Future of Gnatcatcher Remains Up in the Air : Wildlife: Fish and Game officials undecided on whether to recommend tiny songbird as an endangered species candidate. Commission will meet Friday.

Top administrators at the state Department of Fish and Game said Tuesday that they have not decided what advice to give the state commission that convenes Friday to determine the future of the California gnatcatcher.

Howard Sarasohn, the department’s deputy director, said the recommendation will be made just before the state Fish and Game Commission meets to vote on whether to declare the songbird a candidate for the state endangered species list. The commission will address the issue at 10 a.m. Friday in Long Beach.

“The staff is still working on it. They were here grinding away at it on Saturday and Sunday,” Sarasohn said. “We’re all going to have to wait until 10 o’clock Friday. I don’t think we’re going to have anything ready prior to the presentation then.”

A month ago, after hearing four hours of testimony, the commission delayed its decision on the gnatcatcher, a songbird that inhabits Orange, San Diego and western Riverside counties. The delay was granted to allow the Fish and Game staff time to review stacks of new information submitted during the hearing.

Although the top administrators say they remain undecided, the agency’s biologists have made up their minds. They have recommended to the director that the bird be added to the candidate list.

State zoologist Darlene McGriff said there was nothing in the new reports to change their minds. Among the papers submitted last month were studies by the Building Industry Assn. and Orange County planners.

However, other department experts, especially attorneys, still have to review the material before Fish and Game Director Pete Bontadelli decides on his recommendation to the commission. Sarasohn said they have to ensure that the petition seeking the bird’s protection is complete and follows the law.

“There are a whole group of people looking at this from several different angles,” Sarasohn said. “We will be getting a combined recommendation from staff. And of course the lawyers look at this too.”

Bontadelli was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

The department staff originally recommended acceptance of the petition, which was filed by an environmental group and an ornithologist. But Bontadelli told the commission at the Aug. 1 hearing that the staff needed to review the newly submitted data to make a more complete recommendation.

“We had hoped to have our report in writing for the commission prior to the hearing,” Sarasohn said. “But it appears given the volume of paperwork and the long testimony, that staff will not complete their written work. So Mr. Bontadelli will provide the commission with an oral report.”

The commission often does not follow the advice of the Fish and Game staff when voting on endangered species issues. But the recommendation could be pivotal because the issue is so contentious.

The songbird is the most controversial species that the commission has considered for protection. Developers and builders have vehemently opposed protection, since it could affect hundreds of projects in the three counties.

If the commission accepts the petition Friday, builders cannot harm the bird’s habitat for the next 12 months without getting a special exemption from the Fish and Game Department. During that year, the department will review all scientific data, then make a recommendation to the commission on whether the bird warrants full listing as an endangered species.

The gnatcatcher inhabits coastal sage scrub, a depleted habitat that grows in Southern California’s coastal canyons.

Friday’s meeting will be at Long Beach City Council Chambers, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. No public comments will be accepted, although the meeting is open to the public.