By The Stockton Record
October 15, 2008 6:00 AM
SAN ANDREAS - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Oct. 30 will hold a public meeting in San Andreas on its resurrected proposal to designate nearly 4,450 acres of Calaveras County as critical habitat for the California red-legged frog.
The habitat in Calaveras County was proposed for designation in 2005 and then was eliminated in 2006 after protests by property owners and real estate interests. It is just part of 1.8 million acres of potential designated frog habitat that for years has been disputed.
The Fish and Wildlife Service in the past year has been under fire over its decision to sharply scale back the red-legged frog habitat listing, both from a lawsuit by environmental groups and from a federal investigation into science tampering.
The Oct. 30 meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in the Sequoia Room of the Calaveras County CalWORKs Building, 509 E. St. Charles St., San Andreas.
The Calaveras County Farm Bureau requested the public meeting to give county residents a chance to learn about the proposal. Space is limited.
Contact the Department of Agriculture at (209) 754-6504, ext. 3.
The land proposed for designation is generally east of Valley Springs along Young's Creek in an area north of state Highway 26 and south of Paloma Road.
Comments on the frog habitat proposal can be submitted through Nov. 17.
Comments can be posted through the federal rule-making portal, www.regulations.gov; or by mail to Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R8-2008-0089; Division of Policy and directives management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203. Comments for the record cannot be submitted at the Oct. 30 meeting.
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