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CA Press: New park site erects fencing and a pathway to protect exiting salamanders

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PRESS DEMOCRAT (Santa Rosa, California) 11 October 09 New park site erects fencing and a pathway to protect exiting salamanders (Bleys Rose)
Burly construction workers are brandishing jackhammers and wielding ditch diggers on a vacant lot and fashioning wood ramps across a 4-lane road in a project aimed at herding tiny tiger salamanders off the site of a future Santa Rosa park and onto breeding grounds in vernal pools across the street.
Because the slimy amphibians were placed on the federal endangered species list after the city had promised a neighborhood park at Northpoint Parkway and Fresno Avenue, the city has been forced to undertake an effort to evict them before park construction starts.
“As far as I know, there are none here,” said Sheri Emerson, the city's senior environmental specialist as she surveyed the site on Friday. “This area has been isolated for years by city streets, so the likelihood is pretty slim.”
Developers working in southwest Santa Rosa are accustomed to erecting barriers that trap tiger salamanders as part of a survey to determine their presence and to determine whether mitigation measures are necessary. A line of dark plastic-like material that stands a couple feet high is not an uncommon sight in an area that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined may be habitat necessary for the species to thrive.
This project, however, is different in that the city aims to divert them off the site and get them to march about 50 feet to a known tiger salamander breeding area across Fresno Avenue.
“We are putting in exit ramps so they can leave of their own accord,” Emerson said.
Construction of Airfield Neighborhood Park will cost about $1.1 million, a hefty price prompted mainly by the need to remove topsoil likely contaminated because the whole area once was the site of the Santa Rosa Air Center. The cost of the tiger salamander round-up will be in the $50,000 to $70,000 range, said Rich Hovden, city park planning manager.
“We have had extraordinary patience from the neighbors who have been promised this park for years,” said Hovden who added that he fielded many calls from residents when they saw construction crews churning up the dirt.
Susan McCarthy, who lives in the neighborhood, said she was surprised that such a big effort was being made for such a small animal.
“I think our money could be spent in better ways, not for a creature that or may not even be there,” said McCarthy, who lives across the street from the proposed park.
In theory, after a heavy rain, the 8-inch, brightly colored amphibians will leave the burrows and gopher holes they have occupied during the dry season and head for the moisture of vernal pools where they traditionally breed.
A crew from Argonaut Construction has been working all week to erect a barrier of fabric-based fencing around the perimeter of the park site. It is a common device for preventing silt run-off that federal officials have approved for limiting the movement of tiger salamanders.
There'll be one exit from the enclosure and that's the chute, similar to a skateboard ramp, intended to funnel the meandering tiger salamanders in the desired direction. City officials say they must wait for a deluge for the experiment to work. Rain is forecast to begin Monday.
When they launch it, Fresno Avenue will be closed and residents of the Air Center subdivision will have to drive a few blocks out of their way.
“This rain that is coming next week is not going to be enough to shut down the street. It may take a few good rains to trigger it,” Emerson said.
City parks director Marc Richardson said the city last Thursday sent area residents letters of notification about the project and the likely closure of Fresno Avenue. The city also has created a Web page for information at srcity.org/airfieldpark.
“This park has been delayed for many years due to various reasons and we want them to know the park is finally going forward, but we have to do this first,” Richardson said.
The project is necessary for the city to obtain a biological opinion from the Fish and Wildlife Service that would detail park development restrictions on the site. If none are found or if the project is considered a successful experiment in salamander migration, city officials said construction of Airfield Neighborhood Park could begin next spring.
If not, riding herd over tiger salamanders may have to wait until next year.
New park site erects fencing and a pathway to protect exiting salamanders | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA
 
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