Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

MERCED – Congressman Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced), along with twelve of his colleagues from throughout California’s Central Valley, wrote to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to express their ongoing concerns regarding the 1.7 million acres that the Service has proposed be designated as critical habitat for 15 wetland animals and plants listed as threatened and endangered.

Cardoza was successful in convincing the Service to re-open its public comment period earlier this month. The March 28 letter is the second valley-wide response that Cardoza has organized, the first having been in January of this year.

Representative Cardoza also urged all landowners to provide specific information as to whether or not the proposal should apply to specified parcels of land in certain regions. This additional period of public comment offered individual landowners and interested citizens an opportunity to provide the Service with detailed information as to whether their land contains the “primary constituent elements” (vernal pools, endangered or threatened species) of critical habitat.