Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

The Service will now designate 740,000 acres as critical seasonal wetland habitat for vernal pool species instead of the 1.7 million acres that had originally been proposed. In addition, some counties, including Merced, are exempted entirely on economic grounds.

"I’m pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service finally came to its senses," Cardoza said. "The original proposal did not utilize available resource data from counties, nor did it account for the large quantities of vernal pool habitat already protected under conservation easement programs, such as in Eastern Merced County. Most importantly, the original proposal did not consider the economic impacts to agriculture and other landowners, as well at to local governments and to the economy."

Cardoza successfully fought to have the public comment period about the critical habitat proposal extended so farmers, ranchers, and other parties could voice their concerns. He praised those who utilized the extra opportunity to contact the Service. "It clearly paid off," Cardoza said.

Merced County Supervisor Kathleen Crookham agreed. "It proves that if we marshal our forces, it can make a difference," she said. Supervisor Crookham was instrumental in organizing a letter writing campaign to inform the Service of the impacts of its original proposal, which would have designated over 337,500 acres in Merced as critical habitat.

Ultimately, however, Cardoza believes that relying on a prolonged public comment period is not the best solution to critical habitat reform, and that Valley agriculture and the economy will continue to be placed at risk.

As a result, in July, he introduced the Critical Habitat Reform Act. The bill, which has bipartisan support, would streamline the Service’s procedures by requiring the Service to establish a recovery plan for a species at the same time it designates its critical habitat. Currently, the Service designates critical habitat before developing a recovery plan, leading to the hasty, and sometimes unreasonable, determination of land necessary for a species’ survival.

"We can’t keep waiting for Fish & Wildlife officials to make their decisions and then attempt to correct them afterwards," Cardoza said. "It’s time we solve this problem permanently and bring some sense to a very important process by reforming it at its core."