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Business Gets Condor Experts' Silence in Land Deal
LOS ANGELES - Biologist Noel Snyder got an intriguing call from a development-company representative a day after it announced it was moving forward with plans to build nearly 3,500 luxury homes, condos and hotels on land used by the endangered California condor.
Would he like to make $3,000 for just one day's work reviewing the company's plan to safeguard the condor from the development?
There was just one catch: Snyder would have to sign a promise not to publicly criticize the Tejon Ranch Co. project.
"My jaw dropped to the floor," said Snyder, one of the foremost experts on North America's largest flying bird. "It was very clear to me I could've asked for $10,000. I could've asked for $50,000."
The Portal, Ariz., scientist said he turned the job down for fear it might prevent him from objectively evaluating the plan and, if he disagreed, from testifying against it in court. He has since decided the project could significantly harm the condor.
But others have taken the offer from Tejon (TAY-hone). The developer has retained the services - and secured the public silence - of three condor experts. That's a significant portion of the half-dozen or so scientists specializing in condors on Tejon, according to the developer's chief consultant on the bird, Peter Bloom.
In truth, many environmentalists are delighted by the deal, under which Tejon will set aside an extraordinary 375 square miles for the bird and other wildlife. It would be the biggest parcel in California history to be designated for conservation.
Five of the nation's most influential environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Audubon California, helped negotiate the plan and gave it their blessing when it was announced earlier this month.
But critics say that with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, Tejon is systematically trying to stifle any remaining opposition to its plans, which are still awaiting approval from various government entities.
"Given the small number of experts with knowledge of this land and given Tejon's behavior to now, I think one of their tactics is to bottle up some or all of those experts so there can be no dissent if this lands in court," said Adam Keats, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which is considering suing over the project.
Tejon spokesman Barry Zoeller bristled at the criticism.
"If there is any assertion or implication that any attempt was made to get an opinion or buy an opinion from someone, that is absolutely incorrect and flies in the face of the independent evaluation" of the conservation groups, he said. "They're putting their credibility on the line as well."
Zoeller said Tejon routinely requires consultants to sign confidentiality agreements because information leaks can harm the company's stock and its shareholders.
Companies often hire environmental experts as consultants with the expectation they will give an honest assessment but not publicly bash a plan. In the past decade, however, developers have increasingly required consultants to actually sign contracts with clauses preventing them from speaking out, said Tom Scott, a former biological consultant who is now a natural resources specialist at the University of California, Berkeley.
The condor has near-mythical status in California and virtually any project seen as even remotely threatening to its habitat faces stiff opposition. Getting the conservation groups and the condor experts to sign off on the deal - and, in the case of the experts, not publicly criticize any parts of it - gives the project a major boost.
David Clendenen, a condor expert who declined to work for Tejon, criticized those who accepted the consulting job, saying the arrangement "destroys their credibility completely."
"For us, the ultimate line in the sand is you don't allow development in designated critical habitat, and it's that simple," he said.
Tejon Ranch Co. is a publicly traded company dating to 1936. Its primary asset is Tejon Ranch, a 426-square-mile area about 60 miles north of Los Angeles that is the largest unbroken expanse of land under single ownership in California.
The land was mainly used for farming and ranching for decades. In 2000, the company began looking to develop parts of the property but ran into resistance from environmentalists.
The project to build 3,450 housing units on land used as a feeding ground by condors is just one piece of far larger Tejon Ranch Co. plan to build what amounts to a mid-size city that could eventually bring more than 70,000 people to the area.
Two years ago, the company began negotiating a compromise with the environmental groups, ultimately agreeing to set aside a huge tract atop the Tehachapi Mountains that is home to elk, wild turkeys, coyotes, bears, eagles and the California condor.
"We had to give up something and we gave up the right to oppose the development," said Joel Reynolds, an attorney at the Defense Council.
The California condor nearly went extinct in the 1980s. In 1987, the last 22 wild condors were trapped and taken to zoos for a breeding program that raised their numbers to just under 300. Now there are some 200 in the wild, with about 60 in California, many of which use Tejon for foraging.
As for the consultants hired by Tejon, "experts expect to get paid and it doesn't mean their integrity goes by the wayside," Reynolds said.
Bloom, who previously worked on condor issues for the National Audubon Society, was Tejon's lead condor consultant during the confidential negotiations. He said he was paid "a healthy amount" but would not be more specific, saying it would "taint people's opinion" about a deal he feels provides adequate protection.
Lloyd Kiff, who once called Tejon Ranch Co. the "anti-Christ for condors," was hired to scrutinize the condor plan about a month before the agreement was made public.
He, too, declined to say what he was paid but said he was persuaded to take the job because of the impressive roster of environmental groups that signed off on it. Kiff said he endorsed the plan only after Tejon incorporated many of his suggestions.
Bob Risebrough, the third hired condor consultant, said he was pleased with the final product but declined to comment on his deal with Tejon, citing the confidentiality agreement.
© 2008 The Associated Press
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22 Comments so far
Show All6-3-08 I ran into Peter Bloom in O'Neill Park today. He had his truck (with his name on it) parked along a service road in the wash. He was fiddling around with what looked like square wire traps. I asked him what research he was doing. He never raised his head to looked at me. His only words, "private!" I knew nothing of him until I ran a google. My impression, knowing nothing of what he's about, he's an ass. Or maybe a "secret agent" naturalist for hire for someone "private."
