Posted on 09/21/2002 10:00:33 PM PDT by chance33_98
Flies hinder cleanup efforts HABITAT: An Inland city is trying to remove blight without pestering endangered inhabitants.
09/21/2002
By ELLEN BRAUNSTEIN THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
COLTON - A Colton maintenance worker was removing trash from a roadside sand pit when he reportedly was accosted by a man in a pith helmet.
"Don't touch that mattress!" the man said. "It might disturb the sand."
The sandy soils in Colton are suspected breeding grounds for the federally protected Delhi Sands flower-loving fly. The city worker likely ran into a contract surveyor checking a proposed building site for the presence of the endangered fly, said City Manager Daryl Parrish, repeating a story told to him by city street supervisor Dan Martel.
In 1993, the fly was added to the list of species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. Since then, the fly has frustrated numerous development plans in Colton, city officials say, as companies choose to avoid the environmental hassles of locating there.
Peter Phun/ The Press-Enterprise Traffic heads east along Slover Avenue in Colton. Officials say federal rules are hampering their effort to clean up the roadside.
Now, Colton officials say the fly hamstrings efforts to clean up the illegal dumping along a road where the insect is said to breed. Abandoned television sets and sofas, and soiled diapers and tires defile a street south and parallel to Interstate 10. The street cuts through a few hundred acres of suspected fly habitat. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, charged with conserving fragments of remaining Delhi Sands fly habitat, says the city may be overreacting -- the result of feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of conserving habitat in areas that the city wants to develop.
"We understand it can be problematic for the city because they are stuck with an eyesore," said Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife office in Carlsbad. "But it's not a fair characterization to say that Fish and Wildlife impedes every aspect of a city's operation as a result of the fly being listed."
City officials said at Tuesday's City Council meeting that the trash on Slover Avenue between South Pepper and Riverside avenues would keep piling up because they were told that its removal disturbs the fly during its summer breeding season. Parrish said the city will consider adding lighting and cameras to thwart illegal dumping on the property.
"It's frustrating that our community is allowed to deteriorate because the fly is in the area," said Colton Mayor Deirdre Bennett.
Parrish and Martel said that Fish and Wildlife officials scolded them in recent years for altering the sandy areas by bringing in machinery for hauling trash, and tractor blades for scraping sand off the road.
The Santa Ana winds blow sand on Slover, creating a hazard for cars, Martel said. "I've told them there's nothing I can do about their fly. I have to get the road clear."
Hendron said that agency officials never prevented the city from removing trash by hand.
"As long as they are not bringing heavy vehicles onto the sand," she said.
On the contrary, the wildlife conservation agency encourages trash pickup because rubbish damages the fly habitat, Hendron said.
Riverside entomologist Ken Osborne said the trash traps the pupa of the Delhi Sands fly that is buried underneath the sand. When ready to emerge as an adult fly, the pupa burrows to the surface.
"If the ground is covered with refuse, like a big piece of wood, that fly would die. It would be trapped."
None. Nada. Nein. Non. Who knows what insignificant critter can give a cure for cancer?
I do. None. Nada. etc.
Federal Status: Endangered
State Status: None
The first fly to receive protection under the Endangered Species Act, the Delhi Sands Flower-Loving Fly was only recently recognized as endangered. This fly is a nectar feeder as an adult, capable of hovering like a hummingbird as it feeds. The adults are active in August and September during which they feed, mate and lay their eggs. The eggs are laid in the sand. Larvae develop entirely below ground and are probably predaceous.
The Delhi Sands Fly is found only in small parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, at the eastern edge of the Los Angeles Basin, in areas of fine sandy soil, known as Delhi series sands. While formerly widespread, this habitat has been intensively developed in the past century, primarily for agriculture, though more recently for industry and housing. Only an estimated 2-3% of the original habitat remains undeveloped.
The sites where the fly is currently found all lie on private land and are under constant threat of development. The pace of destruction in this area continues to accelerate. Were it not for the 1993 decision to list the Dehli Sands Fly, all habitable areas would probably have been lost already. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently involved in critical negotiations with local governments to protect the remaining areas from disturbance. A habitat conservation plan has been proposed and is currently open for comment. Under this plan eight known or potential sites for the fly would be protected. It would also provide for the establishment of a captive breeding program for the fly.
So development is a threat eh....
Not only that, it's a form of destruction:
The pace of destruction in this area continues to accelerate.
"Destruction" to these people is human beings moving in where flies and garbage used to be. Next thing you know, we're going to have Endangered Garbage.
Now if they just made human sized bug zappers...
Good catch, I missed that one! Destruction to me is when I see trees and weeds taking over a place I could plant corn for the hungry children of ethiopia - do it for the children! (or the liberal creed - do it to the children)
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