Editorial: Conservation data missing or lost

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005 | 8:51 a.m.

When the desert tortoise was placed on the federal Endangered Species List in 1989, it threatened to halt development in the Las Vegas Valley. But local and federal officials created the Clark County Desert Conservation Program that protected the tortoise and allowed developers to bypass the complicated U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service permit process associated with endangered species habitat.

Developers could pay $550 for each acre they developed without having to obtain a special permit for every subdivision, shopping center, casino and other such projects. The fees paid for conservation efforts throughout the county.

The program, which was expanded in 1999 to include 78 other endangered animals and plants, became mandatory in 2001.

But an investigation by the Las Vegas Sun, published Sunday, shows that a lack of accountability and conflicts of interest could threaten the program's future, including the futures of the plants and animals it seeks to protect. And without the program, the conventional permit process would slow development to a crawl.

The Sun reports that the Desert Conservation Program has spent more than $42 million on projects that have been poorly documented and paid for research that has been deemed unnecessary or too meager to provide useful information.

Urban Wildlands, a California-based group, has even filed a petition with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to halt development that the group says is stripping critical habitat from the endangered Mount Charleston blue butterfly -- habitat they say the conservation program failed to protect.

The Sun's investigation shows research projects have been finished two and three years late, and study results have not always been submitted for county review. One former program official said program-funded researchers even refused to provide critical geographical survey information when asked.

Also, the Sun reports, the program's Implementation and Monitoring Committee, which chooses the projects to receive grants, is composed of representatives from the same agencies that are requesting project funding. Critics say the committee may have violated open meeting laws because decisions on how to spend public money were made in private by consensus rather than in public and by formal vote.

The program's new director, Marci Henson, is trying to locate the lost or missing data. She also has sought the district attorney's assistance in examining the selection committee's processes. They are necessary first steps in what should be a comprehensive review of this important program.

We also believe the conflicts of interest in choosing projects must be removed, and those that receive funding must be held accountable and monitored more closely. This program, if properly administered, can effectively balance development and endangered species protection.