We're running out of open space

By:Allison Rolfe - Commentary | Thursday, August 14, 2003 6:53 AM PDT ∞

Last week the California Department of Fish and Game closed to the most public of the Calavera Highlands mitigation bank in Carlsbad. The city of Carlsbad has more than $90 million in reserve, and it is closing open space to the public.

Does it make sense that land partially acquired and fully managed by public money is closed to the people who are paying for it? Although counterintuitive, we believe that in this case it does, and that there is an important lesson in this.

Under the Endangered Species Act and the California Environmental Quality Act, landowners who develop on sensitive land must mitigate the destruction of imperiled species and habitat by setting aside land somewhere else. Mitigation is a last resort to provide for the survival and recovery of endangered and threatened species and habitat. A mitigation bank is land set aside before development occurs, to be sold off as mitigation as development takes place.

When used as the primary method to conserve open space in a city, there can be significant problems with this approach, as exemplified by the Calavera Highlands mitigation area. While other North County cities have several banks with hundreds of acres of land each, this is the only one in Carlsbad. This mitigation bank is surrounded by land scheduled for development. The surrounding land has provided recreation for local residents. But as the 15 projects planned for the area move forward, the usable open space will grow scarce. Each new development brings new residents who want recreation and open space, so more people end up competing for less land.

It is not surprising that conflicts have increased between legal obligations of conservation and a desire for land for public recreation. Mistakenly, the city thought it could set aside the minimum land for conservation that the law required and still have unlimited public use. The closure of Calavera Highlands makes it clear that this approach will not work. Development-driven conservation alone, whether on a project-by-project basis or done regionally, does not take care of a community's need for open space.

Elected officials must plan for open space and not treat mitigation land as community parkland. The City Council should start by using some of its $90 million in reserve funds to acquire open space land now while it is still available and affordable.

With increasing pressure to use open space, it is increasingly important to manage the land. The council manages its open space so that public recreation does not lead to its destruction. Enforcement of laws such as those that restrict off-road motorized vehicles would help address the problem.

We cannot leave it all to our elected officials. The public who uses the open space must be responsible and accountable. We should act as stewards of the land that remains and take the first step by sticking to designated trails, belling cats and leashing dogs and picking up our own trash.

Open space can be something we look at through a fence or it can continue to be an integral part of our quality of life ---- land that serves the plants, animals and people of North County.

Allison Rolfe is coordinator of the North County Open Space Coalition.

North County Open Space Coalition

Allison Rolfe Policy Director San Diego BayKeeper 2924 Emerson St., Suite 220 San Diego, CA 92106 www.sdbaykeeper.org ----- Letter to the Editor Rev Draft 8/5/03

on behalf of the following members of the North County Open Space Coalition: Buenavista Audubon Society California Native Plant society, San Diego Chapter Friends of Hedionda Creek National Wildlife Federation Preserve Calavera San Diego BayKeeper San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter, Coastal Committee