\u201cI feel really grateful for CDFW for doing the right thing because it\u2019s not easy to do the right thing,\u201d said Emma Kemp, the group\u2019s co-founder.<\/p>\n
Why does this new report matter?<\/p>\n
No Canyon Hills submitted evidence to California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2023 showing that the Bombus Crotchii, or Crotch\u2019s bumblebee, and other protected species like mountain lions have been spotted within the project site.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 1, the department notified No Canyon Hills that the agency will be conducting a draft SEIR before possibly granting an Incidental Take Permit to Whitebird Inc. California\u2019s Environmental Quality Act requires this type of permit from developers to \u201ctake\u201d a California Endangered Species Act listed species during the project process.<\/p>\n
The caveat: the report will focus only on how the project would affect the Crotch\u2019s bumblebee, a native pollinator that\u2019s currently a candidate for listing as endangered or threatened by the state, meaning that the bumblebee is granted full protections for now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese poor little bees have been affected by habitat loss, fragmentation, and climate change,” said Tiffany Yap, a senior scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity. “They have a very narrow climate that they are accustomed to.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/scpr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/564ef5a\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1404x1404+0+0\/resize\/792x792!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fscpr-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2F13%2F1b%2F6a1549b040d4889b57bd800c4a49%2Fimgp4593.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The crotch’s bumble bee flying in the Canyon Hills site. <\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy Devon Christian<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
Yap said the bumblebee plays a vital role in pollinating fire resistant plants, such as sage and wild buckwheat, in wildfire prone areas. The bug also pollinates milkweed, a plant crucial to saving the monarch butterflies.<\/a><\/p>\n What are the other concerns?<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also the presence of at least two mountain lions which we\u2019ve shown are active on the project site,\u201d said Kemp. \u201cTheir presence needs to be addressed by CDFW.\u201d<\/p>\n Kemp has submitted evidence to the city of L.A. and to CDFW of multiple sightings of a male and female mountain lions passing separately through the project site area.<\/p>\n Southern California mountain lions are also a candidate species for the CESA. Habitat loss, human encroachment, highways are just some of the many factors that\u2019s led to the decline of the mountain lions.<\/p>\n