Decision on Gnatcatcher Delayed as Babbitt Confers With Advisers

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt let Wednesday’s deadline for deciding whether to grant federal protection to the California gnatcatcher pass as he continued to examine key points with his biologists and attorneys.

The delay in the long-awaited announcement of whether to declare the tiny songbird an endangered or threatened species could last just a few days or weeks, Interior Department officials said.

“The secretary just wants to take a hard look at the issues,” said spokesman Jay Ziegler. “He feels the responsibility, given this is really the first significant decision on endangered species issues in his tenure, and it’s one that has the potential to serve as a model for other communities and other species across the country.”

The 4 1/2-inch gray songbird lives in sage and other shrubs that grow in the canyons and coastal hills of Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. About 3,000 mating pairs exist.