Some people may think that La Graciosa thistle is a weed.

But no matter how much it may look like one, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it doesn’t act like one.

If it did, it would not be on the verge of extinction and listed as an endangered species.

Which is why the FWS has proposed 38,445 acres on the Central Coast to be identified as “critical habitat” for La Graciosa thistle.

The plant’s uniqueness comes from being native to the area, and the fact that it has only ever been known to grow on the Central Coast, according to Connie Rutherford, the listing and recovery coordinator for plants in the Ventura office of the FWS.

La Graciosa thistle — a bushy plant with spiny leaves and whitish flowers — blooms once and then dies.

The plant’s short life and sudden death during the late spring and early summer months are not to blame for its endangered listing; instead the FWS reported that the threat of extinction is due to the loss of coastal wetlands, off-road vehicle use, oil-field activities and urban development.

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La Graciosa thistle was listed as endangered in 2000, and in 2004 the FWS designated 41,089 acres as critical habitat. However, the Home Builders Association of Northern California filed a lawsuit over the critical habitat designation for the thistle and other endangered species, Rutherford said.

As part of a settlement agreement, the FWS published a revised critical habitat for the thistle, and it is now accepting written comments on the designation.

The revised designation includes six separate parcels: a 13,227-acre unit located along the Santa Maria River and Orcutt Creek straddling San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties; 10,329 acres stretching from Arroyo Grande Creek south to the Santa Maria River in San Luis Obispo County; a 750-acre unit northwest of the community of Los Alamos; 4,335 acres along San Antonio Creek on land within Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB); and a 2,482-acre unit along the lower four miles of the Santa Ynez River, also on VAFB lands.

The thistle is only known to be growing in the first two units listed. The other four areas were chosen by the FWS as ideal habitats for La Graciosa thistle, but the species has not been documented there.

According to Rutherford, a critical habitat designation does not impose any new regulations, and on nonfederal lands there are no regulatory impacts unless there is a federal connection.

The benefit of designating lands as a critical habitat is to gain an educational tool.

“It points out to local planning agencies the areas we think are an important habitat for a species, and they can choose to include it in their planning process,” Rutherford.

Public comments on sightings of the thistle in the proposed areas are encouraged, and must be submitted by Oct. 6. A second comment period will be opened after an economic analysis, which would weigh the benefits of the proposed lands, has been completed next year.

Sam Womack can be reached at 739-2218 or swomack@santamariatimes.com.

September 6, 2008