Welcome Words on the Gnatcatcher : * Babbitt’s Assurance of U.S. Role Brings Sighs of Relief

It would have been hard to imagine even a few years ago that the developers and environmentalists who were at an impasse over a songbird and plans for new roads and houses in Orange County would come to compromise.

And it would have seemed even more unlikely that a Cabinet-level official from Washington would visit the battlefield with personal assurances that the federal government stood ready to make the agreement work.

How times change. When the latter happened earlier this month--Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt arrived to personally assure the restive parties about his commitment to an experiment for protecting the nesting grounds of the California gnatcatcher--the region had reason to breathe a sigh of relief.

At the outset, in designating the gnatcatcher a threatened species, Babbitt lent critical federal support to a habitat set-aside plan already being worked out with the leadership of Gov. Pete Wilson’s Administration in California. The plan allows developers to build on some land as long as they sign on to the program. But without Babbitt’s involvement, there has been some uncertainty about whether it would work. Even with it, all is not cast in stone.

Still, something more than the mere word of the federal government was essential during this interval period. Special rules needed for the gnatcatcher will not be adopted until September, and until that time, all projects are subject still to review by federal biologists. Nervous parties to the deal on both sides have been alarmed that the habitat preservation project has been moving too slowly, and that there isn’t enough money or attention being given to the program.

This concern has been justified to a point. While the will has been there, the way--money and concrete agreements--has been slow in coming. Babbitt’s visit was something of a pleasant surprise, giving evidence of President Clinton’s interest in the set-aside program. And that ought to signal that this local issue is being watched as a national model for resolving serious differences between builders and environmentalists.

The secretary correctly surmised that the stakes of failure are very high indeed. Babbitt was acutely mindful of the long antagonism that resulted in the Pacific Northwest over the spotted owl.

But more than lending moral support, the secretary told his group that he would seek $1 million in Interior Department funds and a matching $1 million in wildlife foundation grants to assist local governments in planning the permanent preserves. And it was good that he agreed to lean on the Legislature to set aside $800,000 that the governor’s Resources Agency wants for the program.

But rather than just telling all parties what they wanted to hear, Babbitt did not hesitate to advise opponents of the San Joaquin Hills tollway that his Fish and Wildlife Service staff stood by its earlier decision to allow the tollway to be built because it posed no “jeopardy” to the gnatcatcher.

So while not everybody came away happy, each person certainly knew where things stood. At this critical time in the set-aside program, that’s important.