Having just released an environmental impact report for Tejon Ranch's habitat conservation plan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes avian aficionados of the endangered condor can rest easy, reports the LA Times. (The proposal of Tejon Ranch, a superdevelopment of luxury homes, hotels and golf courses on 2,600 acres 60 miles north of Los Angeles, has worried condo experts, who have accused the environmentalist consulting for the developer of "selling the condor down the river.") Yet despite the Times' cheery headline on the article, environmentalists say the ranch's plan is basically a legal loophole to limit developer's liability "if any member of 26 sensitive species is injured or killed because of the ranch's business activities on the property." Apparently, just about everyone (developers, environmentalists and federal authorities) was surprised by the release of the EIR, since most had been led to believe the new administration wanted more time to review the reports sheparded by the Bush administration. According to the paper, the development "would affect about 8% of the federally designated critical condor habitat in the 142,000-acre area covered by the plan." [LA Times]
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