The main parties involved in the reintroduction of the California condor to the Arizona Strip have reached a tentative agreement.
During their third and probably final meeting on the issue, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local community representatives agreed to land-use guarantees to accompany the release of up to nine condors.Both sides will put finishing touches on the language, with a final draft expected by the end of next week, according to Robert Mesta, FWS condor program co-ord-in-ator.
The agreement will become final after it is signed by FWS and commissioners from various counties in Utah and Arizona.
"It (the discussion) was educational, informative and a look at the other side of what can be done under the Endangered Species Act short of regulating land use," said James Matson, vice president of the Coalition of Resources and Economies.
The draft agreement includes a guarantee by FWS officials that the release of the birds will not result in land-use restrictions.
It states that FWS would retrieve the condors if their unrestrictive status as "experimental, nonessential" is ever changed.
Some critics of the release worry the reintroduction would bring economically damaging land-use restrictions that might stifle the area's thriving tourism industry.
FWS has twice extended the public comment period to allow for the discussions. It expires April 1.
The release could take place in June, later than the original spring target because of the talks.