Contacts
Rachel F. Levin 612-713-5311
Shane Wolfe 202-208-6416
SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Steve Griles joined U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Ohio, Ashtabula Area
City School District Superintendent William Licate and other community members
in Saybrook Township, Ohio, today to recognize the partnership that allowed
construction of the new Lakeside High School to commence near an endangered
bat colony.
Under an agreement with the Department of the Interior’s
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Ashtabula Area City School District revised its construction plans to avoid
affecting the habitat of an endangered and pregnant Indiana bat, discovered
in June near the site of the soon-to-be-constructed school.
“ This agreement exemplifies what Interior Secretary
Gale Norton calls her ‘4 C’s’ – communication, consultation
and cooperation, all in the service of conservation,” Griles said. “And
it proves that open discussion and flexibility can in the end be much more
effective than unyielding regulation.”
Griles thanked Rep. LaTourette, Superintendent Licate, the
Buffalo District of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Fish and Wildlife Service
staff from the Reynoldsburg, Ohio, field office for their work in brokering
the agreement.
“ I am pleased to be able to stand up here today and
say that through open communication, flexibility, understanding and a determination
to work together, we were able to achieve a winning and timely resolution
for everyone involved,” Griles said.
“I greatly appreciate the attention that Deputy Secretary
Griles gave to this important matter,” said Rep. LaTourette. “He
deserves great credit for this quick resolution. I am pleased, and the community
is pleased, that the bat habitat will be protected and Lakeside High School
can open on time.”
Construction of the $44 million Lakeside complex – which
will replace two existing schools dating back to 1912 and 1914 – was
temporarily delayed as the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers
and the District discussed ways to avoid and minimize the impact on the bat
and its habitat.
As a result of the discussions, the school district agreed
to construct two softball diamonds and a soccer field at an alternate location
on the site and reconfigure the placement of two baseball fields and a practice
field to avoid damaging potential bat habitat. The compromise plan also preserves
space for a future middle school, which was included as part of the master
plan for the Lakeside campus.
“ Provisions of the Endangered Species Act are in place
expressly to provide a forum for working together through situations just
like this one,” Griles said. “Through an informal discussion
process, we worked out a solution that will not only allow construction of
the school and stadium to go forward, but will actually disturb far fewer
wetlands than originally planned.”
The compromise ensures that the Lakeside campus will include
all of the facilities the school district wanted, construction will begin
this summer and the Indiana bat and its habitat are protected in perpetuity
near the Lakeside site.
“ I would add a fifth ‘C’ to the ‘4
C’s’ that Deputy Secretary Griles mentioned,” said Dr.
William Licate, superintendent of Ashtabula Area City School District. “The
fifth C would be compromise, which is how things get done in a democratic
society. I appreciate the fact that Deputy Secretary Griles and Congressman
LaTourette helped us work together to reach a resolution that benefited the
bats, the kids and the whole community.”
During the negotiation process, the school district agreed
to a permanent conservation easement on 55.2 acres of current and future
Indiana bat habitat on the school site. The school district will even enhance
habitat for the bat by creating suitable roost trees.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the small Indiana
bat as endangered in 1967. Populations have declined by nearly 60 percent
since then as a result of habitat loss, human disturbance and pesticides.
Only eight maternity colonies—large congregations of females and vulnerable
young bats—have been found in Ohio, including the one near the Lakeside
site.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands,
and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes
hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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