Proposal to Protect Rare Bird in Works

By Matt Hildner, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

Jan. 17–ALAMOSA — The draft of a habitat conservation plan that would protect an endangered bird found in the San Luis Valley may still be six months away, said a consultant with the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.

The Rio Grande Water Conservation District and ERO Resources have been working since 2005 on the plan, which aims to protect the Southwestern willow flycatcher. The plan would allow agricultural producers to continue their traditional practices without provoking penalties under the Endangered Species Act.

The bird, which makes its home along river corridors in the San Luis Valley and six other Southwestern states, was designated an endangered species by the federal government in 1995.

Bill Mangle a consultant with ERO Resources, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior raised concerns with the plan last spring, focusing on the lack of a legal link between the applicants for the plan and the beneficiaries on the ground.

He said organizers of the plan may find a way around that problem by working with counties in the valley to create a land-use ordinance similar to weed ordinances, which acknowledge existing laws and rules, but do not represent a new regulation.

“That’s a very important distinction,” he said.

David Robbins, the district’s attorney, said the ordinances would not result in significant burdens on county land-use staffs in regulating new development.

“We’re not proposing that the land-use administrator have a major enforcement action,” he said. “What he has is an obligation to ensure that the Fish and Wildlife Service is informed. He can do that by saying, ‘I want a copy of your letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service, telling them what you intend to do.’ “

Robbins and Mangle requested help from the district’s board of directors in reaching out to the county commissioners to talk about the ordinance proposals.

Robbins said the conservation plan, while protecting agricultural practices, would not cover land development or highway construction. All land uses outside the conservation plan would be directed to the Fish and Wildlife Service for consideration.

He said the reason the plan may have been delayed is that the district was asking to protect existing practices instead of a new land use.

“Normally people come in and want to do a habitat conservation plan because they want to change the land use forms, for example, put in a golf course or build a subdivision and tear up a bunch of critical habitat,” he said.

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