Wildlife funds to be delayed

Thursday, May 11, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

About $30 million in federally funded wildlife conservation projects have been delayed by Clark County officials who say they need more time to study the projects.

The delay of at least three months will jeopardize efforts to conserve endangered, threatened and rare species during their active seasons, critics warn.

The wildlife program is administered by Clark County's Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Program.

County officials blame the delay on federal-funding snafus, while at least one researcher blames the county.

"County administration is not competent to execute its responsibilities," said Ron Marlow, a UNR biologist who is waiting for millions of dollars to study the desert tortoise.

Marlow said a host of private and public agencies is ready to move forward with habitat conservation programs but have been stifled by the county.

"It is only the county administration that is falling down. There were some delays in getting the money there," Marlow said.

"For months we've known that there would be a delay, and we've known what the substance of the contracts would be for almost a year."

But county inaction, he said, has exacerbated the funding delays.

Marci Henson, Clark County conservation program administrator, said the county needs the extra time to review 58 contracts.

She said most of the delay is because of the federal government, which funds the research from sale of federal land around Las Vegas. This is the sixth year of federal funding for local conservation programs through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.

"There was a completely unprecedented delay in approval from the secretary (Interior Secretary Gale Norton) for the Round 6 funding," Henson said.

Norton signed the approval letter releasing the $30 million for the projects Feb. 7. Formal approval from the Bureau of Land Management came to the county March 24.

Biologist Marlow said Clark County has a stake in the success of the conservation program, which sprang from a deal struck among local governments eager to allow development, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which must protect rare species that are under increasing pressure from such development.

The deal gave the county and cities 30 years to develop 140,000 acres.

Developers pay $5.50 an acre into the habitat plan's fund. And the habitat plan also benefits from the sale of federal lands. In return, homes, businesses, streets and sewers can continue to be built into the desert. Without the habitat conservation plan, that work would slow to a crawl - if not stagger to a stop. Instead of regional permits for developers from Fish and Wildlife, each new construction project on virgin desert would need a new permit from the federal government.

Marlow says the failure to fund the projects in a timely manner jeopardizes the habitat plan: "There is a great deal at stake for everybody - developers, those concerned with conservation of our natural resources and especially the species covered by the plan." Among the species covered are the Relict leopard frog, desert tortoise, Mount Charleston blue butterfly, the kit fox and the peregrine falcon.

Federal officials also put the delay in funding on the shoulders of county management. Juan Palma, BLM field manager, says Clark County could have started funding the projects any time after Norton signed the release letter Feb. 7.

Palma says some projects in other parts of the state, also funded by the same federal land sales, are already under way, including a project at Lake Tahoe. The process is for local governments to spend the money, then get reimbursed from the federal funds.

"They can begin to expend that at any time," he says.

Like other observers, Palma says Clark County's delay resulted from changes instituted after allegations of poor management of the conservation plan.

Problems included a lack of accountability for researchers, never-ending projects, conflict of interest charges and incomplete or missing research data.

Palma said the goal of the county - to improve accountability and results - is worthwhile, despite problems involving the fund.

Bob Williams, state director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, acknowledges the delay in federal approval, but agrees the county also is delaying the process. Williams' agency doesn't approve the funding or project contracts, but is charged with keeping rare species from disappearing altogether.

"It's just a really, really unfortunate situation," he says. "With the researchers and biologists in the agencies, there's a lot of frustration out there.

"I'm not casting huge blame. I just think there should be an opportunity to sit down and streamline this process but still have the accountability," he said.

"We are missing windows of opportunity for some of these species, such as the Mount Charleston butterfly. If you miss the monitoring data because the money's not there, that is a concern. We have to improve the process."

Henson finds some room for agreement: "I think that every process can use improvement. It's a matter of ensuring accountability and, that at the end of the day, projects are completed in a responsible manner. On that point, Bob and I completely agree."

Marlow, however, warns that the process is impeding the goal:

"My job as a scientist is to run the experiment that is the Multi-Species Habitat Conservation plan. The experiment seems to be falling apart at the level that someone is pushing paper around. That is unacceptable given the gravity of the circumstance."