The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated approximately 740,000 acres in 30 California counties and one Oregon county as critical habitat for 15 wetland animals and plants listed as threatened or endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act.
The final designation represents a reduction in acreage from the approximately 1.7 million acres the Service proposed as critical habitat in September 2002. The reduction is due to:
Refined mapping techniques, which resulted in a more accurate assessment of habitat lands compared to developed agricultural or urban lands;
Exclusions of Tribal and military lands, lands under Habitat Conservation Plans, National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries, and State ecological lands and wildlife management areas;
Clarified and updated biological information; and
The exclusion of all lands in Butte, Madera, Merced, Sacramento and Solano counties in California due to the potential economic effect of critical-habitat designation in those areas.
Under Section 4(b)2 of the Endangered Species Act, the Secretary of Interior has the discretion to exclude areas from critical habitat if the economic costs outweigh the benefits.
The exclusion of lands in the five counties is not fully reflected in today
