The beetles appear fine, and needed development, especially that involving flood protection, can resume with much less cost due to beetle protection regulation.
An excerpt.
Agency hails beetle comeback
Developers cheer plan to lift endangered status; some scientists skeptical.
By Matt Weiser - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Federal wildlife officials said Monday they plan to remove the valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the endangered species list.
A five-year review showed its fortunes have improved.
The dime-sized beetle, unique to the Central Valley, has been the bane of developers and flood-control officials since it was first listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1980.
Since it relies on a single host plant, the relatively hardy valley elderberry, hundreds of construction projects have been required to take extraordinary steps when encountering the shrub.
"Thank God. This is the happiest day of my career," said Joe Countryman, president of MBK Engineers, a Sacramento consulting firm that has repeatedly confronted the beetle issue. "It makes me want to cry to think of the amount of money that's been wasted on this thing."
The beetle's status was reported Monday as part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review of 12 protected species in California. The beetle is the only one proposed for a complete delisting in its habitat.
Spokesman Al Donner said delisting is justified because the beetle now exists in 190 locations in the region, compared to 10 sites in 1980. Also since that time, about 50,000 acres of floodplain habitat have been protected to benefit the beetle.
