In late 1999 Riverside County became concerned that a beaver colony was taking trees at their Lake Skinner Reservoir, which was part of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The Department of Fish and Game was consulted and issued a depredation permit. They reported that this was necessary because destruction of habitat would negatively impact two songbirds on the Endangered Species List that were known to breed in the area. (The Bell’s Vireo & Southwestern Willow Flycatcher.)
A group of concerned locals (Friends of Lake Skinner) objected and sued the Department of Fish and Game, Riverside County Conservation Agency and the Metropolitan Water District, demanding that an Environmental Impact Report be obtained before the beavers were removed. They argued that under the regulations of the California Environmental Qualities Act an EIR was necessary. They lost this original suit and the matter was subsequently taken to appeal.
In December of 2000 the Fourth Appellate District overturned the original decision and ruled for the plaintiffs, stating that the decision to remove the beavers from the area was “discretionary” rather than “ministerial” and that because of this, there was a indeed a need for an Environmental Impact Report to meet the standards of CEQA. The matter was found for the plaintiffs and their entire costs were ordered to be paid by the defendants.
This lengthy proceeding lasted more than two years, involving three agencies and expensive expert testimony on both sides. This, ultimately, cost the defendants a great deal of money and public goodwill. A journal article was later developed regarding this action and was recently published in the Journal of Environmental Management 2007[i]. A copy of the remittitur regarding the Appellate Decision can be read on the Riverside Open Access website. It is worth noting that the attorney who represented Friends of Lake Skinner has already written our mayor and been in regular contact with Worth a Dam.
First rule of politics: Choose your battles.
Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.
[i] Langcore, T. , Rich, C. & Müller-Schwarze, D. (2006) Management by Assertion: Beavers and Songbirds t Lake Skinner (Riverside County, California) Environmental Management Vol 39 (4).
