"San Bernardino, Calif., Airport-Redevelopment Officials Request Habitat Review"

Thursday, May 23, 2002

San Bernardino, Calif., Airport-Redevelopment Officials Request Habitat
Review
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.


SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.--Officials in charge of the redevelopment of the
former Norton Air Force Base requested that parts of the base no longer
be considered critical habitat for the endangered San Bernardino
kangaroo rat.

Leaders of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority on
Wednesday released three letters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The letters asked the service to reevaluate its critical habitat
designation for land south of the airport in light of economic
development, the authority's environmental research and airport safety.

"We don't want to draw a line in the sand, but we also do not want to
roll over and allow major portions of the former base to be excluded
from development," said Robert Christman, president of the airport
authority. In his letter to the service, he listed 21 airport safety
projects that would be affected if the service does not change its
designation.

While airport officials are concerned with the entire 400 acres of
airport property designated as critical habitat, they specifically
requested that 13 acres be removed from the habitat area to expedite
economic development of the base and improvements of the airport.

The 13 acres in question are at the west end of the runway and along
Palm Meadows Drive west of the Palm Meadows Golf Course. Redevelopment
officials say that land is crucial to the future development of the
airport as a cargo center and the creation of a Burlington Northern and
Santa Fe rail yard.

Hillwood, a Texas-based developer, wants to turn the former base into an
industrial park and cargo center that allows tenants to easily move
cargo by air, rail and truck. Dubbed AllianceCalifornia, the project
could generate 6,000 to 8,000 jobs during the next 10 years.

The rail yard is a key component in Hillwood's plans, but the critical
habitat designation around the Palm Meadows Golf Course -- the site of
the proposed rail yard -- would make access to the property more
difficult, airport officials said.

T. Milford Harrison, executive director of the airport authority wrote
the service that its decision"disregards the substantial economic and
public service impact which will occur in the entire Southern California
region by restricting development of this airport."

On April 23, the service designated 33,295 acres in and around San
Bernardino as critical habitat for the nocturnal, seed-eating rodent.
The service believes that the land on the base contains K-rats and the
habitat it needs to survive.

The designation means any development on that land must be approved by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said Jane Hendron, service
spokeswoman. That process can slow development and add costs to the
project as developers explore ways to counteract its environmental
impact.

Mitigation can include buying comparable habitat somewhere else as an
environmental preserve, developers and airport officials say.

Airport officials are upset the areas south of the runway are included
in the designation because they had believed land being transferred from
the Air Force to the Inland Valley Redevelopment Agency would be
excluded from the designation, according to a letter written by Alex
Estrada, senior project and property manager for the former base.

While airport officials lobby to change the status of the land, the
service's review of those requests may slow the project more than if
developers comply with the requirements of the designation, said Douglas
Krofta, Carlsbad branch chief in charge of listings for the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.

"If a project is becoming a reality, the best thing is for them to come
talk to us and see what we may work out," Krofta said.


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