Eagle nest closure on hold

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Tuesday, February 6, 2007 10:21 PM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY -- Federal officials have shelved a proposed closure of three golden eagle nesting areas in the San Diego County backcountry that are popular with rock climbers after receiving more than 100 comments about the plan.

"There's been a lot of interest in the public," Joan Wynn, a Cleveland National Forest spokeswoman, said in an interview Tuesday. "We want to make sure that we listen to what the public has to say and give them time to provide additional information."

Consequently, after holding a formal public-comment period in January, Wynn said, the U.S. Forest Service intends within a few weeks to open another 30-day window for submitting ideas through letters, faxes and e-mails.

Federal officials also have ruled out the possibility that the first such closure could take effect sometime this spring, Wynn said. Now, she said, no closure will occur until at least December.

Rock climbers welcomed the opportunity to provide more comments, while eagle advocates expressed concern about the delay.

"It's no good for this year because right now is the critical time," said Tom Stephan of Ramona, acting president of the California Raptor Advancement Group. "Right now is when they are setting up housekeeping and laying the first eggs."

Golden eagles are year-round residents in San Diego County. But over the last century, their numbers have dwindled from an estimated 108 pairs to 53, largely because of human disturbance, Wynn said. The local prairie falcon population has declined sharply as well.

To halt the decline, forest officials last month proposed a seasonal closure of three prime nesting areas -- Eagle Peak and Rock Mountain near Ramona and Corte Madera Mountain near Alpine -- to backcountry recreation. The closures would take effect every December to May, the period when eagles and falcons raise their young.

In each of the areas, the birds have taken advantage of steep cliffs and built nests on lofty shelves above the surrounding valleys. But the areas also happen to be popular with rope-tethered rock climbers.

"They can climb all they want once the birds are done nesting," said Stephan, who supports the proposal as a strategy for encouraging eagles not to abandon their nests. "Just give them a break. That's not too much to ask."

Randy Leavitt, a climber from San Diego, said two of the three areas -- Eagle Peak and Corte Madera -- rank among the county's top three climbing spots.

"The most popular is El Cajon Mountain (near El Capitan Reservoir)," Leavitt said. "El Cajon Mountain, Eagle Peak and Corte Madedra Mountain all share the same quality, in that they are large cliffs that face south."

That sun-drenched exposure means the rocks are too hot to scale in summer and fall, he said, which means that an annual winter-spring closure would effectively close Eagle Peak and Corte Madera to most, if not all, climbing.

"You can't hold onto hot, scalding rock," Leavitt said.

If the proposed closure effectively shuts down climbing, so be it, Stephan said.

"Good," he said. "They (the eagles) have been nesting there for hundreds and thousands of years."

Stephan maintains rock climbing is the No. 1 threat to nesting eagles and falcons and said climbers have destroyed several nests around the county.

"It's growing in popularity," he said of the hobby. "Every year there are more and more people climbing. And that means more impact. ... It's just getting to be a zoo out there."

Climbers sharply dispute the claim they have destroyed nests.

"We don't have an adversarial relationship with the environment, " Leavitt said. "We are a pretty sensitive user group."

It is in climbers' interest to protect the birds, as nature is a huge part of the lure of scaling sheer rock walls, he said.

"We love to see the wildlife around the cliffs," said Leavitt. "Climbers have a respect for that. If we have these things taken away from us, we'll be left with just indoor climbing gyms."

Leavitt added that it's not like climbers can just pack up and head to dozens of other nearby mountains.

"There's a lot of rock out there in San Diego County, but we don't have that much that's good for climbing," he said.

-- Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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