Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Efforts to preserve the threatened California tiger salamander while leaving open the possibility of development within its main habitat won the endorsement Tuesday of the Santa Rosa City Council.
By unanimous vote, the council said it would send a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in support of the Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy that would, among other things, create land banks for the salamander and make property available for housing.
The letter comes as the Fish and Wildlife Service goes to federal court Thursday in San Francisco over its move to downgrade the salamander's status from endangered to threatened.
Judge William Alsup hears arguments at 1:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court.
Advocates from the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity want endangered status restored, and have named Santa Rosa and Sonoma County in a suit against Fish and Wildlife officials.
Windsor Town Manager Matthew Mullan objected to Santa Rosa's letter, saying local agencies and landowners have not had a chance to review it.
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