Endangered Species Act

In October 1993, a wildfire near Riverside, California, raged over about 25,000 acres--an area more than one-half the size of the District of Columbia. The wildfire destroyed 29 homes. Some homeowners later alleged that the loss of some homes was caused by the Interior Department's regulations protecting the Stephens' kangaroo rat, an endangered species. Specifically, the homeowners claimed that prohibitions against "disking" for weed abatement--an annual process of reducing the amount of vegetation around homes to protect homes from wildfires--prevented them from saving their property. This report reviews (1) the development and application of the disking prohibition; (2) the nature of the fire and the resulting damage to homes; (3) the relationship, if any, between the disking prohibition and the loss of homes; and (4) any developments on the disking prohibition that have occurred since the fire.

GAO found that: (1) in accordance with the Endangered Species Act, the Riverside County Fire Department in 1989 prohibited disking in areas in which it would have posed a threat to the endangered Stephens' kangaroo rat; (2) Riverside County officials and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) developed alternative weed abatement methods that would provide adequate firebreaks and would not disturb the kangaroo rat's habitat; (3) there were no public concerns over the disking prohibition before the fire; (4) 18 of the 29 homes that were destroyed were fire-prone mobile homes and 23 homes showed no evidence that weed abatement had occurred in 1993 prior to the fire; (5) major damage was predictable due to the fire's magnitude and speed; (6) although some homeowners believe that the disking prohibition contributed to the destruction of their homes, there is no evidence to support these allegations; (7) county officials and fire experts believe that the fire destroyed homes randomly and that weed abatement would not have affected whether home were destroyed; and (8) although the County and FWS have recently relaxed disking prohibitions, FWS believes that the changes will not threaten the rat's survival.