Developer Accused of Scaring Imperiled Birds Off

The use of noise machines to frighten two endangered species of migratory birds away from a construction site in Santa Clarita violates federal law, environmental groups have alleged.

Newhall Land & Farming Co. used the electronic devices in violation of the Endangered Species Act, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Santa Clara River and the Sierra Club.

Two endangered species, the least Bell’s vireo and the southwestern willow flycatcher, have been found along the Santa Clara River in the Santa Clarita Valley. The river is within the boundaries of Newhall Land projects, including its Bridgeport home development.

Federal wildlife officials said Newhall Land used at least 30 to 40 of the machines along the Santa Clara River. Known as hazing devices, the machines can mimic a birdcall at extremely loud levels, driving away any species seeking nesting sites. After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contacted Newhall Land about the machines last May, the machines were shut off.

Officials estimate the machines were used for at least two years.

The environmental groups plan to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles asking that the Army Corps of Engineers review the construction permit issued to Newhall Land.

“The Army Corps needs to fine Newhall Land for violating [the] permit, and make them mitigate the damage to the endangered species habitat,” said Peter Galvin, a conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.

An Army Corps of Engineers official said Monday that the agency was not aware that Newhall Land had planned to use the hazing devices, so the issue was not raised with the Fish and Wildlife Service, which monitors and regulates endangered species.

Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said that once the builder began a project, it needed to prevent birds from arriving at a site because the construction would disturb nests.

Apparently, state Fish and Game officials agreed with that thinking, “but it doesn’t fit in the spirit of what Fish and Wildlife intends to do,” said Rick Farris, a senior biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office in Ventura.

Vireos, Farris said, must hear one another’s calls to set up territories, and male vireos sing even while on a nest. The hazing devices--clusters of small speaker boxes set up on plastic pipes--can shoo away potential nesting birds.

The Santa Clara River and its tributaries, including San Francisquito Creek, have long been the hotbed of a battle between environmentalists who fear Newhall Land’s projects will eliminate endangered species and the builder.

“One of our main points is that the presence of these machines has thrown off all the biological survey work done up there,” said Ron Bottorff, who chairs Friends of the Santa Clara River. “How can you do a survey with noisemakers which are driving away the species you are trying to survey?”