In the Q & A portions of my condor talks, an almost guaranteed question is phrased something like this: even if the captive breeding and reintroduction efforts are highly successful, is there really enough habitat left out there for the birds? It seems like the story is out - even with a lot of rural and suburban Californians - that the Golden State is half wall-to-wall people and half wall-to-wall cotton fields and vineyards. To show (or remind) them that it isn't true, I show color slides of the Sespe-Piru canyons, the Coast Range back country, and the southern Sierra foothills, and I say emphatically that, yes, there is substantial habitat available for condors. But I have to add a qualifier: there is substantial habitat now. What the situation will be in 2020 or 2050 seems open to significant question. If global warming doesn't make it all moot for both us and the condors, I assume we plan to have condors around at those later dates. But do we really plan to have condors around, or are we just hoping that there will be habitat for them?

Back in September 1994 in a memo prepared for a condor recovery discussion, Jesse Grantham noted that among "the major issues facing recovery of this bird are land use and habitat protection" (He also identified confronting mortality issues, such as powerlines and lead poisoning.) He reviewed some of the then current situations: (1) the 117,000 acre San Emigdio Ranch had been sold and was threatened with development; (2) the Tejon Ranch was already being urbanized around its boundaries, and more development was proposed; and (3) the National Audubon Society was working to preserve part of the Farnsworth Ranch in the southern Sierra foothills. He also suggested that someone needed to start looking at the preservation of habitat in areas with potential for future condor introductions, like the southern Sierra Domelands, and areas north of San Francisco Bay.

Jesse's memo makes it look like those working on the condor had some kind of distant vision of condor habitat protection, but I haven't heard much about what has happened in the 12 years since then. I don't know what ultimately happened at San Emigdio. I was pleased to hear about the work at the Farnsworth Ranch (the site of my largest simultaneous condor observation - 18 in one flock - as well as the site of good visits and good food in the Farnsworth kitchen), but I haven't heard any follow-up. Tejon Ranch makes the news every couple years, as someone else tries to "negotiate" with them, but I think the overall situation there is not encouraging for the condors. (The early history of our dealings with Tejon Ranch is covered in Chapter 37 of "Condor Tales.") I don't know of any active land reservation efforts at other current or potential reintroduction sites. Are there any?

The inevitable follow-up question to "is there enough habitat?" is: Who's in charge? The zoos are doing a good job producing condors; those releasing the birds seem very conscientious and competent; but who is doing the long-term planning to guarantee there is space for condors in the future? I can't answer that one.