According to agency spokesman Hugh Vickery, the Act requires that economic impact of critical habitat be examined only beyond those costs imposed by the original species designation. In most cases, that impact is zero, Vickery says, because in the agency's opinion no additional consultation time is spent on winning development approvals after a species designation is declared. People can make the point that there is a perception issue if they wake up in the morning and see actual lines drawn on a map. The question is, does any more consultation have to take place with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the answer in most cases is no. The California Gnatcatcher was given 513,000 acres of protected habitat in five southern California counties.
Scientists studying DNA, however, dispute the fact that the bird ever existed as a separate species.
In addition to a movement on the legislative front, some home building groups are also fighting critical habitat designations in court. In the case of the California Gnatcatcher, a coastal bird that was listed as endangered several years ago, the Southern California BIA has filed suit in U.S. District court over the bad science that went into both the species designation and the resulting habitat protection. In October, scientists studying DNA evidence found that the California Gnatcatcher never existed as its own species. Us Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information , A Division of Reed Elsevier, Inc.