It's always about money, and to hell with whatever gets in the way. It is heartening to know there are still some who can't be bought.
let's see...
developers hire and pay scientists to review their project's environmental impact... could that possibly lead to a conflict of interest? nah...
the bad choice of words award goes to Peter Bloom:
said he was paid "a healthy amount"...
hmm... healthy for him, toxic for the condor, no doubt
When I read the news I'm always flabbergasted to find out how cheap souls are. It seems like its a great way to stay out of Hell. Just buy up some cheap fu@ker and let them have the fall. The devil is in the details.
This is simply a micro view into how business is conducted all over the world. The same thing happens in Congress everyday with lobbyists doling out large "contributions" to different associations or charities or philanthropic groups designated by a Congressman they with to influence. The money is then available for the official to use at their disposal. This was pretty overt.
Corporations are buying pieces of my world and bringing it to the brink of extinction. I have helped rescue all types' of birds including birds of prey. This is in my back yard.
There is nothing more rewarding than bringing an animal back to health and getting it back into its own environment. Creatures need an ecosystem; they cannot exist in a vacuum.
Some may think that some animals or birds of this world are ugly or have no useful purpose. However, this is not so with nature. If this were, so….the human animal would have gone by the way side long ago.
No creature on this earth is considered of no use by nature or to the creator. We are part of this world and by doing nothing; we are cutting off parts of our own body and killing our own possibility for survival.
So do we let others destroy the creatures of this earth by turning away and not crying out in defense of the voiceless? I will not, for I will be judged in the future by my actions.
I will be contacting these organizations and companies mention in this story and registering my complaints or my support. That is what we are supposed to do rather than just sit here on our butts and whimper.
Capitalism strives to make us all whores, willing to sell out the values and beliefs we dare to hold. But we must remember that a whore who sells his/her body may retain an inner dignity. A whore who sells his/her values cannot retain that dignity.
Peter Bloom, you are a whore of the worst kind. May you find that money to be the curse it is designed to be.
What utter stupidity. Those acquiesent conservationist, biologist ex-spurts (a drip inder pressure) who sell themselves to money grubbers typify our national sickness.
Do you suppose they'd be willing to wear T-shirts asking, "What am I not to reveal, and WHY?" Not likely, it wouldn't befit their supposed academic integrity.
Who are these Tejon Ranch shareholders who so vigorously guard their identity? In the "long run: (thank you John K. Galbraith) the venal biologists may be correct. Condors will feast on human corpses produced by earthquake, global warming crop failures, or immigrant race riots.
One final nihilistic question: Will TR developers tender sub-prime interest mortgages to prospective home buyers?
UGH,UGH, and What the H---.
Take that land by eminent domain
And for what public good, the provisioning of "ecosystem goods and services"
I wonder how much food the enviro-turncoat bought?
'Cuz when Mother Nature turns around and bites us in the ass, he's not gonna be able to eat his new techno-toys.
Im willing to bet the project is gonna go ahead despite everything and in the face of ANY kind of protest. Nothing is friggin sacred anymore.
...Just a quick kudos to "Dogface" for his or her thought provoking comments above. Well said :)
"experts expect to get paid and it doesn't mean their integrity goes by the wayside,"
It most certainly does if you promise to keep your mouth shut when you know that the plan is flawed, especially if you promise before even doing your evaluation.
America is eating itself faster than Mother Nature can fix it. The almighty buck and the old saying everyone has a price.
Well the U-Haul is packed and we move out of America forever. Have fun folks, I will have a look at this shit hole of a country from the out side very soon. I am sure my views will change.
We're drowning in oil/war profits. Can someone please build us some more prime investment properties? God Bless the United States of America!!
Boy oh boy, Tejon Ranch's website touts proposed "master-planned luxury golf-course communities" up in the Tehachapi hills not far from Interstate 5 where now only boring old wildlife habitat exists. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan "You seen one condor you seem 'em all" but who can resist an afternoon bouncing around in your custom golf cart!
Hey Noel, thanks for Not selling out.
Wealthy corporations/industries can and do buy experts to say whatever they are paid to say. Supression of evidence that these industries are responsible for harm is also going on. Any time you see an industry has funded a study, survey, research, etc, it's tainted with bias IMO. Yes, it's good to see at least some experts are not for sale.
many scientists in this country are conditioned to take whatever money they can, from wherever they can get it, because of lack of public support for scientific work, i.e., the rest of us are part of the problem.
Reminds me of exxon-mobil paying "scientists" $10,000 to say there isn't any global warming. Then Fox puts those few folks on tv and ignores the other thousands of real scientists who warn of global warming's dire circumstances.
What amazes me is how many environmental groups got behind this project. Almost seems like they have given up fighting for the condor and are settling for what is a large tract of preserved lands. However, considering how close to extinction the Condor was recently, don't we want to give them the best chance at survival and that means large areas to hunt. Not only that, but there's no way that having 70,000 people in an area that was wildlife isn't going to affect all of the animals living there. A lot of lives are going to be lost in the name of progress.
Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
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