Marines urged to protect more land

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 8, 2007 9:03 PM PST ∞

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Marines are doing a good job managing the last large swath of unspoiled open space on Southern California's coast, but they should aim to do better, an environmental leader said Thursday.

Addressing a conservation conference at Camp Pendleton, Dan Silver, executive director for the Endangered Habitats League, urged the Marines to take steps to reduce their footprint on the 125,000-acre base.

"Thank goodness the Marines did acquire this property in 1942," Silver said, saying the coast otherwise would be one solid urban wall from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Camp Pendleton is home to 18 endangered species, officials said. In several cases, the species are faring better there than anywhere else. And the populations of two birds ---- the least Bell's vireo and California least tern ---- have rebounded so much their conditions could be upgraded.

Still, Silver said, there is potential to do more.

"In the siting of new facilities and in the replacement of old ones, maybe there is an opportunity to consolidate and to shrink the human envelope," he said.

Silver made the remark during a conference session on ecosystem management.

The remark triggered a comment from Lt. Col. Bruce Soderberg, who stressed that conservation must be balanced against the base's primary mission to train Marines.

"There's also a war going on," he said.

Pendleton officials are also trying to come up with an acceptable way to clean up the base's leaky Las Pulgas landfill. Just a few days ago, the Marines' latest proposed fix was rejected by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board as inadequate.

Military officials said Thursday's conference, dubbed the Marine Corps Installations West Conservation Expo 2007, was organized by Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commanding general for the West Coast family of Marine bases. It was Pendleton's first such conference, and one that could become an annual event.

"A country worth defending is a country worth preserving," Lehnert told the audience as he opened the conference. "If we don't preserve this country, if we don't keep it the jewel that it is, we will be doing a disservice to all those people who are making incredible sacrifices (fighting overseas)."

The all-day conference brought together 400 contractors, government workers, academics and environmentalists. Officials said the goal was to share ideas on how the military can better protect habitat under its care, and to explain to contractors Pendleton's approach to conservation.

"A lot of folks don't know the culture of the Marine Corps, and that can cause a lot of problems," said Jay Cary, a geographic information systems analyst for CH2M HILL in Santa Ana. The Denver-based engineering and construction consulting firm, which employs 20,000 worldwide, sent three workers to the conference.

Jim Bartel, field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Carlsbad, said the base and the region overall have done a reasonable job, at least in recent years, of targeting land for conservation. Several regional habitat-preserve plans have been adopted in San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties.

But now, Bartel said, the region must focus on piecing those preserves together and monitoring the health of plants and animals they aim to protect.

As officials assemble preserves, they should remember to open some to the public, said one conference participant, during a question-and-answer period.

"To the greatest extent possible, we need to allow passive recreational use of these areas so that people will feel connected to them," said Dawn Lawson, a natural resource specialist for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest in San Diego.

Bill Berry, head of Camp Pendleton's Division of Resource Management and a Temecula resident, said the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve near Murrieta is a good example of a place that connects with the public. With about half of Santa Rosa's oak woodlands and grasslands open, many in Southwest Riverside County ---- including his family ---- have come to appreciate nature in a deeper way.

Also as the preserves are being assembled, officials should be mindful of the potential impacts of climate change, said Mark Rockwell, California field representative for the Endangered Species Coalition.

Rockwell said that, as the planet warms, animals will need to move to higher elevations and farther north to survive. And he said regional habitat preservation plans need to plan for that migration.

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