Three Santa Barbara County groups representing farmers and ranchers have asked a federal agency to remove the Santa Maria River’s designation as critical habitat for the Southern California steelhead amid a debate over whether the endangered fish exists in the waterway.
The Coalition of Labor, Agriculture & Business–Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau and the Santa Barbara County Cattlemen’s Association joined with Pacific Legal Foundation to submit the request in early October.
The petition — approximately 70 pages long — to the National Marine Fisheries Service contends the Southern California steelhead trout migration in the river ceased in the 1940s…