External Affairs Program

Valley Workshops Next Week on Federal Proposal to Designate Critical Habitat for Vernal Pool Species

October 9, 2002

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Contact: Jim Nickles 916/414-6572, 916/501-6885 (cell)

VALLEY WORKSHOPS NEXT WEEK ON FEDERAL PROPOSAL TO DESIGNATE CRITICAL HABITAT FOR VERNAL POOL SPECIES

Workshop sessions scheduled Wednesday and Thursday in Fresno and Sacramento
Public hearing in Sacramento on Oct. 24

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct public workshops Oct. 16 in Fresno and Oct. 17 in Sacramento on a proposal to designate approximately 1.7 million acres in California and southern Oregon as critical habitat for 15 species of vernal pool plants and animals.

The main threat to these species is loss of habitat, especially due to residential or commercial development and agricultural land conversions. Critical habitat designation does not impose restrictions on private lands, unless a project involves federal funds, permits or activities.

In the San Joaquin Valley, the proposed critical habitat encompasses 732,782 acres in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties. In the Sacramento area, the proposal covers 153,890 acres in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties.

In Fresno, the workshop will be at the LaRyan Event Center, 4277 N. West Ave. In Sacramento, the workshop will be at the Radisson Hotel, 500 Leisure Lane.

Two sessions are scheduled at each workshop – from 1 to 3 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. The informal informational events will provide an opportunity for people in each region to hear from Service officials and ask questions about the proposed critical-habitat designation. Oral comments on the proposal will not be taken, but people can submit written comments. A 60-day comment period on the proposal closes Nov. 24.

A public hearing for providing official comments is scheduled for Oct. 24 in Sacramento, also from 1 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Radisson. Other hearings will be in San Luis Obispo, Ca., on Oct. 22 and Medford, Ore., on Oct. 24. A schedule of workshops and hearings, as well as a map and other information, can be found at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office's Web site at http://sacramento.ca.gov.

The 15 species – all listed as threatened or endangered – include four types of freshwater shrimp and 11 native plants. All are uniquely adapted to seasonally flooded wetlands known as vernal pools that are found on soils with an impermeable layer such as hardpan, claypan, or volcanic basalt. The impermeable layer allows the pools to fill with water during the winter rains. In the spring, wildflowers grow in colorful circles following the receding shoreline of the pools. By early summer, the water has evaporated and the pools appear brown and barren.

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