Endangered flower was probably planted on development site in Sebastopol

There have been plenty of accusations and jokes about it here on the Coastside, but someone has documented a likely case of a transplanted endangered species at a development site in Sebastopol.

Endangerd Sebastopol Meadowfoam has been found on the site of a controversial development in Sebastopol, and a scientist for the California Department of Fish and Game says it was probably transplanted there by someone who wanted to stop the development. He won’t say how he determined this because he doesn’t want to encourage this kind of activity. But it sounds like maybe there was soil from its original location in its roots.

"People joke about this all the time—stopping a development by putting an endangered plant in its path," said Gene Cooley, a Fish and Game botanist who surveyed the meadowfoam last week. "I have 25 years’ experience with state and federal agencies, and this is the only instance I know of where it’s actually happened."

The fact that this is the first case this Fish & Game scientist has seen is probably more notable than the fact that the endangered species was transplanted.