Disturbing land that’s home to the California tiger salamander put the Santa Maria Airport District on the Center for Biological Diversity’s short list for a potential lawsuit.
Despite acknowledging the salamander’s existence by putting together a habitat conservation plan (HCP) on behalf of the endangered species in 2016, center Senior Scientist Tiffany Yap said the district has continued to develop over what little habitat the salamanders have left.
“Within that habitat conservation plan, it also included a proposal to develop on a 32-acre plot. That’s when we got concerned because it looked like there was salamander habitat [there], and we wanted to see if there was a pattern of ground-disturbing activities,” she said. “We were concerned that they illegally and knowingly did ground-disturbing activities in this designated critical habitat.”
After years of gathering information and monitoring the situation, Yap said the center—and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—discovered that the district destroyed at least 400 acres of salamander habitat that was used for nearly two decades, Yap said.
As a result, the Center for Biological Diversity sent the district an intent to sue notice because of its damage—or take—of salamander habitat, which violated the Endangered Species Act, according to the letter submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The airport’s refusal to implement mitigating actions or enter into an adequate HCP indicates that further harm and take of CTS [California tiger salamanders] is reasonably certain to recur. These do not appear to be one-off incidents or accidents. These appear to be intentional actions, carried out by the airport, despite [Fish and Wildlife Service] warnings and objections,” the letter stated.
Yap said the airport district has 60 days to answer, and the center will consider its options once it gets a response. Santa Maria Airport District General Manager Chris Hastert provided a statement regarding the notice, and added that the district’s still evaluating everything in the letter.
“The Santa Maria Public Airport District is committed to the conservation of the California tiger salamander. Although, I can’t discuss details regarding potential litigation, we hope to resolve the issue cooperatively with any agency or group with concerns about airport activities,” Hastert said.
Yap said she’s concerned the district will stay on its current path. In 2009, there were only approximately 60 known breeding ponds in Santa Barbara County, according to a Center for Biological Diversity press release.
When the ground’s dug up for development, it displaces or kills the salamanders, causing the chances of survival to decrease, Yap added.
“They may not be a charismatic animal that people are drawn to, but it’s a creature that people find charming. They keep the soil healthy and they are really important for healthy ecosystems,” she said. “They affect the food web and the carbon cycle, which benefits humans too. There’s multiple reasons I think why it’s important to protect these species that are on the brink of extinction.”
This article appears in Apr 7-14, 2022.