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New Plan May Give Tiny Plant Only Found In Ventura, LA Counties Shot At Long Term Survival

It’s a tiny, colorful little flower which was once widespread in California, but in recent years has been near extinction.  Now, a new effort by a developer may give the San Fernando Valley spineflower a better chance of long term survival.

Cat Darst, an Assistant Field Supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who’s based in Ventura, says the San Fernando Valley virtually disappeared for more than a half century.  Many thought it was extinct.

Then, two decades ago, two small populations of the flower were discovered. One spot is in eastern Ventura County, in what was known for decades as Ahmanson Ranch. That area is now a nature preserve.

The other one straddles the Ventura/Los Angeles County line in the northeastern portion of the county, in an area slated for a huge housing development. While there was excitement about the discovery of the flowers, the reality is that experts thought without help, they would become extinct.

Habitat loss, invasive non-native plants and climate change are all believed to be factors in the reduction of the plants to basically two strongholds. In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the species as threatened, to try to protect it from extinction. But, Darst says because of a new deal with a developer to help build the spineflower population, the federal agency is withdrawing that plan.

The Newhall Land and Farming Company has been working for decades to build a 21,000 home housing development in the Newhall area. The company’s land holdings for the project include key spineflower habitat. So, the project in Los Angeles County, near the LA-Ventura County line just north of Highway 126 created a firestorm of controversy because of potential environmental impacts, including concern about the spineflower’s habitat.

As part of efforts to settle the battle, Newhall agreed to not only set aside 1500 acres of land as permanent habitat for the flower, and other plants and wildlife, but to provide millions of dollars in funding for spineflower recovery efforts. The developer is going to provide the land, and resources to develop two new colonies of the plant.

Darst says going from two, to four populations of the spineflowers will make a huge difference in the long term viability of the species.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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