Laserfiche WebLink
of this destruction. The adverse impacts far outweigh the benefits to the resident plant and D127 <br /> animal communities. <br /> The combination of biological attributes resident at Brovelli Woods/Tracy Lakes, such I <br /> as. roosting and nesting sites in the mature foothill/riparian woodland, coupled with the <br /> adjacent grassland foraging areas is especially important for the threatened swainson's hawk. D128 <br /> Any disturbance of this interrelationship should be avoided. Project approval will result in <br /> significant adverse species impacts caused by increased human presence, the construction of <br /> the homes, the equestrian center, the golf course, roads, and the proposed bridge <br /> construction. <br /> According to the California Department of Fish & Game Mitigation Guidelines for <br /> Swainson's Hawk in the Central Valley, any project adversely affecting Swainson's Hawk <br /> habitat must result in a net benefit to the species. We are aware of the listed mitigation <br /> measures that attempt to "adequately offset adverse impacts," but they do not result in a "net <br /> benefit" to the species. There is no delineation of mitigation that attempts to provide a net D129 <br /> benefit. The RIDER review is deficient until a net benefit can be shown. <br /> The "time share" idea of using alternative golf course holes during sensitive nesting <br /> times may look appealing on paper, but in project reality is not reasonable and feasible. <br /> It appears that the good will gesture of the developer to set aside the major portion of <br /> the project site in a conservation easement is used too times as mitigation to offset several <br /> identified impacts to different biological resources. <br /> Tracy Lakes: The most dominant biological feature of the project site are the pluvial <br /> Tracy Lakes. The biological assessment of lake hydrology is predicated on the 91 -92 year, <br /> which approached a normal year, but followed several years in a row of drought. To <br /> generalize about the 91-92 year as being normal is dismissing the effects of the prior years on D130 <br /> lake hydrology and soil saturation, or lack thereof. The discussion, on page 3, supports the <br /> fact that in nearly all years without the artificial draining of the lakes they would be more <br /> accurately referred to as "permanent wetlands" not "seasonal wetlands," as described <br /> repeatedly in the review. <br /> To refer to the developers plans for the Tracy Lakes as a "restoration" project is a leap <br /> of faith we are not willing to make. To reduce or eliminate two-thirds of this water bird habitat <br /> value in a rare natural Central Valley wetland basin will be catastrophic. The Tracy Lakes <br /> destruction project may be a more appropriate description of the significant adverse impacts D131 <br /> on the animal and plant communities that will occur from the developers lake and quarry <br /> project plans. The yearly natural cycle of these lakes and the plant and animal communities <br /> dependent on them will forever be altered —to achieve what? —the convenience of watering <br /> the golf course from the lakes?! <br /> The Tracy Lakes are fully protected since they constitute critical wintering habitat for <br /> migratory water birds on the Pacific Flyway under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, 1929. D132. <br /> We suggest that the projects "restoration" project is contrary to this act. The loss of winter <br /> foraging, refuge habitat ,and habitat for spring and summer nesting activities and the rearing of <br /> V1-111 <br />