463: 1–12, 1996.

Youth, Howard. "The Plight of Birds: Today, More Than a Thousand Species of Birds Face Extinction." World Watch 15(3): 18, May 2002.

Appendix A: State and Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California (as of April 2004)

Source: California's Plants and Animals, Habitat Conservation Planning Branch, California Department of Fish and Game, November 24, 2003.

The following is a list of animals found within California or off the coast of the state that have been classified as Endangered or Threatened by the California Fish and Game Commission (state list) or by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior or the U.S. Secretary of Commerce (federal list).

Code Designations and Totals as of April 2004:

SE = State-listed as Endangered: 47
ST = State-listed as Threatened: 32
SR = State-listed as Rare (old designation; all animals reclassified to Threatened)
FE = Federally listed as Endangered (20.6% of all U.S. listed endangered animals as of 12/31/03): 81
FT = Federally listed as Threatened (30.5% of all U.S. listed threatened animals as of 12/31/03): 39
SCE = State candidate (Endangered)
SCT = State candidate (Threatened)
FPE = Federally proposed (Endangered)
FPT = Federally proposed (Threatened)
FPD = Federally proposed (Delisting)

Total number of animals listed (includes subspecies and population segments): 149
Number of animals state-listed only: 27
Number of animals federally listed only: 72
Number of animals listed under both state and federal acts: 50