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Source: The Bakersfield CalifornianNov.迷你倉 10--I have always thought of elderberries as kind of funny.Probably a result of having watched waaay too much "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."(You know, the French taunting -- "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!")Anyhooo, when the city recently found an elderberry bush in the path of its upcoming northern Mohawk Street extension, no one was laughing.That's because an elderberry shrub, more specifically the valley elderberry longhorn beetle (VELB for short) that lives in the shrub, cost taxpayers more than $350,000 back in 2010 when one was found in the pathway of the Westside Parkway.The VELB was listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980.Most of the money paid by the city for the Westside Parkway elderberry shrub was for credits from an elderberry conservation bank. But taxpayers also footed the bill, typically about $10,000, for the shrub to be excavated and replanted at another elderberry conservation ranch up by Stockton.It's still there today, doing quite well, I hear.Look, I'm not slamming the need for development to proceed cautiously. We don't want to obliterate important resources in our pell-mell quest to get to the shopping mall faster.But, two things: Why couldn't they just transplant the elderberry bush locally (the Panorama Vista Preserve is home to many elderberry bushes and beetles) at much less cost?They're not too threatenedAnd the U.S. Fish and Wildlife had already proposed back in 2006 that the beetle be removed from the threatened list. It's been studied for five years and the recommendation is still for delisting.Though the beetle and its attendant elderberry shrub are mostly found in low-land riparian areas, thde U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency has spotted the pair thriving at up to 3,000 feet and from as far north as Shasta County down to Kern. Add to that the conservation efforts such as wetland preserves in Sacramento and our elderberry shrub's new home, the French Camp Conservation Bank, and the beetle's habitat has increased significantly, according to reports by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.So, as threatened and endangered species go, the fate of the elderberry beetle isn't exactly going to keep me up at night.A final decision on the listing is expected "soon," I'm told by U.S. Fish and Wildlife folks. That may mean later this fall. But no date has been set.There is some argument among scientists as to whether there are two species of VELB, one that's red-backed and one that's black backed with a red stripe.I think the key to that issue is whether the preferred habitat of the VELB (whatever its markings) has increased. U.S. Fish and Wildlife has said repeatedly, and unequivocally, that it has.And conservation banks have had a major hand in that. So I sumini storagepose, in that respect, our elderberry money has been fairly spent.You can bank on itHere's how conservation banks work.A person, or more often a compay, buys land and "farms" it for a particular threatened or endangered species.The banks apply to U.S. Fish and Wildlife for approval and Fish and Wildlife issues the banks credits based on how many of the species are surviving year after year.The bank can then sell those credits to cities or developers as a way to mitigate, or make up for, damage done to species' and their habitat by new projects.Cities and developers can also be ordered to pay to have habitat, such as the elderberry shrub, transplanted to one of these banks.That's what happened in 2010 with the shrub in the way of the Westside Parkway.Bakersfield was ordered to pay about $10,000 to have the shrub moved to the French Camp Conservation Bank, owned by Delta Habitat LLC.That money helps maintain the shrub and surrounding ecosystem, according to Delta Habitat President Darryl Foreman.Bakersfield was also ordered to buy 87 credits, at a cost of $348,000, from another bank called the Sacramento River River Ranch, owned by Wildlands Inc.That money helps maintain six or seven acres in the 300-acre bank, according to Wildlands Vice President Brian Monaghan.In both cases, a portion of the money also goes into endowment funds for the banks that will help manage the land in perpetuity, meaning habitat created by conservation banks will never succumb to progress."This land will look like the delta looked 100 years ago forever," Foreman said of the French Camp bank.To be sure, Bakersfield's elderberry bush and beetles cost taxpayers a lot of money. But nowhere near what other developers and cities have had to pay.Porterville, in particular, has had a tough time with the elderberry beetle as its host shrub grows abundantly along the Tule River. Porterville has spent $750,000 over several years to develop and maintain its own elderberry habitat area. And it's still facing an additional $168,000 to mitigate for the bush and beetles on a new bridge widening project, according to the Porterville Recorder.By comparison, Bakersfield has been lucky.Oh, and I suppose you're wondering about that new elderberry shrub found recently by the city as it gears up for the northern expansion of Mohawk.It didn't have any beetles so U.S. Fish and Wildlife let city workers take it out.Shwew!Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at .bakersfield.com, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) Visit The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) at .bakersfield.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