S Butte Environmental Council

CHICO WETLANDS NEED YOUR HELP!

The following BEC Byline was originally published in November 2000 as a call to action. It is included here for archival purposes.

A pristine wetland site in southeast Chico is currently part of a proposal open for public comment through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (contact information below). The 347-acre project proposes to fill 6.85 acres of jurisdictional wetlands to build a high school and 700 single-family residential units and 300 multi-family units. Butte County meadowfoam, vernal pool fairy shrimp, and vernal pool tadpole shrimp are present on the property (see photos). Comments are due December 7, 2000.

Though the wetland and special status species values have been well known for almost a decade, the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) has married itself to a portion of this highly constrained property when there are four other viable alternatives that are also found in southeast Chico (see federal agency encouragement of other sites below). Using the need for a high school as a wedge to develop the east side of Bruce Road, Jim Mann, consultant for the landowner and an interested party in the development, has even convinced the Chico Chamber of Commerce into believing that there will be no high school if it isn't built east of Bruce Road.

The CUSD, the Chamber, and the Enterprise Record have initiated a flurry of letters that push the need for a high school and contain no information that is relevant to a Clean Water Act wetlands permitting process. This public relations campaign will not affect the permit since the federal agencies involved are responsible for wetland and special species protection, not a community's desire or need for a new high school. Writing CUSD regarding frustration and confusion about the two year delay in building the high school is appropriate and might encourage it to come clean with the public regarding the obsession with the east of Bruce site. CUSD has never revealed the real asking price of the land nor taken the time to honestly discuss their current alternatives. Again, the landowner's consultant, CUSD, the Chamber, and the Enterprise Record are misleading the public.

Background

The Schmidbauers own a Eureka lumber company and the property that is currently the preferred site for a new Chico high school. The property is heavily constrained by wetlands and the endangered species Butte County meadowfoam. A letter dated February 24, 1998 to Schmidbauer's consultant, Jim Mann, from the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) states, "Butte County meadowfoam populations have been so reduced by past projects that the species' recovery depends upon all or substantial portions of all remaining populations. We also discussed some of the genetic work that shows the importance of each of the remaining populations for the long-term viability of the species..."

Why would a consultant try to proceed with a project in a heavily populated meadowfoam area with the additional information provided by the Service in 1998? It appears that the desire to force a different outcome for southeast Chico properties with meadowfoam encouraged Mann to try to hook a public entity to pressure the Endangered Species Act process. The high school has four other possible sites with minimal to no constraints.

The Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have stated again that the wetlands and endangered species in southeast Chico are treasures that have been entrusted to us. In a letter dated October 4, 2000 from EPA to Congressional Representative Wally Herger, it clearly states that the jurisdictional agencies are in agreement that the "preservation of the two parcels located east of Bruce Road is necessary to adequately protect waters of the United States." The property referred to is the Schmidbauer property, now being considered for the new high school site. The City of Chico, landowners, state and federal agencies, and local residents have all been aware of resource constraints in the area since the update of the Chico General Plan in 1994 and the attempted Habitat and Resource Conservation Plan (HRCP) that followed.

The EPA letter is in response to a July meeting called by Herger's office and the landowner's consultant. The letter goes on to say that, "Permitting development on even a portion of the eastern parcels will degrade the remaining resources through direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts." This is the same language the state and federal agencies used during the HRCP process from 1995 through 1997. Despite clear direction dating that far back, Mann has been attempting to change agency policy and belief for over two years with the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) in tow. CUSD was well aware of all the resource issues in Chico after participating in the Chico General Plan update and attending HRCP meetings, but they still found the Schmidbauer property east of Bruce enticing for a new high school. The question still needs to be asked, "What deal was offered to pursue such environmentally constrained property for a public high school?"

After following Mann's lead for two years, the landowner and the CUSD must now follow the advice provided years ago by the agencies and restated in the EPA letter. "Development of the proposed high school and some residential housing could be accommodated on the parcel located west of Bruce Road. While this parcel also supports wetlands and special status species, the agencies are prepared to assist local stakeholders with permitting processes to ensure the educational needs of the community are met. Likewise, we are prepared to assist local landowners with securing compensation for protecting the natural resources on their properties..."

This column originally appeared in November 2000 in the Chico Examiner.